The services you and your company are looking for are a dime a dozen. WE ALL want your business and you're going to hear the best sales pitches and be offered a handful of promises! When it comes down to it - if you don't know what you're looking for, all the technical jargon kind of starts to just become mumbo jumbo and you're going to go for the guy that seemed to offer the most for the lowest costs. Isn't that how this works? Nope!
So, what do you do?
Ask Questions and Get References! If this "oh so great" company is really that great, they should have no problem giving you answers and providing references. Treat it like any other job interview and get as much information as possible. Ask questions about staffing: How many members are on their Help Desk? Will they be able to handle all your service requests? Not including administrative staff! How many field engineers are available? Take into consideration your locations and theirs - how long will it take a Tech to get to your site in an emergency? Are they outsourcing any of their resources? Often, these companies are small and maintain a small staff. The help desk may be outsourced, and you may not be speaking to the same people from one day to the next. An understaffed company may not be able to get a Field Technician to you for more than 48 hours... how are they going to handle an emergency?
READ the Contract thoroughly - is it protecting you? or them? Be sure the Service Levels are clearly defined - have something to hold them accountable for. Look closely at the timeline for how they handle service calls, complaints and resolutions. Beware of contracts that include penalties "if" you do this or don't do that. Look closely for wording that states - they "are not responsible for" and fine print outlining billing practices that "auto-renew". They aren't going to call and remind you, "Hey how are you doing, by the way, your contract ends soon, will you be renewing it?" Especially, if you've been dissatisfied the entirety of the contract. Be sure you're provided with a signed printed and emailed copy of every Contract, Terms of Service and Service Levels. Remember once you've signed into a contract - you're kinda stuck in it.
We are not all the same - there are good IT companies and there are bad IT companies - stay away from the bad! Always, always, research and check reviews on a prospective service provider.