Make sure to check these important things in your managed IT support contract before signing the dotted line.)
Are you looking for a managed IT support vendor in Singapore?
Well, that’s a great decision.
A managed IT support will take care of your all IT needs, especially if you have a small staff as well as limited resources.
The service will be started as soon as you sign the contract or agreement with your IT support provider.
But this is the phase when you should be more attentive, more careful. This is because a service agreement includes the services and conditions associated with them. For example, it includes the timeframe, serviceability, guarantees and liability. By reading the agreement, you also get an idea of their quality and commitment.
Make sure to read it before signing.
Let’s accept it. No body want to go through the fine print. To make it easier for you, here are some important points to look for in your IT support contract.
What Does a Managed IT Services Agreement Cover?
A typical IT managed Services contract is composed of…
Definition of Services:
It is basically an overview of the services being broken down in details across the documents.
It mentions the timeframe of the services and termination clauses.
It mentions charges and payment schedule.
This section informs about the hours of coverage by the vendor.
At this part, you are informed about the services that are not included in the agreement or may be charged separately.
How their support team entertain your concerns? Do they have certain limitations? It should be mentioned in the document as well.
This part should be read carefully as it informs about the vendor’s liability in case of damages and data breaches.
Also read this part carefully as it tells about the systems or users being covered by the support.
What to Look for In Your IT Support Agreement
Aforesaid points are just the reflection of the structure of the agreement.
You should also discuss the IT support contract with the vendor to get a clear view of everything.
Services:
What does your package include? Does it provide cloud of Office 365? Can I get network security with your package?
Security:
Do you provide me security? What are your security measures? What will you do in case of data breach or security incident?
Infrastructure Administration:
Ask if they can provide basics like storage maintenance, server maintenance, network administration and other typical network services.
On Site or Remote Helpdesk Support:
How your IT needs will be taken care of? Does the vendor provide onsite support? Or they can provide only remote support?
You will get remote support with a cloud based vendor while a traditional vendor provides helpdesk style support.
Data Backup:
The qualified IT support vendor will also provide data backup. Besides, make sure to ask how your data will be backed up. If you are working with a cloud vendor, make sure they have private cloud services for your sensitive information.
Disaster Recovery Plan:
You never know when security incidents can cost your data. The other forms of risk occur as natural disasters and breakdowns. Therefore, your IT support vendor should have an effective data recovery service in place.
So these are some main points to discuss with your IT contractor while signing the agreement. Don’t sign the document unless you are clear with certain things. After all, IT support will act as the backbone for your business.