Choosing an IT Support Company

Whether you’re a start-up or an established business, it goes without saying that the vast majority of modern businesses are fully dependent on their IT systems and when their computers, servers or networks shut down, business operations can grind to a halt.

The vast majority of start-up businesses are on what can only be referred to as a “middle ground” – dependent on their IT systems and big enough to have invested substantially in them, but not of a large enough organisation to justify employing and maintaining full-time, in-house IT staff with the inevitable burden on overheads. This is the situation we found ourselves in recently, and thinking about it, choosing an IT company is a lot like choosing an SEO company. Here’s why…

Many business owners are increasingly finding it logical to concentrate on running the business rather than spreading themselves them too thin and outsource their IT needs to a friendly and competent IT Support firm to handle that aspect of the business.
The one problem with this approach is that, like SEO, there are hundreds of IT Support companies out there, and it’s difficult to separate the good from the bad.
Here are our top tips on how to choose a company that will suit your business.

Competence and Availability

The first and perhaps most obvious considerations to ask any potential IT partner is their competence.
Do they possess the experience, accreditations and professionalism to fully take care of your IT Systems?
An important point to take note of is; don’t be afraid to ask searching questions. IT is a world full of jargon that can easily confuse the average businessman/woman.

What type of questions should one be asking? Here’s a few:

• What training and accreditations do you have appropriate to my IT systems?
• What is your experience and track record in IT?
• Please can you supply us with three organisations that you have worked with and improved their IT operations?

You may be surprised how many IT companies will fail at least one of these questions.

Ensuring value for money

Key questions you need answering:-

• What rates does the IT company charge?
• What does that include?
• How quickly does the company respond to customer issues?
• What internal processes occur when you receive my request for help – the firm may have the best IT trained team in the world, but without efficient systems your problem will be lost with the rest

Different IT companies offer widely varying operational procedures and charging:-

• Pay-As-You-Go – You call when something isn’t working, they come, fix it and you receive an invoice based on an hourly rate.
• Block Hours – Some IT companies offer block hour deals where you purchase an agreed number of hours per month at a reduced rate.
• Managed Services – Where the client company pays the IT firm an agreed fixed monthly fee in exchange for it providing all your IT service needs: support, server monitoring etc.

IT support needs to be there when you need it

One of the most important reasons for employing a third party IT Company is to fix things when they break.
So a critical question is “How do I get help when I need it?”

• Are you required to call a helpdesk?
• 2.Do you have an engineer’s mobile number?
• Do you have a contact email address?
• What systems does the IT firm have in place?
• 5.Are customer issues dealt with swiftly and efficiently?

Remote Monitoring & Managed Services

Prevention is cheaper than the cure and nothing is truer than that in today’s IT world where IT companies offer the facility to monitor your IT systems 24/7 – 365 days a year with remote software.
When the software spots a potential problem, the IT Company is immediately informed by SMS or email and is able to act swiftly to resolve the issue, all of which links in to a managed service contract.
The IT Company monitors all your systems and provides all your support for one monthly fee. While this may initially seem expensive, it’s worth shopping around.

Project Management

IT projects are invariably on-going – software upgrades, new premises or the installation of a new server.
If you already use a company for IT support, it makes perfect sense to turn to it at the time of a project. But you should be satisfied that any IT support company you hire:

• Has suitable systems in place for project management
• Possess the necessary tools to set deadlines, ensure they are met without anything critical “falling through the cracks.”
• Has a fool proof mechanism for ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget

Putting it all together

The more important your IT systems are to the running of your business, the more important it is you select the right IT Company. When something breaks (and it will!) it will be your business that depends on them. Monday morning on the busiest time of your year when your server goes down isn’t the time to realise your IT company hasn’t got what it takes.