Every IT company promises "full support". The word means different things to different providers — here is a checklist you can put in front of any of them, including us.
1. Who answers, and how fast
Ask for the response time in writing, and ask what happens outside working hours. Compare target response times, what is actually guaranteed and where the limits are — a very low price per user with "immediate response 24/7" deserves a close look at the small print.
2. Is remote help unlimited or metered
Some contracts include a set number of hours and bill the rest. That is fine — as long as you know it before the first busy month. Ask what happens when the allowance runs out.
3. Who keeps the systems updated
Windows updates, Microsoft 365 settings, antivirus, router firmware. If nobody is named, it is nobody's job. Updates are the dullest part of IT, and they only happen reliably when someone is named as responsible.
4. Backups: taken, monitored, and tested
Three different things. Plenty of companies have backups running that nobody has ever restored. Ask when the last test restore was done and what it proved.
5. Starters and leavers
A new person needs an account, a mailbox, licences and access on day one; when someone leaves, access should be removed on an agreed working day after the provider receives your notice. If this is not in the contract, it becomes an emergency every time.
6. What is explicitly not included
This is the most useful question. Our answer: under Managed IT Support we look after computers, networks, Microsoft 365 and accounts; servers and restore testing are on the With servers plan. Business applications — accounting software, clinic systems, CRM — usually stay with their own vendors; simple self-hosted applications and Odoo we can support separately. A provider who claims to support everything has usually not thought about it.
7. Documentation and exit
Ask who holds the passwords and whether you get documentation of your own systems. If leaving your provider means losing the keys to your own network, that is not a contract, it is a hostage situation.
8. The real monthly cost
Per user, per month, with a minimum. Ours is £50 per user without servers and £75 with servers, minimum £300 a month, on a 12-month agreement (month to month: £60 / £90). Minimum payment, onboarding and full terms are on our pricing page, so you can compare before you speak to anyone. Ask others for the same numbers in writing.