Having an in-house team for IT support might not be a great idea for many reasons. This article is not going to list them down for the reader. What this article, is, however, going to do, is tell you how to find the right IT support for your business. There are a number of considerations you should keep in mind while finding the most suitable IT firm for your business. We have narrowed down the top five 5 ways, to make it easier, convenient and hassle-free for you:
Set your criteria and look for experienced contenders
The first step to finding the most suitable service provider for anything under the sun should be being aware of your company needs, so that they can be communicated to a firm, evaluated and worked upon. A good service provider would always share their insights with you, about what they think of your company performance, and also provide an audit report. But you’ve to know your bases well yourself, without external support, so that you can fetch the right help for yourself. Assess what IT services do you need, in the first place, and then, look out for companies which provide these.
Go for companies that already have adequate experience in your fields, so that when a troubleshooting event arises, they know how to approach the problem and get rid of it, at the earliest. Having experience in your domains make it a less time-consuming affair, for you and your IT support involved. Your act of setting out criteria, or looking for experienced contenders, come from the major aim of making it a less hassle-free process for you, when you outsource work, and delegate it to an external support provider. You’ve to be sure that they can rope in their resources, and handle crises.
Call for bids
Either you can make it a silent process, by choosing companies that have been recommended to you by friends, family and colleagues or go public with it. There are several benefits to going public and sending out a call for bids. You can either send out a request for proposal (RFP) or request for quotation (RFQ). Your proposal or quotation bids should enclosure full list of your criteria, services you expect, delivery dates, quality standard mentions, references and other details you deem necessary. After the bids, you can ask them to provide a detailed list of their experiences so far, the services or software they use for IT support, and outline reasons on why you should opt for them.
Evaluating bid submissions well and carefully
Once you’ve received the bids from IT service providers, the real challenge is evaluating them and picking the right guy for your company. No matter how easy it looks, experts would tell you that this is the hardest determinant in the entire process, and it can literally influence the future of your company, and the success graph it takes.
Compare each bid submission you have received against the set of criteria you’ve outlined at first, and see and ascertain which the most obvious choice is. Consider affordability, availability and access support to your IT service providers. What we mean is here, do they offer 24×7 support? Are they local to your headquarters, because receiving on-site support immediately and as soon as possible is one priority your business will need you to have? Are they providing too many good things at a small price? It can be a potential run for the money but check more affordable yet logical options.
Try to opt for a trial period
Most IT support providers come with trial periods, of a week or a fortnight. It is best to opt for this service, even if it comes at a token cost. If you’re sceptical, hear our arguments in favour of it. It tells you whether this company can accommodate the services you need from them, whether the direct contact point you’ve with them answers and troubleshoots when and asked, and how fast and prompt they are when an emergency is concerned. Having them work out these little technicalities will show you if they are suitable for you, your business and its needs.
Choose a company that aligns with your company’s work ethic
It is very important to find a service provider, when you’re outsourcing work especially, to match with the level of professionalism you practise at your workplace. If your work ethics are essentially different, no matter if it is the best service provider in town, they wouldn’t be able to help your needs and soar higher.
For example, if you’re a company that has night timings, you’d want to go for a service provider who has night operations and is not starting out. Or, to give you another example, if your method of conflict resolution does not match or punctuality does not match, it’s unlikely to work out. So, hire an IT support that gives you the services you need, has the experience, has the right software for your need, and practices levels of professionalism that matches yours.
