Entrusting your data and systems to a new IT service provider is a delicate process. You have to put a lot of trust in this company – and we all know that trust is something best built over time. If you are assessing a provider, there are a few things that you should look for during the interview and onboarding process to ease your nerves and help guide you toward the right partner. 

They are forthcoming about internal vs. partner-managed processes. 

Some IT service providers can do everything in-house. Others use vendor partners to manage specialty processes. Both are valid service models that can provide great support to your company. But what you want to see during the interview process with a new provider is full transparency. You want the opportunity to vet any third-party vendors that will access your information. Additionally, you’ll want to ask the prospective IT provider about their process for seeking and securing vendor partners and how they go about informing clients of such action. 

They provide client testimonials. 

Oftentimes, work in the IT field isn’t recognized until something isn’t working right. But ideally, your IT providers should be working to keep things from ever taking a turn for the worst. Stellar IT service offers attentive care when things are going well and rapid precision when things need to be fixed. If an IT provider can provide client testimonials that speak to its proactive approach, customer service and examples of care that aren’t just part of a crisis management strategy, then you can trust that the provider does good business every day of the year. 

You get to meet members of the customer care team. 

We have all experienced what it feels like to be sold one bill of goods and then to have another delivered. IT can feel this way when you choose a business partner based upon the presentation of leadership, only to find that your care team isn’t on the same page as them. If during the interview process you have the opportunity to interface with the people you’ll be working with directly, that is a great sign of things to come. 

They’re innovators. 

If your IT service provider is a follower, not a leader, then you are susceptible to data loss, cybercrime, inefficiency and generally poor service. You want to find a partner that is creating unique solutions to the most pressing challenges in technology and customer service. Take ProTech for example. Its proprietary Support Desk as a Service model was developed to provide level I and II IT support to major corporations so that engineers could better devote expertise to pressing challenges. The model has been incredibly successful, solving a client pain point through their own innovation. 

They demonstrate they care for people. 

As with any partner, reviewing an IT provider’s community care programming can speak loudly about how they care for people. If a provider is investing in the community, providing mentorship opportunities, prioritizing volunteerism and treating its employees well, that is a company worth naming a partner.