Businesses are operating at a pace that’s faster than ever before, and a solid IT strategy is a crucial step in remaining competitive in today’s business world. Technology is making connectivity and communications much faster, and as a viable solution, many companies are considering using managed IT services support to host and outsource business processes and applications. If business owners want to use this strategy effectively, they need to partner with a trusted provider of managed services. Below are several things for clients to look for in an IT or managed services provider.

#1 Disaster Recovery and Backups

Any managed services provider must be able to prove they have a plan for recovery and backup of clients’ data and applications. Part of hosting or outsourcing a database or application involves relinquishing control of one of the business’ biggest assets. In addition to recovery capabilities, effective providers can offer other services like offsite database replication that allows the creation of testing environments.

#2 Security

Data security is second only in importance to disaster recovery and backup. With a new data breach making the news almost daily, clients should be assured their off-site data is safe. Customers should look for managed IT services support that uses industry standard methods of logical and physical data security along with those relevant to specific industries. Houston companies should have strategies for patching hosted systems and hardware to minimize potential areas of vulnerability.

#3 Service Level Agreements

An SLA, or service level agreement, is important to ensure that both sides are on the same page as far as service levels are concerned. On the client’s side, the SLA should provide information on a managed service provider’s turnaround times, ticket submission, and escalation procedures. On the provider’s side, the service level agreement protects the company from unreasonable customer requests, especially when the provider is assisting multiple clients at once.

These are just a few of the initial points clients should look for when choosing a managed services or IT support provider such as Bluewire. Before choosing a company, the customer should be confident the firm can meet their requirements for managed services and support.

Bluewire is happy to provide a full Managed Services & Support (MSS) package that offers multiple benefits; such as, easy monthly billing, 24/7 monitoring, and remote and onsite support, to name a few. For an MSS solution, or for more information on available options, contact one of Bluewire’s experts today.