Insights.
John Drake & Associates shares practical guidance for business executives and IT leaders making decisions about support, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, staffing, and technology change.
Practical guidance
Risk and resilience
Infrastructure decisions
Lifecycle and strategy
How to evaluate a technology partner.
Choosing a technology partner requires more than comparing prices or reviewing a list of services. The right questions reveal how a provider handles support, security, accountability, internal IT collaboration, and long-term fit.
Questions worth asking a prospective IT partner
- Who will support our users, and how large is the technical team?
- What are the normal support hours and after-hours options?
- How are response expectations and service responsibilities defined?
- Can our internal IT department retain ownership and decision-making authority?
- Who is responsible for cybersecurity monitoring and incident response?
- What relevant security credentials or technical qualifications does the team maintain?
- What does onboarding involve, and how long does it typically take?
- How are support performance, security issues, and technology priorities reviewed?
- What happens when a project requires additional engineering resources?
- How are cloud hosting, backup, recovery, and business continuity handled?
- What types of organizations and technology environments does the provider support?
- How are responsibilities coordinated between the provider and an existing internal IT team?
Practical guidance for business leaders and internal IT teams.
Whether you are evaluating a complete IT partner or looking for additional support for an existing technology department, good decisions begin with clear information and practical conversations.
Have a technology question that deserves a practical answer?
Tell us what your organization is evaluating, and we will help you understand the available options and practical next steps.