10 critical questions to ask potential suppliers

Run through the following checklist to evaluate potential suppliers for hosted and managed services: 

1 Do they have experience with businesses like yours? Are they knowledgeable about the issues and technologies relevant to your organisation?  

2  Do they understand your business and its specific needs?   

3 Are they flexible and scalable enough to serve both short-term peaks and long-term business needs?  

4  Do they offer proactive and responsive customer service - in your language?  

5  Do they understand both telephony and networking requirements, so they can give you a robust solution?  

6  Can they ensure that your site is available to the people who need it, when they need it?  

7  Is their infrastructure vulnerable to attacks by hackers and other threats?  

8  Can they respond quickly to evolving market conditions?  

9  Do they offer proactive monitoring and reporting services that can alert you to potential failures?  

10 Do they have the technology leadership to exploit new innovations?