What should a manufacturer ask before choosing an IT provider?

Three beyond the usual: whether they have supported a manufacturing site, what they would do about a machine that cannot be patched, and what happens if something breaks during a night shift. The generic questions matter too; these are the ones that separate providers for a factory.

Manufacturing experience is worth probing because the constraints are genuinely unfamiliar to office-only providers. A machine-side computer running an unsupported operating system is not a neglected laptop, a maintenance window competes with production rather than with convenience, and industrial-grade hardware in harsh areas is a specification rather than an upsell. A provider who has not encountered these will give you advice that is correct for an office and wrong for you.

The most revealing single question is about your oldest machine. Describe it and ask what they would do. A useful answer involves talking to the equipment vendor, segmenting the network, taking a recoverable image and planning replacement with dates. A poor answer is that it needs upgrading, which tells you they are thinking about laptops rather than about capital equipment that outlives several generations of computer.

Then the practical ones. How quickly can someone physically attend, since the problems that stop production are often physical. What happens outside business hours if you run shifts. What is included monthly versus billed separately. And who owns your tenant, your domain and your documentation, because that determines how difficult leaving would be. If you would like to ask us those questions, call 1800 456 567.