Replace your IT company
Questions to ask before hiring a new IT company
Choosing a technology partner affects how fast people get help, whether backups actually restore, and who answers when two vendors disagree. Price is the easy question. Accountability is the one that predicts the next two years.
This is for leadership that already suspects the current relationship is not working — or is hiring for the first time after outgrowing a friend who is “good with computers.”
Ask these in a meeting. Ask for answers in writing. If the room goes vague, that is the answer.
Why this matters
A proposal can promise monitoring, security, and “strategic guidance” in the same paragraph. The difference shows up on a Tuesday in Southlake when the front desk cannot print and you need a person, not a portal.
Companies with 15 to 250 employees cannot staff a full internal IT department for every specialty, and they cannot afford a provider that only owns a slice. The interview should find out who owns the outcome.
Why interviews go wrong
You compare hourly rates
The cheap ticket that sits for two days is not cheaper. Ask what is included, what is extra, and what happens after hours — then compare that, not the retainer headline.
You accept “we have a tool for that”
Tools are not ownership. Ask who looks at the alert, who tests the backup, and who calls you when something is wrong before you notice.
You never ask who the account team is
If the answer is a rotating queue in another state, you know how every issue will start: with you explaining the office again.
Business impact of a weak hire
- Ambiguous security ownership is how MFA stays “almost done” until a questionnaire or an incident.
- No escalation path is how a simple issue becomes a week of silence.
- No documentation standard is how the next technician costs you a rediscovery project.
- No vendor management is how you remain the project manager between the ISP and the firewall.
Questions that actually separate providers
How quickly do you respond — and who responds?
Ask for response goals, how tickets are prioritized, and what happens in an emergency. Ask whether the person who picks up already knows your environment. “We have a portal” is not a complete answer for a practice or a warehouse that cannot wait on a form.
Who handles security?
Do they manage Microsoft 365 security, watch endpoints, review access when people leave, and verify backups with a restore — not a green icon? If security is “a partner we can introduce,” you will own the gap between two companies.
How do you escalate problems that are not simple?
Password resets are not the test. Ask who oversees a major incident, how you hear about it, and whether leadership gets a timeline or a void.
How is documentation maintained?
What is written down, how often it is updated, and who can see it if your account manager is out. If documentation is “in the ticket system,” assume it will not be there when you need a diagram.
How do you manage other vendors?
Internet, phones, software, security platforms. One accountable team should coordinate them. Finger-pointing is a process failure, not bad luck.
Do you provide a plan, or only a help desk?
Ask how they handle budget timing, hardware that will age out, Microsoft 365 cleanup, and growth — a second office, a second doctor, a hiring burst. Support without a plan is break-fix with a monthly invoice.
Recommended solution
Score providers on ownership, communication, and whether they can describe a takeover — not on a slide of logos. If you are leaving someone, ask how they take over admin access, backups, and vendor conversations without making Friday a surprise for staff.
Bring the same questions to 323 Technologies. Replace your IT company is the process we use when the interview is really about leaving a provider that already failed these tests.
How 323 Technologies helps
We will tell you who the account team is, what is in the monthly rhythm, and what a handoff looks like in Southlake and across DFW. We will not pretend Microsoft support is your IT department, or that a monitoring dashboard is a named owner.
If you want a second set of eyes before you sign with anyone, bring the last month of tickets and the questions on this page. You leave with a recommendation and a price, not a tool dump.
Questions
Should we get three bids?
Get enough to compare how they take over and who shows up — not to average three retainers. A bid that cannot describe backups and admin access is not a real bid.
Is a local Southlake team required?
You need someone who can be on-site in DFW when the building needs a person, and the same people remote when it does not. Geography without ownership is still a queue.
What is a fair contract length?
Long enough to do a real onboarding, short enough that you are not trapped if the signs from the seven-signs article return. Ask what exiting looks like, including documentation you keep.
Do we need a security assessment before we hire?
If security is why you are looking, yes — or fold that review into the takeover so you are not guessing on MFA and backups. An assessment without an owner for the fixes is a PDF.
Can we keep our current internet and phone vendors?
Usually. Ask the new company whether they will coordinate those vendors or whether you remain the go-between.
How soon after signing does support actually start?
Ask for a phased calendar: when the new number is live, when admin access moves, when the old company is done. “Immediately” without a sequence is a red flag.
Next step
Interview the takeover, not the brochure.
See how 323 Technologies replaces an IT company: inventory, access, backups, vendors, and a named team in Southlake.
Or call (817) 477-6111