Questions to ask an IT outsourcing company before you sign

Ask every company on your list the same questions and compare the written answers.

How they work

1. What happens in the first 30 days? Do you document what we have?
2. Who will we work with day to day, and who covers when they are away?
3. Do you support the software our industry depends on?
4. How do you track tickets, and can we see them?

Security basics

5. Do you require multi-factor authentication on our accounts, including your own staff accessing our systems?
6. How are devices updated and monitored?
7. Are backups kept away from the main network, and when did you last test a restore for a customer?
8. What is the process when an employee joins or leaves?
9. What would you do in the first hour of a suspected breach?

Business questions

10. What is included in the fee and what is extra?
11. Can we speak with two customers of similar size?
12. What happens to our systems and documentation if we leave?
13. What insurance do you carry?

Warning signs

• Reluctance to put scope and response times in writing.
• Holding administrator passwords and refusing to share them.
• No clear answer on backups and restores.
• Pressure to sign quickly or promises that nothing will ever go wrong.

Trial first

If possible, start with a short project or a short-term agreement to see how they communicate before a long commitment.