Responsiveness and resolution
Start with the numbers your agreement promises. Ask for monthly reports on response times by priority and compare them with the targets. Look at how long requests take to close, not just to acknowledge, and whether urgent problems are treated as urgent. Most ticketing systems record this automatically, so a provider that cannot produce these figures is telling you something about how it runs. Look at the trend over several months, since a single bad month can have an innocent explanation such as a widespread vendor outage.
Numbers do not tell the whole story, so add a human check. Ask several staff how they find getting help: do they know how to ask, do they get a sensible reply, do problems stay fixed? Staff who have stopped asking for help because it feels pointless are a stronger warning sign than any missed target in a report.
Recurring problems
Look for patterns in the support requests. If the same printer, the same laptop or the same type of problem appears month after month, the provider is treating symptoms rather than causes. A good provider spots repeats, investigates and either fixes the underlying issue or recommends a change, such as replacing a failing device or adjusting a setting.
Ask your provider directly what the top recurring issues are and what they are doing about them. A thoughtful answer shows they are paying attention to your environment. A vague answer, or surprise at the question, suggests they are working through tickets without looking at the bigger picture of how your systems are behaving.
Security basics with evidence
Ask for evidence rather than reassurance. Can the provider show that multi-factor sign-in is enforced for every user, that devices are patched within an agreed timeframe, that endpoint protection is running everywhere and that alerts are reviewed? Can they show that leavers' accounts were disabled promptly? These are simple checks that a well-run provider can answer within minutes.
Backups deserve the same treatment. Ask when the last restore test was done, what was restored and how long it took. A provider that tests restores regularly and reports the results is protecting you. One that says the backups are fine without evidence is asking you to take a significant risk on trust. Ask too whether backups are kept somewhere separate from your main systems, so an attack on one cannot destroy the other.
Communication and advice
Good providers explain things in plain English. When something goes wrong, they tell you what happened, what they did and what will stop it happening again. When they recommend spending, they explain the risk it addresses and the options available, rather than presenting a single quote with no context or alternatives.
They also raise issues before you ask. A warranty about to expire, an operating system reaching end of support, a licence change that will affect your costs or a security warning from the NCSC relevant to your systems should all reach you from your provider, ideally with a recommendation, before they become urgent.
Planning and the bigger picture
Look at whether your IT is getting better over time. After a year with a provider, are there fewer problems, better security, newer equipment on a planned cycle and clearer documentation? Or does everything look much as it did when they started? Improvement over time is one of the clearest signs of a provider who is genuinely managing your IT rather than maintaining it.
Regular reviews are where this shows. If your provider meets with you, reviews performance, discusses risks and helps you plan the year ahead, they are doing more than reacting to tickets. If reviews never happen, or only happen when there is something to sell, that is worth raising directly with them.
Raising concerns fairly
If something is not working, say so early and specifically. Point to the examples: requests that waited too long, problems that keep returning, questions that went unanswered. Give the provider a fair chance to respond and improve, and agree how you will measure progress over the next few months. Put the agreed measures in writing so both sides know what success looks like.
Most issues can be resolved with a clear conversation. If they cannot, and the provider repeatedly misses agreed standards, you have the evidence you need to move on. An independent health check can help here too, giving you a neutral view of your systems before you decide whether to stay or switch.
In short
- Compare response and resolution times with the agreed targets.
- Watch for recurring problems that never get a root-cause fix.
- Ask for evidence of security controls and restore tests.
- Expect plain-English advice and steady improvement over time.