How to Choose the Right IT Service Provider
Gone are the days when businesses look to establishing an in-house IT support department to address their technology needs. Instead, organisations are finding the prospect of having an invisible team of IT superheroes that come to the rescue via remote-access software increasingly attractive; and all they have to do is pick up the phone or click a button and the team is there. Today, the best IT support services, particularly for SMEs, are those that you can outsource.
The following is a series of useful tips that we believe will help organisations understand how to choose an IT service provider and also to understand the importance of working with a support company to leverage technology to achieve their business goals.
Realising your needs
We know that different companies have different technology needs. It may be the case that a 5-person start up will need simple support and consultancy services to keep things ticking over and to review technology strategy on a yearly basis. On the other hand, a company that employs one hundred networked computers will likely need more complex services. Those might include typical IT rescue, network monitoring, IT project management and technical consultancy, and enterprise cloud solutions.
It is important, therefore, to understand the scale of your support as this will provide solid foundations for you relationship with a service provider.
Understanding scale
It is all very well opting for the most basic services on offer, but if you don’t recognise what your company really needs then IT support will become just another expense that provides little by way of growth. Instead, an IT service provider should become an extension of your company’s long term business strategy. There is much more to technology support than setting up firewalls and manning IT helpdesks.
A great managed service provider will provide sophisticated services aimed specifically towards driving down IT costs while increasing internal efficiencies. They will also help you decide how to adapt your business according to ever changing technology standards and, in this way, plan for the future.
Where to look
IT doesn’t have to be complicated, but sometimes getting the right support in the first place can be. Many organisations will not know how to go about seeking external help for their IT needs or where to look first, and it may appear quite a complex problem to solve. The good news is that it’s not!
If you have clients or partners that recommend a good IT service provider then it would be worth asking to be put in contact with them. Of course, you will need to do some preliminary research first to establish whether they are affordable, experienced and have a positive reputation. Details like these can be found with a quick visit to the company’s website. Look for a friendly message, simplicity and jargon-less phrases.
If you have specific requirements such as ‘support for Linux only equipment’ then take a look at the manufacturer’s website for recommendations.
What businesses or indeed any organisations are looking for, is the best way to satisfy their technology needs while working within budget. If you recognise that IT is essential to your business then you will recognise the value of an outsourced IT specialist. What’s more, an experienced IT support company that’s worth its salt will understand what it means to depend on technology and so you can depend on them to keep things running and to drive your business forward.
The most crucial part of deciding which outsourced IT support company to ask for help is to make sure that you pick the one that will benefit your business the most. Establishing what it is that your company needs and looking in the right place will only get you so far; you need to know what to look for in your outsourced IT support.
Strategic Role
A good managed service provider will want be more involved in your business operations than just in terms of technical support. They will want to know more about how your company works in order to create a long term plan. It is just as important to have IT support that understands what it takes to support growth as it is to solve technology problems. For this reason, you should look for providers that guarantee transparency and regular feedback via clear and detailed reporting. This way, as a customer, you know exactly what you are paying for and will be able monitor progress easily. Regular meetings also help.
Transparency
Look for honesty and avoid ‘yes men’. An experienced IT support provider will have a large knowledge base that you can rely on not only to satisfy the technology needs of your business, but also to tell you when doing something looks like a bad idea. In other words: an IT support team that bases customer engagements on performance and that takes pride in their work.
No Jargon
All too often companies are so swamped with ‘techy’ terminology that they just give up trying to understand what their IT support company is trying to offer them. This can lead to losing track of what you are actually paying for and subsequently, your business cannot make progress. A support company that promises not to use jargon but plain, simple English is one to keep. If they don’t promise this, make them!
Experience
There is nothing worse than finding out that your email client is having ‘technical issues’ and you won’t be able to receive emails for several hours. This and many other such issues can be avoided by employing the services of a proactive IT support team that doesn’t wait for problems to occur, but anticipates and prevents them. Organisation is essential, but if things do go wrong then you should expect those IT superheroes to come running (or flying).
Qualifications
One thing that companies forget to look for is qualifications. It is quite easy to find the cheapest IT support but this does not guarantee quality of service. It is paramount that the people who ensure that your computer network is safe, your email works, and your files are all backed up should be capable of doing so. The way to ensure this is to ask for qualifications and look for experience. It may not be the cheapest option but it is important to look ahead and realise that IT support is essential to your business and well worth the cost. If, however, an IT support team has less experience combined than you do then it’s best to continue your search.
These are some key ways that you can improve your search for an outsourced IT support provider that will benefit your business. Choose the one that aims to take the same responsibility and ownership that would be provided by a highly skilled in-house enterprise IT support team. If at the end of this process you find an honest, transparent, goal orientated, proactive, and experienced IT support provider that is prepared to speak to you in plain English then you can finally relax.
Written by help4IT on 20 November 2012