First, a word on who we are: we are Beijing Siwenlide, our office is in Shunyi, and we have spent 14 years providing IT Operations Outsourcing for small and medium-sized businesses. This is a signing checklist written from the buyer’s side. Whether or not you end up signing with us, you can take it and work through it point by point.
Two vendors can both say “RMB 50,000 a year, all-inclusive,” and their contracts can still be worlds apart. A quote that differs several times over is usually not a difference in the service itself, but in what the contract does and does not say. When something goes wrong, the contract is what counts, not the verbal “we cover everything” and “we’re there whenever you call.”
10 Items You Must Nail Down Before Signing
| Clause | How specific it needs to be | What happens if it is left vague |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope of services | Two inventories, one of what is included and one of what is not, down to device type and quantity: how many servers, how many sites, which systems | When something breaks, the vendor says it is out of scope and quotes you separately |
| 2. Response times | Write numbers by severity: how many minutes to respond remotely for a critical failure, how many hours to arrive on site; how long routine issues take to resolve | “Prompt response” can mean ten minutes, or the next day |
| 3. Support tickets and on-site visits | Whether there is a cap; how overage is billed; whether on-site visits carry a separate travel fee | Low-cost packages often cap on-site visits, then start charging extra late in the year |
| 4. Ownership of equipment | Who replaces equipment the provider supplies if it fails during the term; who owns it at expiry or early termination, and how it is valued | When you switch providers, the equipment is taken back and you are offline that same day |
| 5. Ownership of data and configurations | State that configurations, passwords and backup data belong to the client; on termination they are exported and handed over, with no provider admin accounts left behind | When you switch providers you cannot get the firewall password and have to rebuild from scratch |
| 6. Confidentiality and access rights | Sign an NDA; engineer accounts issued per person and authorized on a need-to-have basis; operations logged and auditable | If there is a data breach, no one can say who did it or when |
| 7. Backup and recovery | What is backed up, how often, where it is stored, how often recovery drills are run, and whether the drills are documented in writing | Backups are “running” the whole time, and when you actually need a restore you find you cannot recover anything |
| 8. Pricing and price adjustments | What the monthly fee covers; what triggers extra charges (more people, more sites, more devices); whether renewal increases are capped | The renewal price jumps sharply in the second year |
| 9. Termination and handover | How much notice is required; the handover checklist (network diagram, account list, device list, documentation); how long the transition period lasts | The contract expires, the vendor pulls its people out, and the new provider starts from zero |
| 10. Service records | Whether you receive monthly ticket records and inspection reports, and in what format | You paid for a year and cannot say what the provider actually did |
Three phrases that are easiest to leave hollow
- “Prompt response”: rewrite it as “remote response within 30 minutes during business hours, on-site arrival within X hours within the city,” with numbers.
- “Comprehensive maintenance”: rewrite it as an attached inventory listing every category of device and system. Anything not on that list is not covered.
- “On-site visits as needed”: ask clearly who decides what “needed” means. If the provider decides, then they come when they think it is needed.
For every adjective that appears in a contract, ask one question: can this be turned into a number? If it can, change it. If the other side will not, make a mental note.
How to verify that they can put it in writing and actually deliver
- Ask for a sample contract first. Reputable providers have a standard contract. Read it clause by clause before signing; it is far more useful than listening to a sales pitch.
- Start with a short term. For a first engagement, sign for one year or less, or agree that the first three months are a trial run with an early exit if it is not a good fit.
- Have them do an inventory first. They come on site and go through your existing equipment, lines and systems, then produce a list. How detailed that list is tells you how detailed the service will be.
- Ask to speak to a customer of similar size. Ask the provider for a contact at a customer with a similar headcount and industry, and ask two questions: how long before someone takes a support ticket, and how many times the assigned engineer has changed.
A few things we state publicly
The questions clients ask most before signing are all published on our website, so you can check them directly:
- Unlimited support tickets, remote first, on-site as the fallback.
- Firewalls, routers, switches and wireless APs are supplied and warranted by us for the term of the contract; what happens at expiry is covered in a separate article.
- A free on-site inventory before you sign, with a current-state list and a quote; sign only if it fits, with no long-term lock-in.
- Pricing follows published tiers, and what each tier does and does not include is stated on our website.
For how to word the remaining clauses, use the table above as a point-by-point reference during the inventory visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many years is an IT outsourcing contract usually signed for?
A: For a first engagement, we suggest one year or less. Once service is stable, sign a longer term; long-term contracts are where you can negotiate better pricing and a cap on increases.
Q: Should the contract include liability for breach?
A: Yes. At minimum, spell out what happens if response times are missed, for example a per-incident deduction from that month’s service fee. A response-time commitment with no liability attached has very little teeth.
Q: What if I have already signed a very vague contract?
A: Before renewing, add a supplemental agreement covering the 10 items above. If the provider is unwilling to put verbal promises in writing, you will know exactly what to ask when it is time to change providers.
Want to get a clear picture of your current setup before you sign?
Siwenlide has provided IT Operations Outsourcing for small and medium-sized businesses for 14 years. We can start with a free on-site assessment and deliver an inventory of your equipment and systems. Call 400-686-2011.
Further reading:How much does IT outsourcing cost an SME per year · Who owns the equipment when the contract ends · Which IT Operations Outsourcing providers operate in Beijing
