Ep. 61 - What You Need to Know When You Outsource Your IT with Willie Kerns, President and Owner of Smartpath Technologies

KnowTechTalk

It seems that IT service and support is the subject of much confusion. In fact, many people and businesses have many misconceptions about outsourcing their IT.

To clarify things, I decided to reach out to my friend Willie Kerns, President and Owner of Smartpath Technologies, to discuss what you need to know when you outsource your IT.

00:00 - 01:33 Barb's Introduction

01:34 - 02:49 Meet Willie Kerns

02:50 - 05:51 What do you say when someone says "my computer network doesn’t need regular monitoring and maintenance"?

05:52 - 09:25 What do you say when someone says "I got a guy. My neighbour works in IT for a big company and he takes care of my IT on the side, after hours"?

09:26 - 17:29 What do you say when someone says "all computer technicians are created equal. Your best option will be the lowest price"?

17:30 - 19:52 What do you say when someone says "an honest computer support company should be able to give you a quote over the phone"?

19:53 - 22:52 Do you do a network assessment before taking over an account?

22:53 - 31:44 Questions people should ask when shopping for an IT company... Do they answer their phones live? When they offer a ‘flat rate monthly fee’ is it truly flat rate or are their ‘gotchas’ hidden in the fine print? What are the contract terms? Start up and set up fees? What are their standard procedures for them to provide you with written, network documentation detailing software licenses, hardware inventory, cloud locations, user information, etc or are they the only person that knows? Are they insured? Do they have adequate errors and omission insurance? Do they have references?

31:45 - 33:33 What is the most important thing you’ve ever learned?

33:34 - 34:40 Barb's extro