What Your IT Provider Should Show You Every Month

In short:

• You should see the tickets, response times, the state of the equipment, backups and security - not only the amount on the invoice.
• Response time only means something when it is compared with what was promised.
• The equipment inventory shows what the provider supports and what is due for replacement.
• It is best to have the data available at any time, not only in a PDF once a month.

Why the report matters

A report is not a formality. It answers three business questions:

• Are we getting what we pay for? How many tickets there were, how quickly they were picked up and how many were solved the same day.
• Where is the risk? Failed backups, computers without updates, disks about to fail, outdated devices.
• What should we plan? Which computers to replace next year, which licenses are not used, where the same problems keep coming back.

Under NIS2, ISO 27001 or GDPR, this data also helps you show that the measures are actually applied.

What a monthly report should include

Warning signs

• There is no report, or it only comes on request.
• "Everything is fine" without a single number.
• Ticket counts without response times - you do not know whether the promise is kept.
• Nothing about backups - the most expensive surprises come from there.
• You do not know what equipment you have or whose name the licenses are in. This becomes a problem at the latest when you change provider - see changing IT provider without downtime.

A monthly report or data at any time

A PDF report once a month is a good start, but it arrives late. It is better to have access to the data at any time: to see the ticket an employee raised yesterday, the state of the computers today or last month's invoice, without having to ask.

It is most useful when the two complement each other: the data is always available, and the IT partner explains what it means and what it recommends.

What to ask your provider

• What exactly will we see every month, and in what form?
• How is response time measured and how do you compare it with what was promised? See also what an SLA is in IT support.
• Will we have an inventory of all equipment and licenses?
• How will we find out if a backup has failed?
• Who in our company can see the data?

How we do it

Our clients get access to a client portal where they can see at any time:

• an inventory of the supported equipment and its status;
• ticket statistics - number, topics and how they were solved;
• calls and remote support sessions;
• invoices;
• charts that show how the workload and the problems change over time.

Access is given to the people in the company who are responsible for IT or the budget. We monitor the systems 24/7 and warn about problems before they stop work - see proactive monitoring of IT systems and what helpdesk support involves.

Frequently asked questions

How often should we get a report?

At least once a month. It is better to have the data available at any time, and to discuss the conclusions and recommendations once a month or once a quarter.

Who in the company should see the report?

The managing director or the person responsible for the budget, and the person responsible for IT in the company. Not all employees need access.

What should we do if the provider gives no reports?

Ask for specific data: tickets, response times, backups and an equipment inventory. If there is no way to get them, it is a sign that the support is not being measured.

Should the report show the response time?

Yes. Without it you cannot judge whether the promised time is kept. It is important to see the resolution time too, not only the time to pick up the ticket.

Does the report help with NIS2?

Yes, as evidence that the measures are applied: updates, backups, protection and incident response. The report itself is not compliance, but it shows that the measures work.

The report and the equipment inventory are part of our outsourced IT department.

Let's talk about your needs, and we will propose the best solution and price.