How to audit an IT service provider?

There is nothing more important in a service provider than transparency. Whether they work in IT or anywhere else, you must be able to trust the organization that supports your business. You can’t just rely on a handshake when it comes to the safety and stability of your business.

There are so many elements you must control when partnering with a new service provider. You have to be sure they offer the services you need. Their prices have to be within your budget. They also need to share at least some of the same values that you do. At 42, we believe a plan for an IT service provider audit should be part of the onboarding process from the very beginning.

Any managed service provider (MSP) worth their salt should offer to help you set up internal audits for the quality of their outsourced operations. The team at 42 is not afraid of multiple types of audits on our performance. In fact, we encourage it because we want you to see the progress we’re making and all the work we put into your managed services.

Professional information security at the business level requires more than just firewalls and intrusion monitoring. You must also have fail-safes in place in case those security precautions are ever overcome by a new threat or personnel error.

Disaster recovery (DR) strategy and business continuity planning are a crucial part of protecting the future of your business. Be sure to review DR plans with your service provider. They should be able to predict recovery time objectives and the resiliency of your information systems.

For the customers we partner with, we perform IT security compliance assessments along with compliance assessments for HIPAA and IT SOX. Compliance programs set the industry standards for protecting customers, shareholders, and the businesses themselves.

You need to know your service provider is familiar with those compliance standards and is executing them accurately. Compliance audits can cost a company in legal fees or financial penalties. 42 makes it easy to audit our compliance. We don’t take any shortcuts and there multiple levels of controls put in place to ensure your business is compliant.

There are any number of reasons why your relationship with an MSP might end. You could be unhappy with their services. That provider could go out of business. You might get a better off that more accurately fits your needs. A professional MSP of premier quality will work with you to make sure your business is protected no matter what happens in the future.

You need to be sure your data and assets are safe in case the worst case scenario occurs. Once that is accomplished, you should also know how long it would take to transition your services or data to another platform. These predictions could save money and prevent lost time down the road.

We want to be your strategic partner in building the future of your successful business. That means doing all we can to set you up for success and mitigating any risks you might face—even if those risks come from your service provider.

Your organization is our number one priority and we’ll do all we can to give you peace of mind. So, ask us about your disaster recovery plan. Double check our compliance controls. We believe in transparency and we’re confident in the quality of our work. To learn more about ways to audit your IT service provider or all the ways we can help your business, contact 42 today.