Question #17, Is your IT vendor service desk based in the United States or do they outsource to an overseas company or third party?
Now listen, I am not in any way trying to speak badly about outsourcing, whether its outside the US or domestic there are great benefits to outsourcing and for certain tasks it can work very well. The fact is though, in my 20 years of experience I can tell you that it does not work well for the service desk. When you make a call to the desk you want to speak to someone who knows you and knows your company and someone who has the capacity to solve your technical issue without having to transfer the call to another department or constantly bring in someone more qualified to assist you, or literally have no clue who you are or how to assist you in a timely and efficient fashion.
Ask your IT vendor if they run their own service desk or if they’re able to give you that discounted rate because they send your service desk requests to a third party.