Most managed IT service agreements contain gaps that only become visible when something goes wrong. Here’s what to look for — and the questions that will tell you whether your current provider is the right one.
The SLA That Doesn’t Mean What You Think
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in IT contracts often promise response times — not resolution times. There’s a significant difference. A provider that guarantees a 1-hour response to a critical issue has done nothing more than promise to answer the phone. What matters is how long it takes to fix the problem.
Ask your provider for their average resolution time by issue severity over the last 12 months. If they can’t produce this data, that’s informative.
The Backup Assumption
Most businesses assume their IT provider is backing up their data. Many IT providers assume the business knows they need to configure and pay for backup separately. This gap — the backup assumption — is one of the most common sources of catastrophic data loss we’ve seen. Confirm in writing, with specifics: what is backed up, how often, where, and how long recoveries take.
Security vs. Compliance
These are not the same thing. A provider can make you compliant with HIPAA or SOC 2 requirements without actually making you secure. Compliance frameworks describe minimums; security describes actual risk posture. If your provider talks more about your compliance status than your threat landscape, push back.