Clear boundaries
A provider who states what they will not do is easier to trust than one who says yes to everything.
Reference · DK-18
Purpose · Provider evaluation
Use it · For any provider, including us
Bias · We wrote it; judge us by it
How to judge a managed access provider before you commit
Choosing a partner for something as central as access deserves more than a good first conversation. This page sets out what to look for and what to ask. We wrote it honestly, and you are welcome to hold us to every word of it.
We provide services exclusively to businesses and organizations. We do not offer consumer or personal-device support. Minimum engagement: organizations with 10 or more staff who need access.
Start with scope and boundaries
A sound provider is clear about what it does and equally clear about what it does not. Ask any candidate to state their boundaries in writing. A firm that claims to handle everything for everyone is usually stretched thin. Ours are simple: business accounts only, organisations of ten or more staff, and no personal equipment or repair work of any kind.
The questions worth asking
- Who does the work? If the answer involves your own staff running processes or following steps, the burden has simply moved into your building.
- Whose equipment? Insist on an answer about whether privately owned machines are ever included. The right answer is no.
- What is written down? Ask to see a specimen policy and a sample report before you sign anything.
- How is access reviewed? A partner without a review cycle will let access accumulate, however well the setup begins.
- What happens when it ends? Ask how access is withdrawn when a person leaves or an engagement closes.
- What evidence comes out? Records are what let you answer a question later, so ask what you will actually receive and how often.
Work taken on
The partner should carry the effort. If your team is asked to run the arrangement, that is a warning sign.
Evidence produced
Ask for the policy and the report you would receive, and read them as an auditor would.
Endings handled
How a relationship ends tells you as much as how it begins. Access should come away cleanly.
Look for method, not enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is easy and method is hard. Ask how a rollout actually proceeds. A strong answer describes a pilot group, agreed batches and a settled pace. A weak answer promises everything quickly. Ask how a new office joins, and listen for whether a visit is needed at all. Ask what happens when a request conflicts with the policy, and favour the provider who stops and checks rather than the one who presses on.
Insist on plain language
You are the buyer and you carry the risk, so the explanations should be yours to understand. If a partner cannot describe their own service without jargon, that will not improve after the contract is signed. Everything we publish is written so a manager can follow it, and we would encourage you to apply the same test to us that you apply to anyone else.
Judge on the ordinary weeks
Impressions are made in a sales conversation, but value is proved in ordinary weeks, months and years. A good managed access partner keeps the arrangement current, answers requests promptly, produces the record without being asked, and never leaves you wondering what is actually open and why. That, rather than any single feature, is what you are really choosing.