How to Find the Right IT Service Provider for Your Business
When outsourcing your tech support, you should remember that not all IT service providers are the same. So, finding a provider that understands your business needs and can offer you the best possible service is imperative.
Since multiple IT service providers are on the market, it can be tempting to settle for the cheapest one. But in most cases, you get what you pay for, even in IT. Often, budget-friendly providers deliver subpar services, which may result in more expensive problems down the line.
Rather, you will want to focus on their specialisation and experience working with companies like yours.
What should you ask before partnering with an IT service provider?
A few questions you should be asking potential service providers are:
- What experience do they have with your specific industry?
- Do they carry out routine checkups and network assessments?
- Can they support your current technology?
- How do they handle on-demand support?
- How well do their solutions scale?
- Do they offer proprietary solutions you can’t find with other IT service providers?
- What will you gain from your investment?
When you get these answers, compare them to your business requirements to ensure they meet all the criteria.
Six IT service provider red flags
Any of these characteristics are a sign that you should probably consider other options for IT services.
1. They want a service contract even before assessing your IT environment.
A prospective IT service provider should first assess your systems and evaluate your needs to make valuable recommendations. Without this due diligence, they may be unable to provide you with the right service, leading to cost issues of underutilisation of services.
But sadly, this is how many inexperienced IT providers work, something you should avoid.
2. They offer just one standard package.
This category of IT providers doesn’t take the time to understand your business goals and needs. Rather, they have one universal package regardless of the type of customer. Such a provider would be unable to provide a tailor-made solution that will work for you and produce results.
3. They run on a break-fix service model.
This means that the provider only sorts out problems as they arise. Such a system can greatly hurt your productivity and, in turn, your bottom line, mostly because of unexpected delays. Part of the IT service provider’s job is to foresee and prepare a response plan in case of any incidents, which would then reduce downtimes. So, if they do not have structures for these, you want to avoid them.
4. They are not proactive.
Some IT providers wait for network weaknesses to be exposed before offering solutions so they can sell you emergency services at even higher rates when you cannot refuse. Rather, an ideal IT service provider must be proactive, always monitoring your systems and fixing issues before they become major problems.
Such an approach saves you tons of money in the long run.
5. They speak in overly technical terms all the time.
You must understand how your IT department services are running so that you can make the right decisions. So, it helps when an IT service provider can explain the technicalities in simple terms for you to understand. Unfortunately, many IT providers lack such skills and are thus unable to provide the best services to their clients.
6. They provide rigid solutions.
If an IT service provider’s technology cannot integrate with your existing systems, it might be best to look elsewhere. Such a mismatch will only create endless problems down the line and cost you even more. So, you should ask prospective providers about their flexibility and whether their solutions can integrate seamlessly with your current systems.
An experienced IT service provider like Kalara provides multiple solutions to help grow your business. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your company today.
To learn more about excellent IT services, download our eBook “How to Choose a Reliable IT Service Provider for Your Businesses.”
