One contact person who knows your systems
First things first: you need a person who knows your systems. Not a call centre where you explain from scratch every time which printer is in the office. Ask who exactly is responsible for you and who takes over when that person is on holiday.
Availability and response time
“We’ll take care of it quickly” is written everywhere. What matters is what is in the contract: when is the provider available, how quickly do they respond to an outage, and what does help outside business hours cost? Get response times in writing.
Backup and recovery
Almost every provider makes backups. The better question is: has anyone ever checked whether everything can really be restored from them? Good backups are encrypted, stored at a second location separate from the actual system, and tested regularly.
Where is your data?
Under the GDPR, what counts is where your data is processed and who has access. Ask about the location of the servers, a data processing agreement and which third-party services are involved. We run websites and portals on servers we manage ourselves, in data centres in Germany.
Clear prices and fair terms
Do not just compare hourly rates. What matters is what a flat fee includes, how billing works and how long you are tied in. A good provider explains this before you sign, and puts it in writing.
The documentation belongs to you
Access data, licences, network layout: all of this should be documented, and the documentation belongs to you. If you change provider, the successor must be able to work with it. Anyone who holds back knowledge to keep you tied is not a good partner.
What we offer
With Funck IT we look after companies for the long term: stable systems, one fixed contact person and quick help when something gets stuck. Add to that websites, our own software such as the servuno CRM, and training for your team. More under IT & Web.