Do you use subcontractors, and who walks into our building?

A fair question, and the answer splits cleanly in two.

Anything IT is us. Servers, networks, firewalls, workstations, Microsoft 365, backup, security, phones, the help desk. We do not subcontract the work you are paying us for, and we do not farm out an install and show up to supervise it.

The trades are subcontracted, and should be. Audio visual installation, electrical work, and the physical installation of security cameras are licensed trades. We are not electricians and we are not going to pretend otherwise so that an invoice stays in one place. We work with subcontractors we have used before and trust.

What "vetted" actually means here, because the word gets used loosely:

• We have worked with them. Not found for your job. People we have used on other sites and would use again.
• Licensed and insured, and we can produce that if your business or your landlord needs it.
• We bring them and we manage them. You are not handed a phone number and told to sort it out. We scope the work, we are there for the parts that matter, and we coordinate the schedule.
• The result is ours. If the cable run is wrong or the camera is pointed at a wall, that is our problem to put right, not a dispute for you to have with a third party you never chose.
• One point of accountability. You call us about it, whoever physically did it.

Where the line sits on a camera or access control job, since that is the most common mixed project. The system, the network it sits on, the accounts and permissions, the recording and retention, and the monitoring are all ours and stay ours. Running the cable, mounting the hardware and anything requiring an electrical license is the subcontractor's. That is why your camera system ends up properly separated from your office network and your payment traffic, which is frequently not how we find them when we take over an existing setup.

What to ask any provider: who physically comes into my building, are they your employees or someone else's, are they licensed and insured, and who is accountable if the work is wrong. The last one is the one that matters. A provider who subcontracts and owns the outcome is fine. A provider who subcontracts and then points at the subcontractor when something fails is a problem, and you want to know which you have before anyone is on a ladder.