If you have hired an outsourced I.T. Department or an internal I.T. person, you most likely are assuming, and hoping it’s all good and that your I.T. person or the company you’ve hired- has it under control. As a business leader you most likely do not want to spend time daily, or even weekly, thinking about technology. And truthfully- you shouldn’t have to.  

So how do you know if your I.T. department has it under control?  

The short answer is- you can’t and you won’t, unless you start asking yourself these questions on the front end.  

1. What do you need your I.T. Department to do? Set up clear expectations for yourself and your provider to ensure you can trust that it is in fact taken care of. Work with your I.T. provider to setup an Incident Response Plan and a Disaster Recovery Plan. 
   
2. How do you know (or do you know) how to measure its performance? I.T. should no longer be measure simply by the number of tickets closed and how quickly they were closed. Yes, quick response time is important. But having an I.T. provider who not only responds reactively, but proactively, is critical. Talk to your I.T. department about what they are doing to protect you before disaster strikes. 
   
3. What outcomes do you want from your technology? Think through the role technology has in your organization. Could you operate with 24 hours of downtime? Talk to your I.T. provider about how you can not rely on your technology to work, but how you can leverage your technology to be more efficient and create better business outcomes.  

Start asking the questions. Start thinking about I.T. at the high level to. Don’t just assume your I.T. provider has it covered. And don’t let yourself find out at the wrong moment, that your I.T. provider doesn’t have it taken care of.