Questions to ask your managed services provider

Harbor Networks Blog

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The premise behind managed services is that your partner should take ownership of your systems management lifecycle, enabling you to focus on running your business. Once your voice and data network platform has been designed, built and launched, there is still a crucial operational aspect to consider.

That makes selecting your partner more important today than ever before. You want to find an MSP that meets your short-term requirements, keeps pace with the rapid evolution in technology and is able to grow and change with your business. Installing and maintaining voice on your network, for example, is not as easy as people make it out to be.

There are many considerations. Following is a selected list of questions you should ask your prospective MSP:

Covering Your Bases

• Do you support ITIL best practices for IT service management?
• Will you support and manage both my voice and data services?
• How many products and technologies do you support?
• Do you provide manufacturer or enterprise support?
• How will you protect my investment in technology?
• Which voice and data technologies will you recommend… why?

Responsibilities & Ownership

• Are you constantly refreshing, re-educating and innovating with new technologies?
• What happens when your employees moves on… will I have continuity of service?
• Who will demo the system to me?
• Who will design our solution?
• Who will quote our solution?
• Who will plan our transition?
• Who will install our solution?
• Who will support our solution?
• Who will be our primary point of contact at each phase?

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The Transition

• How will you transition me from the old environment to the new one?
• During the transition, how will you keep office disruptions to a minimum?
• During the transition, will my service be disrupted?

The Service Operations Center

• Do you have a SOC?
• How many people are in your SOC?
• How many support people will be assigned to my case?
• What hours are they available… is support easily accessible during those hours?
• What tiers of service do you offer?

Harbor Networks is happy to answer your questions about managed services partnerships. For more information on our managed services offerings, please visit our HarborNet page.

Download our eBook "5 Signs Your Need to Upgrade Your Phone System."

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