Navigating through a computer issue is challenging enough without having to worry about the competency of your IT professional. When soliciting the assistance of an IT company, ask these questions to determine whether they have the appropriate qualifications.

1. How long have they been in business?
Like many other industries, there is no substitute for experience. The longer a company has been in business, the more reputable they are and the better-qualified they will be to diagnose a problem. We recommend choosing a company that has been practicing for at least five years.

2. Have they performed the specified task before?
When it comes to technology, don’t be a guinea pig. To save time and money in the future, make sure your IT professional is familiar with the task you are asking of them and has a clear plan of action for performing it.

3. Do they handle vendor management?
Vendor management* can be defined as “a discipline that enables organizations to control costs, drive service excellence and mitigate risks to gain increased value from their vendors throughout the deal life cycle.” An IT professional should be knowledgeable in this area.

4. How will they handle patch management?
Every IT professional should have a detailed course of action on how they deal with code changes to a computer system. Make sure they know which patches should go with different systems, how to install patches, and are knowledgeable on the subsequent configurations.

5. What backup strategy are they using for you?
When placing access to all your data in another’s hands, you should be able to rest assured that it will all be in tact when it is returned. Backup solutions are incredibly important – we use at least three on all occasions (link to last blog post).

6. What do they do when things go wrong?
As qualified as an IT professional is, technology can be an unpredictable business that has its ups and downs. Before choosing a company, ask how they handle mishaps and make sure they have a policy in place that works in your favor.

At ICC, we pride ourselves on always delivering our services with the utmost quality. Please feel free to ask us these questions and any other ones that come to mind so we can guarantee that you receive the expert technical support you deserve.