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Choosing the right provider can sometimes be confusing, especially when you are meeting with three or four (or more!) of them. Furthermore, when asking these questions, keep in mind that you are looking for a true partner, not just a supplier. You want to be able to share your business plans with them so they can give you the right advice.
Before enlisting their services, you need to get to know who they are and exactly what they can do for your business. You also want to make sure they have the resources needed to implement the IT solutions your business requires both now and in the future.
The hardest thing for most business owners is they are not sure of the questions to ask. Asking the right questions is essential to being able to effectively compare service providers and make an informed decision that is right for your business. To help you, we have devised the following tool:-
A 35 POINT Checklist for you to Use to help you Evaluate
Potential IT Support Providers
This questionnaire is overleaf or a soft copy may be downloaded separately from our web site ( http://www.combo.com.au/) in a matrix format (Excel .xls file). Go to our Web Site and click “Free Stuff. The Excel file version also has an additional column which allows you to score each answer given out of a maximum of 10 points. The questionnaire is a comprehensive list of questions and appropriate responses as a guide for you. It has room for you to write notes/the response from the company under evaluation.
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Potential Service Partner: |
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Company Information: |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
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1. How long have you been in business? |
Minimum 5 years |
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2. What level of Microsoft Partner are you (Registered, Certified or Gold Certified)? |
Gold Certified |
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3. What other companies are you an accredited partner of? |
Looking for high quality suppliers such as Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Apple, Toshiba, Salesforce.com etc |
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4. What is your organisation’s legal structure? (Business Name, Company Private or Public) |
Pty Ltd or Limited Company |
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5. Where is your Head Office and do you have any other offices? |
You need a “local” in your city |
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6. How many people work for your organisation? How many in the technical team? |
Minimum 20 employees. You need a number of technicians in order to have the broadest range of skills which is essential to rapid problem resolution. |
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7. How many of these are Microsoft Certified Professionals or certified by other organisations |
Any technician that is sent on site should be qualified |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
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8. What % of your employees are contractors? |
<20%. Lower than this is desirable for stability, a better trained and closely managed team |
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9. How long have you worked for this organisation? |
Longer is better – look for indicators of stability in their workforce |
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10. What is the average length of service for employees of your organisation |
3 years or more shows stability which is good for your continuity |
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11. What IT specialisations or Microsoft Competencies does your organisation have? |
They should be able to demonstrate a depth of skills and knowledge with at least 4 Microsoft Competencies – more is better. Are their Competencies relevant to your needs? |
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12. What industries are your existing clients in? |
These skills are largely transferable across industries but ask about clients with a similar set up or issues to yourself. Bonus if they have good experience in your industry sector as they can be a more effective business partner for you. |
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13. On average, how large are the businesses you currently work with? What is your target market |
Make sure you “fit” with their customer base and that you fall within their target market e.g. 10 – 150 PCs as this is where their greatest competence will lie. |
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Customer References |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
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14. Can you supply a list (a representative sample) of customers with those highlighted who are similar to my business |
No supplier will give you their entire customer list for fear of it falling into competitor’s hands, but they should be willing to give you a small sample list. If they are smart, they will give you names of businesses that are in some way similar to yours e.g. size, industry, nature of issues, potential benefits. |
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15. May I have contact details for xxx? |
YOU choose which clients you would like to speak with from the list supplied. |
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16. Do you have any case studies on your customers whose solution is similar to the one you are proposing for me? |
Professional organisations will always be able to supply you with this type of material. |
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Implementing the Solution |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
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17. What are the key steps you take when deploying your service? |
Always documented
Staged to minimise disruption to your business
Assign a lead technician AND a back-up |
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18. What are the processes involved for you to manage my project? |
Needs Analysis
Planning
Documentation
Implementation
Satisfaction checks
Ongoing preventative maintenance services
Remote Maintenance
Help Desk services |
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19. Would my project be managed by a Certified Professional? |
YES. Any technician that comes on your site should be certified |
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20. Do I have a dedicated technician for my account? |
Yes, you have a technician dedicated to your account as well as a back-up person in case your technician is away or busy when you need them. BOTH people know your systems well |
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21. What is your Service Level Agreement? May I have a copy? |
2 Hour Response. Copy of the agreement should be made available. Read the fine print carefully! |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
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22. Describe a previous implementation project like this that you have done recently including the achievements and outcomes |
Their explanation should describe a client with a similar network (size, type) or issues to you. Look for their ability to associate what they have done to hard business (not just technology) benefits (e.g. productivity gain, money saved etc) |
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23. What business needs did this solve for your customer? |
The provider should have a clear idea of the business needs of their customer and how the technology applied helped them meet these needs. Answers like “they needed a new server or printer” etc are not acceptable and demonstrate a lack of understanding of their client’s business |
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24. What was the primary benefit for your customer? |
Again, the focus should be on business benefits, not technology! |
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25. Would they be prepared to talk with me about the project? |
Yes. The provider should be willing to facilitate a private discussion |
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Benchmarking |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
- How do you measure your success as a company?
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Financial success, AND Customer Satisfaction AND Recognition from the business community e.g. Awards etc |
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- How do you set yourself apart from your competitors?
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Excellent customer service that is recognised and awarded by an independent third party (i.e. not just their say-so) |
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- How do you compare against industry standards?
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Across the country, less than 10% of Microsoft Certified Partners are certified at the Gold Level. Within an 80 km radius of Melbourne, the figure is around 8%. Of these, less than 10% are focussed on small business |
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- How can your organisation add value to my business?
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Help you increase productivity significantly
Where we can, we’ll help you save money
If you share your 3 year business plan with us, we can help you make the right IT decisions |
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- How does this compare with your competitors?
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That small percentage of Microsoft Gold Certified Partners are the very top level of Microsoft Partners and have access to a set of resources and the support they need to help businesses like yours. |
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- Who are your competitors?
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Look for a definite answer here. Many people can’t answer this succinctly which means they don’t really have a focus on distinguishing themselves. This has an impact on their quality of service as they are not striving to be the best. |
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Contracts , Terms & Conditions |
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Questions you should ask |
Desirable Answer |
Their Answer |
- What are your standard service arrangements? (e.g. ad-hoc, blocks of hours, Managed Service Agreement)
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Managed Service Agreement should be their preferred offering for you |
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- What are your standard contract and payment terms
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Flexible according to client needs.
Negotiable. Quality providers will always enable a win-win situation for their clients |
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- How do you deal with out of scope work and/or variations
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A heavily discounted hourly rate for service Agreement Customers |
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- Do you give a 100% satisfaction, money back guarantee? Ask to see any conditions on this guarantee
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Yes |
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About Combo:
Combo is a leader in providing innovative IT solutions for small and medium business with between 10-150 PCs. Based in Fitzroy North, Combo delivers quality, cost-effective services to clients throughout Victoria.
We have won many awards for outstanding customer service, innovation, growth and financial management, as displayed on our web site at http://www.combo.com.au/. However, most importantly, Combo has an outstanding track record for customer service as verified by winning the Australian Achiever Award for providing the best levels of customer services amongst Victorian Computer Systems and Software Services Companies in 2006 and 2007. This award focuses exclusively on the following seven criteria – Time Related Service, Addressing Client Needs, Care and Attention, Value, Attitude, Communication and Overall Perception. The nominee company’s clients are surveyed by Australian Achiever and a score in excess of 80% is regarded as exceptional. In 2006, Combo scored 98.27% for Customer Service & Relations, only to top that in 2007 to receive an incredible 100% rating from our clients. Australian Achiever’s media release was headlined: - “Combo of Fitzroy North treats clients the best in Victoria”
David Markus, Combo’s Founder and Managing Director, has worked in the computer industry since 1995 in roles such as Senior Systems Engineer for Digital (now HP Compaq), IT Manager for the Melbourne Docklands Authority and IT Operations Manager for CSF Group of London. In his career he has been responsible for the management of literally thousands of computers, developing principles, methodologies and tools that now form the technology base of Combo.
Each of our technicians is not only an IT expert, but also an effective communicator with a keen eye for improving business processes. Our people are more than just technicians; they work as your IT Manager. As evidence of the level and skill of our team, we are a Microsoft Gold certified partner, the highest level of certification available from Microsoft. This means the team has studied and passed numerous examinations. Microsoft also surveys our customers to ensure a high level of care and service.
We also take the time to research the technology at a level that small business cannot afford to do independently. As a result, we can implement proven, dependable solutions to your IT and business problems, always focusing on increasing productivity and maximising your return-on-investment.
Our staff also attend industry training and briefing sessions on a regular basis to stay in touch with the latest developments in our area. Hours every week are dedicated to reading and discussion of industry topics. To do this yourself would take you away from your core business functions and reduce your effectiveness and you simply can’t afford to employ a team of IT experts yourself.
As a small company, you face a number of issues with your computer systems. Traditionally computer problems in a small business have been solved with a piecemeal approach, fixing things when they break. This has proven to be expensive and generally makes it difficult for you to effectively utilise technology to grow your business.
At Combo we bring the corporate approach of a Standard Operating Environment, pro-active maintenance and a long-term plan to small companies. This is not an expensive process as we do it every day for companies just like yours and spread the cost across our entire customer base, thereby making it very affordable for all. With Combo, you can be sure that your IT systems continue to operate at peak performance. This will enable you to focus on running your successful business.
Telephone: 1300 726 626 Email: sales@combo.com.au
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