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Welcome to the Technology Translator. I'm Vic. Every episode we break down technology, cybersecurity, and AI into plain English for Australian business leaders. Welcome to the podcast.

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Hello and welcome back to the Technology Translator. I'm Vic, based in Brisbane, Australia. If you've been listening along so far, you'll know that this podcast exists for one simple reason. Technology is now part of almost every business decision we make. Yet most business owners, managers, and leaders have never really been taught how to evaluate it. And this isn't because they're not smart, it's not because they're making bad decisions, but because no one's ever sat them down and explained how this stuff all works. And today's episode is a perfect example of that. Because one of the biggest misconceptions I see in business is around IT providers. Most people think they know what their IT provider does. But in the past, and even now, when I start asking questions, it becomes pretty clear that most people don't actually know what it is they're actually paying for. And that's completely understandable. For most people, IT is simple. If your laptop breaks, you call IT. If your email stops working, you call IT. The internet goes down, you call IT. Problem solved. But modern businesses rely on technology for so much more than just fixing broken laptops. And that's what we're going to unpack today. Because the question isn't what does my IT provider do? The better question is what should my IT provider actually be doing? So you're probably not buying IT support. You're buying a technology department. Let's imagine you've got a business with 50 employees. Every time someone joins your company, they need a laptop. They need an email account. They need access to systems. They need software. When someone leaves, access needs to be removed. Passwords need to be managed. Devices need to be recovered. Systems need updates. Software needs licensing. Projects also need planning. Technology budgets need forecasting. Backups need to keep running. Vendors need managing. And most businesses don't have a full internal technology team to actually do all of that. So they outsource it. And that's really what a managed service provider is. They're not simply the people you call when technology stops working. They're effectively your outsourced technology department. Now, once you start looking at it that way, the conversation changes a little bit because the question stopped being, can someone fix my laptop? And start becoming, how do I know my business is actually being looked after? And that's where I want to share a story. A project that nearly shut down a charity. A few years ago, I knew someone working inside a fairly large not-for-profit organization. And like many not-for-profits, they relied heavily on external providers because they didn't have a huge internal technology team. At some point, they engaged an IT provider to deliver significant technology projects. And now here's the interesting thing. The project itself wasn't really the problem. The provider wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong. The real issue was that no one inside the not for profit really knew what questions to ask. So as the project progressed, costs started increasing. Then they increased again and again. People were becoming nervous. Everyone knew the numbers were getting larger, but no one really understood why. Eventually, someone with a legal background was asked to review the contracts in the project documentation, and what they found was fascinating. The organization believed they purchased a completed outcome. The provider believed they'd been engaged on a time and materials basis. The organization thought the quota amount represented a finished project. The provider believed they were charging for project stages as they progressed. Neither side necessarily thought they were doing anything wrong, but both sides were operating on different assumptions, and assumptions can become very expensive. The project eventually reached a point where the organization had invested so much money in that walking away really wasn't an option anymore. They were committed, but budgets had become strained. Conversations started occurring around the services they actually provided. They started occurring around staffing. These were the discussions about measures that no one actually wanted to take. And it was all because the right questions had never been asked at the beginning. Thankfully, another organization eventually stepped in and provided significant support to help get things back on track. But the thing that stuck with me about that story wasn't the technology in itself. It wasn't the software, it wasn't the provider, it was the assumptions. The organization assumed one thing, the provider assumed another. No one stopped to ask enough questions to make sure everyone's actually talking about the same thing. And that's really what today's episode is actually all about. It's not becoming technical, it's not learning how the servers work or understanding cloud architecture. This episode is simply understanding which questions help uncover dangerous assumptions before they become expensive mistakes for your business. So let's start with probably the most obvious one. Question one. Do they send an email? Log a support ticket? Call a phone number? How quickly should someone respond? What happens after hours? They sound like basic questions, but you'd be surprised how many businesses don't have clear expectations around support, let alone actually something in writing. If something goes wrong tomorrow, everyone in the organization should know exactly who to contact and what happens next. Question two. How do new staff get set up? Every new employee needs technology. They need a device, they need email, they need access to applications, they need access to files. And a good provider should have a repeatable process for onboarding new staff. Because absolutely nothing creates a poor first impression faster than a new employee spending their first week waiting for access to do their job. Question three. What happens when someone leaves? This is often overlooked. When someone leaves your organization, who disables their accounts? Who removes the access? Who retrieves the devices? Who checks what systems they had access to? Good technology management isn't just about getting people in. It's also about making sure people leave properly as well. Question four Are we backing up our data? Notice I didn't ask, do we have backups? I asked, are we backing up our data? Because those are two very different questions. Where are my backups stored? How often do they run? How long are they retained? My favorite question is when was the last time someone actually tested them? Because a backup that can't be restored isn't really a backup. It's just a comforting assumption. Question five. If everything broke tomorrow, what happens? Let's imagine the worst. A system fails, files disappear, server goes offline, someone accidentally deletes something critical, God forbid you actually get hit by malware. How long would recovery take? Hours? Days? Weeks? A good provider should be able to answer that question quite clearly. Not eventually, not theoretically. Clearly. Business continuity isn't something you figure out during a crisis. It's something you prepare for beforehand. Question six. Who actually owns everything? And this one catches people all the time. Who owns your Microsoft account that controls your email, files, and collaboration systems? Who owns your internet domain? Who owns your cloud platforms? Where are passwords stored? Who has access? Can you access those systems without relying on a single individual? You'd be surprised how many businesses discover they don't actually control parts of their own technology environment. Ownership matters because if you don't own it, you don't control it. And if you don't control it, you may have a problem when something changes. Question seven, what is included and what costs extra? And this is where I see a lot of businesses get caught out. Most organizations pay a monthly fee for IT support. Over time, they start assuming that monthly fee includes everything technology related. And unfortunately, that's rarely how it works. Your monthly service fee might just include the support. May include a bit of monitoring as well as a bit of maintenance. But it often doesn't include replacing old equipment. Definitely doesn't include a major upgrade. It doesn't include if you were to move offices, and it doesn't include if you implement new systems. And it often doesn't include projects. And that's why one of the most important conversations you can have with your provider is understanding the difference between general support and their projects that they offer. Support is generally keeping the lights on, business as usual. Projects are changing something, and changing things costs money. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing. Technology evolves, software changes, businesses grow, and systems eventually do need replacing. The important thing is understanding that reality before you're surprised by it. Some providers offer proactive planning. Some organizations set aside a monthly technology improvement budget to fund upgrades and projects over time. But none of that happens if no one's actually having the conversation in the first place. A good provider should help you understand what needs replacing, when it needs replacing, and what it's likely to cost. Technology should be budgeted for the same way you budget for vehicles, equipment, staff, or property. It isn't a once-off project or purchase. It's an ongoing business investment. Question eight. So how do we actually budget for technology? A good provider shouldn't simply react to problems. They should also help you plan. And planning starts with understanding what is coming. For example, what systems are approaching end of life? Now that's a term you'll hear a lot in technology. End of life simply means the manufacturer or software vendor no longer supports that product. Think about it like owning an old car. At some point, parts become harder to find, mechanics stop specializing in it, repairs become expensive. And eventually it becomes impractical to keep running. Technology works in a very similar way. A laptop might still turn on after 10 years, and a server may still be running after 15 years, but that doesn't mean they're supported. The company that created their technology may no longer provide updates. Security vulnerabilities may no longer be fixed. Replacement parts may no longer be available. And if something breaks, you find yourself in a situation where also no one can help. It's one of the most common things I hear from businesses where they say it's still working. And look, yes, that's absolutely true. The problem is that technology doesn't become risky when it stops working. It often becomes risky long before that, when it stops being supported. A good provider should be able to tell you what technology is approaching the end of its useful life and help you plan for replacement before it becomes an emergency. You should also be asking what software costs are likely to increase. Many software platforms now operate on subscription models. As your business grows, lighting costs often grow with it. Understanding those future costs helps avoid unpleasant surprises. You should also ask what projects should we expect over the next 12 months? Will equipment need replacing? Are there systems that need upgrading? Are there any compliance requirements changing? Is there anything on the horizon that will require investment? And then there is a question that many business owners really want answered. What is all of this likely to cost me? Being a part of a good technology partner is being transparent, being honest, being proactive. The last thing any business owner wants is a surprise invoice because no one discussed future requirements. Good providers help reduce surprises. They explain what's coming, why it matters, and what the likely investment will be so that you can plan accordingly. Technology should never have to be treated as an unexpected expense. It should be treated like any other critical business asset, maintained, planned for, and budgeted for appropriately. Which brings me to question nine. If we want to do something new, who helps? This is another assumption I see all the time. Businesses assume their IT provider can do everything. Sometimes they can, often they can't, and that is perfectly okay. An organization that helps fix laptops and manage email systems isn't necessarily the same organization that specializes in cybersecurity. A cybersecurity specialist isn't necessarily the same organization that specializes in AI. An AI specialist also isn't necessarily in the same organization that specializes in data and analytics. And a data specialist isn't often the same person or within the same organization that specializes in large-scale digital transformation. Technology has become incredibly specialized. And that's actually a sign of maturity within the industry. The important question isn't whether your provider can do everything, the important question is whether they know when to bring in the right expertise. Because the best providers don't pretend to know everything. They know where their expertise starts and where it ends. Question 10. What happens if you disappear tomorrow? And I think this is definitely one of the most important questions of all. If your IT provider ceased operating tomorrow, what would happen? Could another provider actually take over? Would documentation exist? Would passwords be available? Would your systems be understandable? Would your business continue operating? And one part that many organizations miss, yes, your provider should maintain documentation, but you should also have access to it as well. You should know where it is, you should know how to get it. You should be able to hand it to another provider if required. Because resilience isn't about trusting that someone else has everything under control. Resilience is about knowing that your organization can continue operating even if something unexpected happens. A good provider shouldn't create dependence, they should create resilience. So looking at the bigger lesson, none of these questions require you to be technical. You don't need to understand servers or networking or cloud platforms. You simply need enough understanding to ask the sensible questions. Because your role as a manager or a business owner isn't to know everything. Your role is to make sure the right questions are being asked. And if there's one thing I hope you've taken away from today's episode, it's this don't assume, ask. Ask how things work, who owns them, what's included, what happens when things go wrong, what happens when people leave, and what happens if a provider was to disappear. Because assumptions are where expensive mistakes start, and questions are how you prevent them. So ultimately, technology isn't something just sitting quietly in the background anymore. It powers almost every part of modern business. And that means your IT provider isn't simply fixing laptops and making sure you have internet. They're actually helping keeping your organization operating. And the good news is you don't need to become an IT expert. You just need to understand what good looks like. And asking the right questions is the perfect place to start. Next episode, we're going to tackle something many businesses assume is included as part of IT support. And quite often, unfortunately, it isn't, security. I'll see you then. Thanks for joining the episode. If you do want to follow me on Instagram at all, you can find me under the Technology Translator. If you would like to email me, Vic at the Technology Translator.au And I guess I wouldn't be doing this properly if I didn't say if you like what you hear, hit the follow button. There will be more of these episodes coming up.