9 questions to ask your current IT provider…

One (1)

Q.   Does your present IT Company charge you an increased hourly rate for after-hours emergency support and weekend work?

A.  We are our clients “advocate” and have decided not to charge increased premiums during the times our clients need us most.

Two (2)

Q.  Are you tied to your current IT Company because of previously purchased “blocks of time” or “closed-end” contractual obligations?

A.  We conduct business the “old-fashioned” way – on a handshake.  We’ll NEVER sell you a “block of time”.  We’d rather you “pay as you   go”…  Our Network Maintenance Agreements are only binding for 30   days…  We want you to continue to use us because we deliver   solid, honest solutions, not because of a “contractual obligation”.

Three (3)

Q.  Do you have access to both your Firewall and Administrator password(s)?

A.  These passwords are critical to running your network!  We document all of your business critical passwords and allow you to access   them (via our Groove system) anytime you’d like!

Four (4)

Q.  Does your current IT provider document all of the work they complete for your company?

A.  We think the value provided should be explained in detail. Your monthly invoice from us provides detailed information   regarding the tasks we completed that month. You’ll never receive a bill from us that references something like…“$1,000.00 / Network Consulting”… that seems a bit vague… in our opinion…

Five (5)

Q.  Does your current IT provider have a disaster recovery plan in place that   can restore your system in just a few hours?

A.  Our disaster recovery procedures allows the backup of your entire   system… your software, users, passwords, updates, program customizations and data are all captured in a single file!  Then we move that file offsite.  When/If your server goes down we’ll bring back the offsite copy, bring your server back online, restore any changed data…   and all is good…!

We’ve been presented with a few, real, “opportunities” to test our disaster   recovery model in real life scenarios.  A surgery center’s main file server that provided access to critical patient data was down.  Patients were checking in for surgery but the system that contained their records was inaccessible.  We quickly, remotely, brought up a recent copy of the entire server… the center was able to proceed with the day’s surgeries and the patients never knew there was an issue.

Six (6)

Q.  Does your current IT provider protect your e-mail system from spam, viruses, and service interruptions?

A.  We recommend that our clients utilize our offsite spam and virus solutions to insure that all inbound mail is “real” and contains no SPAM and/or virus content.

If you currently have protection installed on your e-mail server…  think of this… for this solution to “work”, the spam/virus ridden e-mail has to make it to your server…?  By that time… isn’t it too late?

Seven (7)

Q.  Is your current IT provider certified by the companies they represent?

A.  Stonetree is a “Microsoft Gold Partner”, an HP Business Partner, and also a VMWare Professional partner.  We’re also certified by many other companies that are “household names” in   the IT industry.

Eight (8)

Q.  Does your current IT Provider offer you a single point of contact for all IT related issues?

A.  We’ll work to provide your entire IT function or to supplement your existing IT   Department.  All procurement (software, hardware, etc.) goes through us.  The ROI here is that you’ve only one number to call for information on any IT system and a single point of contact for all warranty and purchasing information.

Nine (9)

Q.  Does your current IT provider train you do handle simple IT tasks on your own?

A.  We provide documented solutions to common problems that your business sees on a regular basis.  We feel that it’s our responsibility to train you to fix common issues on your own   without having to incur the cost associated with us accomplishing the same task for you over and over again!