What are common mistakes made when looking for an IT Service Provider?
Working with an IT service provider offers a vast range of benefits for any business. However, accessing these will depend to a certain extent on the provider that you choose. When you’re trying to find the right partner for your organisation it’s vital to ensure that you avoid some of the most common mistakes that many people make when it comes to looking for an IT service provider.
- Making do with a lack of personalisation. Every enterprise has a completely different set of needs when it comes to IT services and your service provider should reflect that. It’s a mistake to opt for a provider that doesn’t offer any degree of personalisation or recognise how individual the requirements of your business are going to be. Look for an IT service provider willing to sit down and discuss your IT needs, audit the existing infrastructure and create an individually tailored approach.
- Getting stuck on the numbers. When you’re looking for an IT service provider it can be easy to get stuck on the idea of paying a certain amount. That could be the cheapest possible price available or it could be fees that are reassuringly expensive. Although you obviously need to have an idea of what you can afford to pay an IT service provider, give yourself the time to explore and understand what you’re going to get for the cost you pay. For example, a business that is charging minimal fees may not be investing in tech, training and development and customer service in the same way as a service provider where the rates are slightly higher.
- Failing to research the provider. Yes, it takes time and effort to look into the history of an IT service provider, what their customers say and the extent of their services. However, this is worth it. You be able to get a good idea of organisational performance, quality of services and the way they handle their customers by doing research and reading reviews.
- Is the customer service continuous? If the answer is no then this is not likely to be the right IT service provider for you. The needs of your business are not going to pause at the end of the working day and if you’re going to be competitive you need to be able to sustain IT function and continuuity 24/7. That means having access to a service provider with round the clock availability to give you support whenever the need arises.
- Cutting through the tech talk. Making decisions about where to channel your technology investment is challenging enough without an IT provider making this more difficult by loading conversations with baffling jargon. Make sure that you choose a partner able to clearly explain options and willing to let you make your own, well-informed choices.
These are some of the most common mistakes that many businesses make when it comes to choosing an IT service provider. If you’re looking to go forward into 2022 with a robust and effective partnership, our team is waiting to discuss your IT needs today.
