Seven questions to ask an operations partner
Compare more than capacity and monthly cost. Ask how the service works on an ordinary working day, during change and when something goes wrong.
1. What does the price include?
Ask for a breakdown of capacity, operations, backups, licences and add-ons. Clarify what affects costs when the environment grows or additional work is needed. Compare equivalent scopes across the options.
2. How is the migration carried out?
Specify who inventories the environment, tests integrations and decides that the service is ready for use. Plan for disruption and rollback if the migration does not go as intended. A joint handover reduces uncertainty after go-live.
3. What help do we get when something happens?
Ask when support is staffed, how incidents are reported and how urgent issues are escalated. Distinguish between a promised response time and the time needed to resolve a problem. Make sure the contact channels suit your operating hours and critical workflows.
4. Who is responsible for what?
Review infrastructure, operating systems, applications, permissions and information. Document who patches, monitors, restores and approves changes. Also describe the information the provider needs from you in order to act.
5. How is security work demonstrated?
Request relevant, up-to-date documentation about the service. Certificates, assessment reports and procedures need to cover a scope that meets your needs. Also ask how shortcomings are followed up and which reports you receive during the contract.
6. Where is the data and what dependencies do we have?
Clarify location, subcontractors and access. Include backups and supporting services. If personal data is processed, the responsibilities and terms must be clear. The country in which a server is located is only one part of the assessment.
7. How do we change and end the service?
Ask how capacity, architecture and contractual scope can change. Plan how data, documentation and necessary keys will be handed over when the arrangement ends. A hosting relationship works better when both growth and a future change of provider can be managed.