Selecting the Right Business IT Support for Your Company
As a specialist provider of business support services with extensive experience in IT management, cyber security strategy and developing bespoke solutions for communications, we recognise how difficult it can be for a business owner to make confident IT support decisions.
The challenge isn’t so much picking a business IT support partner who offers the services you need or has the capacity to keep pace with your future growth – but selecting a firm you trust, rely on, and feel comfortable asking questions or seeking out advice.
Here we’ll outline some of the considerations that may help you determine whether an IT provider is the right fit for your business, acknowledging that most businesses don’t have the capacity or time to spend weeks researching providers or browsing through client testimonials. Let the Jera experts summarise some key things to look for and why they matter in selecting the right business It support for your company..
1. Tailored Business IT Support Packages That Match Your Needs
Every business is different, and while you can often pick and choose between support services and packages, it’s essential that you are happy that your IT support service contract or agreement is suitable and covers all of the vital components you need.
A great business IT provider will provide a personal service and consult with you to get to grips with where they can help and add value, whether you’re after fully managed outsourced IT or require assistance with specific areas like data protection or implementing a robust disaster recovery strategy.
Put simply, if you pay for an IT support package that includes services you don’t need or that are already covered by your in-house team, you’ll be spending more than necessary. Likewise, a basic support agreement might have gaps and limit your access to the technical expertise you need when a business-critical disaster strikes.
We always suggest you choose a business IT support company that offers an initial consultation or IT infrastructure audit and is prepared to invest the time in discussing the options, explaining their packages, and ensuring you have clear oversight of the various options.
2. Diverse and Verified IT Expertise
One of the biggest benefits of business IT support is that you have a whole team of qualified, experienced technicians, IT consultants and engineers who provide a complete range of support options. This base of technical knowledge can save valuable time when you’re struggling to identify a glitch in your wireless network or need assistance choosing the right technology to help you hit your business goals.
It’s well worth reviewing the in-house skills your shortlisted IT providers offer to ensure you’re getting cost-effective assistance encompassing all the areas you may need help with.
The ideal mix includes system administration specialists, IT security and data protection advisers, cloud solutions and technicians who offer ongoing advisory services, ensuring your IT operations keep pace and support future-proof growth.
You can look for certifications, accreditations, approval marks from known software providers such as Microsoft, and verifications of the technologies the IT support provider offers, particularly in terms of cybersecurity provisions.
3. Open Knowledge-Sharing to Upskill Your In-House Colleagues
IT expertise is best when shared, and we’d advise steering clear of any business IT support provider who silos their knowledge or isn’t prepared to spend time explaining the issues they’ve found or the fixes they’ve put in place or refers to you a Q&A page when you’d like to speak with a real person.
Successful IT support isn’t only based on keeping your business running smoothly but also on developing a relationship and dialogue where we can make proactive recommendations when we see a great opportunity or a way to streamline your IT systems.
For example, that might mean enhancing how you use your IT networks, looking at options to introduce automation or reduce manual errors, or reviewing your IT set-up periodically to see where this might be tweaked to align with your business plan.
Working in this way means our new customers commonly become long-standing clients, and we work in partnership with businesses as they evolve, grow and develop – using our expertise to keep progress a priority.
4. Proven Experience Working With Similar Businesses
Fully managed IT support can be a great way to allocate more time to running your business and ensuring you deliver an enhanced customer experience. If your IT provider knows your company inside out, understands your business strategy, and is familiar with the challenges and sector-specific issues you’re likely to face, they are well positioned to help you reduce costs, select the right digital products and make progressive improvements to your IT systems.
Familiarity working with similar organisations means an outsourced business IT support company grasps complexities such as regulatory compliance, industry standards, the need for remote working connectivity, and the types of software or hardware you’re most likely to benefit from.
5. An Established, Comprehensive Onboarding Process
Each element we’ve discussed hinges on how your IT provider onboards your company – where a professional team offering first-class support will follow a documented, phased approach that helps them collate information about your business needs and adapt their services accordingly.
Well-planned onboarding enables a business IT support team to address immediate requirements and business challenges and get the supp you need in place quickly while documenting other issues, long-term objectives or requirements they can deal with over time.
Ideally, your support service provider will clarify the timelines, ask about any problems you’ve been experiencing, and explain which areas of your systems or networks they feel should be prioritised.
6. Efficient Ticketing Systems and Target Resolution Times
Our final tip is to look at support services where there is a defined approach to managing support requests along with great customer service, where you can get in touch with your managed service provider at any time if you require immediate help with a disaster recovery scenario, have a request for advice that isn’t time-sensitive, or would like to schedule a good time to discuss an idea.
Asking your business IT support provider how they track issues, how quickly they expect to respond to emergencies, and how you log a ticket, request a callback or record a problem or outage will ensure you know what to expect – and whether it matches your requirements.
For instance, if you require after-hours support available on demand, knowing upfront whether this will be readily available, any limitations, and whether you’ll be charged an additional fee will help you decide whether a support company is right for you.