If you are a business looking for a professional IT support provider to partner with, there are a few different things that you should be looking out for. The importance of IT support is greater than ever, and yet many small and medium sized businesses don’t have the resources to establish a robust IT strategy – this is why partnering with a provider is a good idea. There are many IT support companies London based SMBs use to implement a good strategy, but how do you figure who the best ones are?
Below are a few of the important qualities to look for in an IT support provider.
Flexible Plans
It is important to look for an IT support provider who understands that every business’ requirements will be slightly different. From the size and sector of a business, to the kinds of tools and systems they use, and the way they work (are they remote, hybrid, or office-based?) each business will require a slightly different set of solutions.
The best London IT support companies have a range of flexible plans to offer. While they should have a main, flagship service that meets all the demands of their ideal customer, they should also have additional plans for unique circumstances – an example of this might be a plan that omits callouts, for businesses that are remote-only.
Account Management
When partnering with an IT support provider, you want to know that it will be a successful, long-term partnership. A key part of that is whether or not the provider includes account management with their plans.
An IT support company should be committed to delivering the best possible service to their customers, and they can achieve this by providing customers with full transparency into the service through account management. This then gives the client ample opportunities to share feedback with the provider – for instance, what has been working well for them, what could be improved, etc.
In turn, the provider can give their clients plenty of advice with regards to how they might improve the organisation’s IT infrastructure and strategy even further.
Experience with your Tools
The last thing you want from a service provider you are paying for, is for them to be experiencing a learning curve with your account. The ideal IT support provider for you to partner with will be one that has lots of experience with the tools and systems that you use. For example, if your organisation uses Microsoft 365, your IT support provider should have certifications in Microsoft’s products and services.
The IT support provider’s staff should be receiving ongoing training, and they should have specialists for services and products that you use.
Security Expertise
In the modern era of business and IT, there is no room for error when it comes to IT security. Security expertise should be a unique selling point or an option extra to a service, it should be fully integrated into the service you get from an IT provider. You should seek out an IT provider that has plenty of cybersecurity expertise, who will be able to develop a security strategy that fits your requirements (and your budget).
A good idea is to look at companies that have certifications pertaining to security standards in your country.
Clearly Defined Response Times
You want to know that you are getting a consistent service with a high standard. When the service provider is responsible for supporting your staff and technology stack, they should be placing guarantees on response times. A good thing to look out for is whether or not IT support providers include service-level agreements in their contracts. These are designed to outline the maximum response time to cases.
It is important to be aware that response times and fix times are two different things. Different issues take different amounts of time to resolve, so if an IT support company claims to fix any issue within a certain amount of time, it is likely to be a marketing ploy. Whereas clearly defined response times is a solid commitment masstamilan.
