Your business relies on technology, and keeping it running smoothly, safely, and efficiently is a full-time job for an entire team of experienced IT professionals. Learn tips for hiring a support team in this educational article!
In 2022, there are many regional and national IT support providers that you can turn to to outsource your information technology needs.
Determining which one would be the best fit for your organization can be a challenge, but you can make it easier by asking the right questions.
Outlined below are five questions that we at OSIbeyond are always delighted to answer, and we encourage all organizations to ask them before moving forward with an IT support agreement.
Download
DoD Contractor’s Guide to CMMC 2.0 Compliance
1. Are you familiar with our industry requirements?
It’s true that organizations across all industries rely largely on the same information technology solutions and, as a result, face the same IT issues. To help you overcome them, your IT support provider doesn’t need the same in-depth understanding of your industry as you have—that wouldn’t even be feasible.
The provider does, however, need to be familiar with your industry requirements (security/compliance). For example, healthcare organizations, companies in the finance sector, and government contractors are all required to play by certain rules, and they can’t afford to implement IT solutions that would jeopardize their ability to maintain compliance with them.
A provider that’s deeply familiar with your industry requirements will always be easier to work with than a provider that needs to learn about your unique requirements on the job. Such a provider will also be able to proactively prepare you for upcoming industry changes.
2. Do you have experience with our IT systems?
Just like you wouldn’t take your electric vehicle to a car mechanic who has experience with only internal combustion engines, you shouldn’t entrust your organization’s IT systems to an IT support provider that has never worked on them.
Most providers have their preferred vendors and technology ecosystems, and they may not have the resources and experience to support organizations whose IT infrastructures are built using different blocks.
If your employees are, for instance, equipped with computers running the Windows operating system and use Microsoft products like Microsoft 365 for Business to get work done, then you should look for an IT support provider with a matching set of skills.
3. What are your response times?
The point of partnering with an IT support provider is to gain the ability to solve IT issues quickly and efficiently to prevent business processes from being interrupted.
All reputable providers guarantee reasonable response times in their service level agreements (SLAs), which are legally binding contracts between service providers and customers.
Just keep in mind that a guaranteed response time only guarantees that someone will start working on the problem—it doesn’t ensure that the problem will be solved within a certain amount of time. Unfortunately, that’s not something that can be promised, so be wary of IT support providers that do provide guaranteed resolution times.
4. Do you offer both remote and on-site support?
These days, most IT support requests can be solved remotely, and there are many good reasons to go this route, such as being able to select a provider that’s located on the other side of the country to get a better quality of service and pay less money.
Still, some issues are best addressed in person so you either need to have an internal point of contact to serve has the provider’s eyes and hands or choose a provider that also offers onsite support in your geographic area.
5. Can you provide a couple of references?
Perhaps the ultimate measure of the quality of an IT support provider is the number of customers that are fully satisfied with its services. The best providers are proud of what they do, and they always gladly provide a handful of references.
Since its easy for providers to cherry-pick their best references to create a favorable impression, you should go the extra mile and do your due diligence by scouring independent sites with customer reviews, such as Google, Clutch, and UpCity.
We also recommend you check if the providers you’re considering have received any awards. For example, OSIbeyond was named as one of the Top 100 IT Managed Service Providers in Washington D.C. by The Manifest, a business news and how-to website that connects businesses with the services they need to grow.
Final Words on Choosing IT Support Provider in 2022
Good communication is key to thriving business partnerships and asking the right questions early on can go a long way in helping establish it.
At OSIbeyond, we’re always happy when potential customers want to learn more about our services because we’re confident in our ability to deliver the technical competence and extraordinary customer service today’s organizations have come to expect.
If you would like to learn more about our comprehensive managed IT services and our enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions, don’t hesitate to schedule a meeting and ask as many questions as you want.