Know exactly what to ask before you sign
A free printable checklist of about 30 questions for the sales meeting, each paired with what a good answer actually sounds like, so you can tell a real partner from a slick pitch.
A free MSP vetting checklist for small business. About 30 questions to ask before you sign, each with what a good answer looks like, so you hire right.
What you'll get
A practical, ready-to-use resource you fill in with your own numbers and keep. No expiring trial, no strings.
What the MSP Vetting Checklist does
Hiring an IT provider is a big decision made on limited information. The sales meeting sounds good, the references check out, and six months later you find out the 24/7 support is an overseas call center, the backups were never tested, and leaving means paying to get your own data back. The problem is usually not that the provider lied. It is that nobody asked the right questions up front.
This checklist gives you those questions. About thirty of them, grouped by topic, each with a short note on what a good answer sounds like. Take it into the meeting, ask plainly, and write down what you hear. The gaps tend to show up fast.
Find out who really answers
Direct questions about whether support is local humans, an offshore help desk, or an AI-first bot. You are paying for people, so you should know who picks up.
Test the security claims
Questions that separate a real 24/7 SOC from a subcontracted one, and the backup and restore-testing answers that tell you whether your data is truly safe.
Read the contract before it bites
What to ask about term length, exit terms, data ownership and hidden fees, so renewal time and offboarding do not turn into an unpleasant surprise.
Know a good answer when you hear it
Every question comes with a short note on what a solid answer looks like, so you are not guessing whether the reassuring reply you just got was actually any good.
What is inside the checklist
- Support model questions: local humans, offshore help desk, or AI-first, and who answers after hours
- Response and resolution SLA questions, in writing
- Security stack and real 24/7 SOC questions
- Backup, disaster recovery and restore-testing questions
- Compliance support questions, including BAAs and reports
- Contract term, exit and data-ownership questions
- Pricing transparency and hidden-fee questions
- References, plus a “what a good answer looks like” line on every item
There are no trick questions here
Want the bigger picture first?
If you are at the very start of the search, our guide on how to choose an MSP covers the decision from the top, and our managed IT services guide explains what a full managed plan should include so you know what you are vetting for.
How it works
Tell us where to send it
Fill in the short form. Just enough so we know who we're helping and can tailor any follow-up, only if you want it.
Check your inbox
We email your copy right away, and the download is yours to keep. No expiring trial, no login.
Put it to work
Use it on your own, or ask us for a second set of eyes. No pressure either way.
We do not sell your information
You get the file and an email copy for later. That is it. No third-party sharing, ever.
Real local humans built this
Vicinity is a genuinely local IT provider with people in Alaska and Hawaii. We wrote the questions we would want asked of us.
No sales theater
Use it to vet anyone, including us. The checklist works whether or not we ever talk.