Reviewing your IT company is no different than reviewing your business processes to determine inefficiencies and room for improvement. Reviewing your IT company ensures you are receiving the IT support your business needs to be successful. Use these 5 questions as a starting point for reviewing your current IT company:
1. Is your IT company’s headquarters local to your company headquarters?
On-site support is a huge benefit when working with an outsourced provider. Choosing a local IT company means you’ll get faster service if an on-site support issue arises. How close is your IT company to your company headquarters? If they are out of state, how deep is their bench in your state? In our experience with multi-state IT Companies, their AZ location is actually a P.O. box or a home address functioning as their “Arizona branch”. This usually translates to limited local personnel and resources. Plus, when you work with a local IT company, your IT spend helps the local economy (vs. helping the out of state IT company’s economy).
2. Does your IT company have experience with your specific industry?
All IT support is not created equally. Your business will be best served by hiring an IT company with experience servicing your industry. Does your IT company have experience with your industry? Do they have any certifications in your industry’s technology? What about working knowledge of applicable regulations (HIPAA, etc.)?
3. Does your IT company support your local servers and/or workstations or just a cloud offering they host?
Some IT companies will target any state, and offer to outsource the majority of your infrastructure in the cloud. While this can be a great solution, you now have to find a local provider to support the local devices. Why not find a local IT company that can do both well and support the local economy?
4. Does your IT company have experience supporting your company’s software?
What applications does your company use that are most critical to business? Is your IT company well-versed in these areas? Do they have other clients that they also work on these softwares for? Understanding the experience level on the most vital of your business operations is important in reviewing your IT company.
5. How does your IT company prioritize tickets?
How quickly can you expect a response when you have critical IT issues within your company? How long does it typically take to receive on-site service if it is needed? All IT companies have a book of clients that submit tickets every day. Is there a formal process to prioritize your company-wide or even one employee down situation over their other clients requests?
Reviewing your IT company should be an annual practice within your organization to ensure your IT support needs are being met. If you have questions about IT support or services, or would like to receive a quote, please contact PK Tech by clicking here.