What Should I Look for in an IT Support Company?

Choosing an IT support company can be difficult. On the surface, most providers appear to offer much the same thing: a helpdesk, remote support, Microsoft 365, cyber security, backups and monitoring.

I’ve worked in IT for many years and, having run Obsidian Networks for over a decade, I’ve seen first-hand that the real difference isn’t usually what’s written on the list of services. It’s how those services are actually delivered and, importantly, what happens when something goes wrong.

For me, good IT support should do much more than fix problems. Your IT company should understand your business, keep your systems secure and reliable, identify problems before they affect your team and help you make sensible decisions about technology.

So, if I was choosing an IT support company for my own business, these are the things I would be looking for.

1. How quickly will they actually respond?

Most IT companies will have a Service Level Agreement, usually referred to as an SLA.

It is worth understanding exactly what that means.

A response time is not necessarily the same as a resolution time. An SLA might promise a response within 30 minutes, but that could simply mean acknowledging your ticket.

Ask what happens next.

How quickly will somebody start investigating the problem? How are urgent issues prioritised? What happens if an issue cannot be resolved by the first person you speak to? Is there a clear escalation process?

Most importantly, ask what happens when your whole business cannot work.

A good IT support company should have a clear process for identifying critical issues, getting the right people involved quickly and keeping you informed until the problem is resolved.

2. Can you actually speak to somebody?

Technology is important, but I’ve always believed IT support is still very much a people business.

When something isn’t working, you should be able to speak to somebody who can help.

Find out where the support team is based, how you contact them and whether calls are answered by engineers or simply logged for somebody to look at later.

You should also understand whether you will regularly deal with the same people.

Having engineers who know your business, your systems and your team can make an enormous difference when something goes wrong. You shouldn’t feel like you’re starting from scratch every time you contact your IT company.

3. Are they proactive or just waiting for problems?

There is a big difference between fixing IT problems and managing IT properly.

A good IT support company should be regularly checking the health of your technology rather than waiting for somebody to report a problem.

That should include areas such as:

• Device health and performance
• Security updates and patching
• Firewall and network equipment
• Firmware updates
• Backup success and restore testing
• Endpoint security
• Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace security
• User accounts and access
• Hardware age and warranty
• Security vulnerabilities

Ask the provider how these checks are carried out and, importantly, how they demonstrate that the work is actually being done.

You should receive clear reporting showing the health of your systems, any risks that have been identified and what is being done about them.

For me, this is one of the biggest differences between traditional IT support and a properly managed IT service. You shouldn’t have to wait for something to break before your IT company takes an interest in it.

4. How seriously do they take cyber security?

IT support and cyber security can no longer be treated as completely separate things.

Your IT provider has privileged access to some of the most important systems in your business. They may manage your Microsoft 365 environment, computers, servers, backups, firewall and security software.

That makes their approach to security extremely important.

Ask how they protect their own systems as well as yours.

You should also ask about things such as multi factor authentication, administrator accounts, device encryption, endpoint protection, email security, backups, security monitoring and vulnerability management.

Qualifications and recognised certifications can also help demonstrate that security is something the provider genuinely understands rather than simply something added to a list of services.

Cyber security doesn’t need to be made unnecessarily complicated, but your IT company should be able to clearly explain the risks your business faces, what protection is in place and where improvements are needed.

5. Do they understand your business?

Good IT support isn’t about installing as much technology as possible.

It is about understanding what your business actually needs.

Your provider should know how your team works, which systems are important, where your biggest risks are and what would happen if a critical system became unavailable.

They should also understand where the business is going.

If you are recruiting, opening another office, moving systems to the cloud or changing the way your team works, your IT company should be able to help you plan for it.

Technology decisions should support the business rather than dictate how the business operates.

The better your IT company understands your business, the more useful they can be when it comes to making those decisions.

6. Will they tell you when something needs improving?

Your IT company should be prepared to have sensible conversations about risk.

That doesn’t mean constantly trying to sell you something.

Sometimes equipment needs replacing. Sometimes a security control needs improving. Sometimes a system that has worked perfectly well for years is approaching the end of its supported life.

A good provider should identify these things early, explain why they matter and give you enough information to make an informed decision.

There should be very few nasty surprises.

I’d also be wary of a provider where every recommendation seems to involve buying something. Sometimes the right advice is to leave something exactly as it is.

Good IT advice should be based on what the business needs, not what the provider wants to sell.

7. Do they document your systems properly?

Good documentation is one of the less exciting parts of IT support, but it is incredibly important.

Your provider should maintain accurate information about your systems, equipment, suppliers, licences, network and important technical configurations.

This helps engineers resolve problems more quickly and reduces reliance on one person knowing how everything works.

It is also important if you ever decide to change IT provider.

Your business shouldn’t become dependent on information that exists only inside somebody’s head.

Good documentation protects both the customer and the IT provider and, in my experience, it is usually a good indication of how organised an IT company really is.

8. What happens when somebody joins or leaves?

New starters and leavers are a good indication of how organised an IT provider is.

There should be a clear process for creating accounts, configuring equipment, applying the correct permissions and making sure everything is ready when somebody starts.

The same applies when somebody leaves.

Access should be removed promptly, company devices should be accounted for and important business information should remain accessible to the right people.

These processes are particularly important from a cyber security and data protection perspective.

They are routine tasks, but they are exactly the sort of routine tasks that need to be done consistently and correctly every time.

9. How are backups managed?

Having backup software isn’t the same as having a reliable backup.

Ask what is being backed up, where the backups are stored, how frequently they run and how failures are monitored.

Then ask one more question:

When was the last successful restore test?

It’s a simple question, but an important one.

Backups ultimately exist for one reason: to recover your information when you need it.

A successful backup report doesn’t automatically mean that everything can be recovered successfully when something goes wrong.

A good IT provider should be able to explain how your backups work, what would happen if you needed to recover your systems and how they know your data can actually be restored.

10. Who controls your systems and accounts?

Your business should remain in control of its technology.

You should understand who owns and controls important services such as your Microsoft 365 tenant, domain names, internet services, cloud systems and software licences.

Your IT provider will often administer these systems on your behalf, but that shouldn’t mean you are locked into that provider.

Ask what would happen if you decided to move elsewhere.

A professional IT company should have a clear handover process and should never make leaving unnecessarily difficult.

Hopefully you will have a long relationship with your IT provider, but you should stay because you are happy with the service, not because leaving has deliberately been made difficult.

11. Is the pricing clear?

The cheapest IT support isn’t necessarily the best value, but neither should IT support be difficult to understand.

Find out exactly what is included in the monthly charge.

Are onsite visits included? Are projects charged separately? Is cyber security included? What about Microsoft 365 management? Are new computers configured as part of the service? Is support unlimited?

There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong pricing model.

Some providers charge per user, some per device and others use a fixed monthly fee. What matters is understanding what you are paying for and what might result in an additional charge.

If you’re comparing two IT companies, don’t compare the monthly figures without first comparing what is actually included.

A cheaper quote can look very different once additional support, security, projects and onsite work are taken into account.

12. Can they demonstrate what they are doing?

This is something I feel particularly strongly about.

A lot of good IT management happens quietly in the background. Systems are monitored, updates are installed, backups are checked and security issues are dealt with without users ever knowing.

That’s exactly how it should be.

But that shouldn’t mean a customer has no idea what their IT company is actually doing.

A good IT provider should be able to demonstrate the work being carried out and give you a clear picture of the health of your technology.

That might include regular technology reviews, security assessments, asset information, system health checks, recommendations, ticket reporting and planned improvements.

You shouldn’t have to wait for something to break before hearing from your IT company and a good IT support company should be comfortable answering all of these.

In fact, I’d be more concerned if they weren’t.

What does good IT support look like?

For me, good IT support should ultimately make technology easier for your business.

Your team should know who to contact when they need help. Problems should be dealt with quickly. Your systems should be monitored and maintained, risks should be identified before they become incidents, and you should understand what is happening without needing to become an IT expert yourself.

It’s one of the reasons we’ve put so much emphasis at Obsidian Networks on proactive system health checks, cyber security, monitoring and giving our customers clear visibility of their IT.

But technology is only part of it.

After more than a decade of running Obsidian Networks, I still believe the relationship you have with your IT company matters. They should know your business, know your people and be there when you need them.

That’s what we mean by Real People Simplifying IT.