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How to choose an IT support company

Choosing an IT support company to partner with requires careful consideration as options can range significantly, as can pricing.

It’s important to think about how you’d like your IT support service to work in practice. Some organisations prefer a very hand-ons approach with their IT company, receiving regular updates on performance, engaging in strategy discussions and working closely on projects and support tickets. Others prefer to pass all IT issues to their IT company and have very little to do with the ongoing process.

Neither option is right, but finding the right company to match your needs is important. A more hands on approach requires an IT company who is highly skilled, accredited and experienced. IT can be a complex area, so you need confidence that your IT partner can not only fix problems, but also feedback to you on potential causes and suggest resolutions for the future.

If you’re looking for a more break-fix approach to IT, then you should ensure that your staff know exactly what numbers to call and the response and fix times they should be expecting. Even if you go down this route, it’s important to pick an IT partner that understand how you’ll work and what you expect, so that everyone is working to a common goal.

Part of your selection process should involve looking at online case studies, company accreditations and understanding the IT company’s approach to their customers. From there, you can shortlist between one and three businesses to speak to.

If you know the details, you should share information about your current IT system, the number of users you have and any issues you’ve experienced, or your reasons for change. It is likely that a remote, or on-site, audit of your IT network will be required to gather all of the information and you will need to provide access to any businesses you wish to carry this out. It’s best to have a good idea of who you’d like to deal with at this stage though so you don’t have to repeat the process over and over again.

Once audited, an IT support company will provide you with a quotation which is likely to include pricing to look after your existing system and some recommendations. Don’t ignore these recommendations! The chances are that the reason you’re looking for a new IT partner is related to some issues on your IT network and a fresh pair of eyes will identify these for you.

Although you’ll need to decide on your own selection criteria, don’t base it purely on price. The IT industry is very much a “get what you pay for” industry, with more experienced and skilled IT companies employing a higher calibre of IT engineer who install systems correctly and can provide quick and accurate support.

Finally, get to know your potential new IT company as best as you can during the selection process. With IT being a critical part of any business you are likely to work with them a lot, so you need to make sure you get on well!

What to look for in an IT support company

Unfortunately, the IT industry is full of jargon, so understanding what a good IT company looks like compared to a bad one can be tricky.

In order to make sure you find out the right IT company to work with, we recommend asking some of the following questions to any potential companies, which you’ll either find on their websites or by speaking to them:

What type of businesses do they normally deal with in terms of size and industry?

Look for similarities between the type of companies they normally work with. You might not want to be their biggest customer (potential skill gaps) or their smallest (not seen as important) and if they have an customers in a similar industry, they may understand your challenges better than you do.

What response and fix times do they promise and can they prove that they are delivered?

Most IT companies have an SLA (Service Level Agreement) which promises response and fix times. Make sure these match your requirements and ask them to prove them. Any good IT company will have systems in place to manage and monitor their own SLAs.

Do they have an case studies that you can watch/read or reference businesses you can speak to?

Although case studies and reference sites are always a little biased (no company interviews their worst customers!), it’s always good evidence that the company is doing a good job if customers are willing to take part in a case study, especially a video case study. Failing that, ask for some reference sites and speak to their customers about their own experiences.

What is the IT support process? How are issues raised and what happens after they are?

The support team should be easy to contact, ideally by phone, email or online, and any issues should be fully tracked in an internal system so they can be picked up by any member of staff. You should also be receiving feedback about your issues so you know what’s happening with them.

Who would be your main points of contact in the business if you had a support issue?

Ideally, you want to have multiple contacts within the business, outside of the support team. This could be an IT support manager or an IT account manager. These key contacts are vital if you need to discuss anything about your support and you should be provided direct contact to them via email, DDI and/or mobile number.