Cloud Services Provider
Checklist For Choosing the Right Partner
If you want cloud-based systems that support your organization’s success, you need a cloud services provider who supports your needs. Whether you’re reviewing your existing technology or looking for new solutions to extend your company’s capabilities, choosing the right partner is critical. We’ve created this checklist to help you evaluate your options and find the right match.
The Checklist
1. Ask about customer service processes and performance.
- What processes and data are used to proactively prevent IT issues?
- What are typical issue response and resolution times?
- Request recent, detailed customer satisfaction reports.
- What is the process used to onboard customers in a timely manner?
- What are the provider’s normal business hours and how do they handle support at other times?
- How many systens monitoring alarms are old, and how old are they?
- Can backup audit tickets be produced?
- What is their mean time to data or system recovery?
- Can tickets requiring authorization for a security change be produced?
- What processes and data are used to align cloud services with the business and evaluate ROI for cloud initiatives and support?
- What is their contract term and why?
2. Ask about scope of service offerings.
- Is unlimited, 24/7 support included?
- Can they buy Microsoft 365 licenses directly from Microsoft?
- What infrastructure design and implementation services are included?
- What CIO consulting and planning services are included?
- What security, compliance, and business continuity services are included?
3. Ask about business continuity, security, and privacy practices.
- Request copies of security and privacy policies.
- Request copies of third-party security audits and certifications.
- If your organization is subject to HIPAA, request a copy of the provider’s Business Associate Agreement.
- Request an overview of the firm’s disaster recovery and business continuity plans. What percentage of the service staff are contractors?
- If any of the following are outsourced, request a detailed description of the outsourcing arrangement.
- Help desk services
- Systems monitoring
- Server hosting
- Request a description of the provider’s hiring and termination processes.
- Ask about data ownership and the process for moving to a different service provider.
- Has the provider ever been responsible for a breach of client privacy/personal information? If so, request details of the breach as well as the steps taken to prevent a future breach.
4. Ask about your potential service team.
- Ask about the level of formal education and certifications held by team members.
- Can they engage Microsoft in the planning and execution of projects?
- Can they get expedited support from Microsoft for cloud issues?
- Are they a Tier 1 Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider?
5. Ask about company longevity and stability.
- How long has the provider been in business and how long has it been profitable?
- Request a summary of any lawsuits the provider has been involved in within the past five years.
- What was their employee turnover in the past year?
- Who is the average client (size, industry, type of engagement)? How many ongoing clients does the provider have? How long have those clients been with the provider on average?
6. Evaluate references.
- Request 2-3 references and contact one or two randomly chosen from the reference list.
