All sorts of businesses – of all sizes – choose to engage an IT outsourcing company rather than hiring and maintaining an internal IT service support function. It’s an approach that works well for thousands of companies in the U.S. alone, but the success or failure of outsourcing your IT support lies in choosing the right partner. How can you tell whether an IT outsourcing company is not only good at what they do, but perhaps more importantly, whether it will be a good fit for your business? Here are four key questions you should ask when discussing your IT service support needs with an external contractor.

1. How long have you been in business? There are some great IT service support start-ups out there, but when trusting an outside party with your IT infrastructure and network security, you’ll want to err on the side of experience. If you do decide to go with a newer IT outsourcing company, ask about the previous support experience of the people in the team. Remember, however, that you’re not only gauging the IT experience of the team you’ll be working with, but also the operational and financial stability of the business – something that’s harder to establish with a younger company.
2. What operating systems do you support? Microsoft Windows is fairly ubiquitous, but it’s by no means the only OS around. If you run a design studio that mainly uses Macs, or an engineering firm that runs CAD applications on Linux, then you need to be confident that your IT outsourcing company has experience on those operating systems. And if your IT service support includes tablets or mobile devices running Android or iOS, then you need to know that they’ll be adequately covered too.

3. Have you previously dealt with clients in my sector? Whatever industry your business operates in, it will have its own unique hardware and software needs, ranging from retail sales systems through design software to appointment tracking applications. While some IT service support skills are transferrable, you ideally want your IT outsourcing company to have direct experience supporting clients in your field.
4. Do you provide out-of-hours support? Depending on the nature of your business, you may or may not require IT service support outside of normal office hours. If out-of-hours support is something you’re likely to need, establish whether your IT outsourcing company provides this service, what form it takes and, crucially, whether it is an integral part of the contracted service, or something that you will have to pay extra for.