Choosing the Right Business IT Support Provider
Businesses come in many shape and sizes, from sole operators to companies with hundreds of employees. Business IT support can improve efficiency for businesses looking to save time and resources by outsourcing their IT support. In this guide, we discuss the signs you should look out for when deciding if your business needs IT support, the benefits of having a Managed Service Provider, and how to choose the right IT partner for your business.
How to decide when your business needs IT support
One of the most obvious signs that your business needs ongoing IT support is when network problems, hardware breakdowns, or software issues are occurring frequently. These problems impede your staff from doing their work effectively, could potentially delay your business from meeting crucial project deadlines, and can cost you a substantial amount of time and money to fix when they occur. The best way to approach these problems is to prevent them from happening in the first place, by looking for signs that your business requires IT support.
So, here are some tell tale signs that you are ready to partner with an IT company on an ongoing basis.
- Files are not stored and accessed from a central location.
- Calendars and emails are not talking to each other.
- The business doesn’t have a file backup system, or if it does its not automated
- Staff are spending time fixing IT problems.
- Scrambling to get professional help when things go wrong. I
These are just some of the potential indicators that your business needs IT support. So be sure to look out for these and other signs. If you notice one or more in your business, its time to start looking for an ongoing IT partner.
What are the benefits of a managed services provider?
Typically, many small and medium sized businesses do not have the financial resources to hire a full time IT technician to implement, maintain and service their internal IT systems. The salary expenses are high, and there may not be enough workload for a full time role. And while it can be tempting to ask one of your more IT savvy employees to set things up and solve problems when they occur, when things get really technical, you could run into trouble.
This is where Managed Service Providers come in. A Managed Service Provider is a partner company to which you outsource all your IT processes, functions, maintenance, and support. Working with a Managed Services Provider has lots of great benefits:
- Reducing costs.
- Freeing up employee time.
- Always available remote support.
- Setting up your systems.
- Monitoring and prevention.
- Automated data backups and recovery.
- Internet security.
Using a Managed Services Provides frees up business owners and managers to focus on growing their business, instead of spending their valuable time troubleshooting network and computer issues. A Managed Services Provider offers greater flexibility and control in how your business operates. For small and medium-sized businesses, they can be a very effective and reliable way to manage IT infrastructure, bringing specialised skills and knowledge that your business may not have. So let’s now look at how to go about choosing the right Managed Services Provider for your business IT needs.
How do you choose the right IT partner for your business?
So you have decided you are going to partner with a Managed Services Provider for your business IT. How do you go about choosing the right company for you? There are a few really important things you need to do when selecting the right IT partner.
- Always choose local.
- Look for an advisor and not a supplier,
- Look for a business that wants a relationship with your business
- Responsiveness is key.
A lot of businesses are reaping the benefits of switching to Managed Services Providers for their business IT support. If you’re considering making the switch yourself, contact us and let’s have a conversation about your business IT needs.
This article is an abbreviated version – read our full article on our website