How To Choose The Best Managed IT Support For Your Business – Things To Watch Out For!
TechsPlace | Due to the high demand for managed IT support for numerous industries, the number of companies offering such services is growing rapidly. During a typical year, 75% of SMBs occasionally outsource their IT to a solution provider, VAR, or MSP.
Business owners are spending weeks trying to find the best IT support provider for their needs. Sometimes, they end up hiring the wrong company. This results in downtime, security problems, high expenses, etc.
If you are looking for a managed IT support company today, stop for three minutes and read this article. We’ve collected the most important things to watch out for when opting for such support. Don’t make common mistakes. Find the company to help your business develop and grow.
- Not Identifying Your Needs
Even the best managed IT support company can’t help you if you don’t know what you want. Before interviewing a company representative, figure out what you want them to do. It doesn’t have to be a step-by-step instruction, but it should give IT experts an overall idea of the needs of your company.
The best companies will ask about your requirements before signing a contract. Even if you have a vague understanding, they should ask guiding questions to get the necessary information from you.
If you don’t know what you want, even the most experienced IT support expert can’t help.
- Failing to Get A List of Services
When you visit the company’s website, it should contain a full list of services offered by the company. However, when you interview the representatives, you may be surprised at how this information differs from reality.
Don’t make a mistake of assuming that a company can cater to all of your needs. Ask about the list of services provided by the company. These services should be discussed in detail and become a part of your contract. This way you can avoid disappointments in the future.
- Accepting Hourly Rates
A per hour payment may seem to be a fair pricing model for one time “quick fix” services. However, when it comes to managed IT support, you should consider end-to-end, all-inclusive or per-device type of models.
IT support can’t be limited by a certain timeframe. You may be surprised how long even the easiest task may take. That’s why settling for an hourly rate can lead to unexpectedly large expenses.
According to Ottawa IT support experts at FirewallTechnical, a top-notch managed IT support company is highly unlikely to offer a per-hour pricing model.
- Lack of Flexibility
An IT support company must be flexible. Your company may grow and develop in the nearest future. How likely is the managed IT support to stay with you? Do they have the ability to support a large company as they do a small one?
Can they provide more services than you need right now? Will you be able to change the contract along the way to add more services for your growing needs? Does it offer both single services and end-to-end solutions?
A respectable managed IT support company knows how to adapt to the changes a business goes through. In fact, it should contribute to the positive changes with proactive support.
- Problems With Customer Service
A managed IT support company may be readily offering a wide range of services, but it could fail to provide customer service. Meaning, these specialists have to be comfortable to work with.
Many business owners don’t consider the comfort they experience during the interview and go on to work with specialists, whom they may dislike.
This can pose a problem in the future since collaboration can be extensive, which requires an excellent relationship with the provider.
- Not Checking the References
When you like the IT provider during an interview, you may forget to check the references. Meanwhile, the comfort and assurance you may experience when speaking to the representatives don’t necessarily mean that the company is offering high-quality services.
Don’t just ask for references. Check them. Talk to previous and existing clients the company has worked with. This is the easiest way to find out how well the experts really perform. When speaking to the clients, ask about the company’s response time.
After checking the references, you can go on to reviews.
- Ignoring the Website
Top-notch managed IT support companies must have a well-rounded website. If the website is hard to browse, it doesn’t contain the information you are looking for or it’s loading forever, it should raise a red flag.
If these specialists can’t support a website, can they support your company?
Choosing a managed IT support company is a time-consuming process. Make sure you are ready to spend many days interviewing potential partners and going forward to find new ones.
Think of the time you spend on choosing the company as an investment in the future of your business. The better job you do today, the better it will pay off tomorrow.
Maria has been writing articles for 5 years. She specializes in business and marketing. On her free time she loves to read and write about her travel experiences. You can find her doing this by the beach.
