While gearing up for the new year and the business challenges ahead...

...you, as a business owner, may want to ask "Are you getting what you expect from your IT services provider?" Is your IT provider meeting or exceeding your expectations? As the business owner have you even set the expectations for them?

Obviously when you purchase a service, especially IT support services, it is because it’s not your area of expertise. You now have to rely on someone else to set up, fix and manage these systems. You have invested in these technologies so that you can improve your services. Does your current IT provider partner with you to help you achieve your business goals? If your systems aren’t running smoothly and your vendor isn’t being effective it will negatively impact the quality and level of services you provide to your clients. But how can you be sure you are getting what you are paying for?

Here are some things you need to have proof of from your IT support:

• Are they qualified to do what you are paying them to do?
• Can they prove they are certified by industry vendors such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Sonic wall?
• Are they monitoring your system?
• Do they alert you to problems before it affects your business?
• Are they keeping your systems and antivirus software current?
• Are your business critical systems being backed up daily?
• Have they provided you with a disaster recovery plan?
• Have they implemented security policies and hardware to keep your business, employees and data safe?

If you unsure if your current “computer guy” is providing these services so that you ARE getting what you are paying for, you can find the answers for a reasonable price. We at CNSG will be happy to conduct an independent, third-party audit of your systems to put your mind at ease.