Deciding to outsource your IT support needs is a big commitment, one that could have serious consequences for your business. After all, you wouldn’t go looking for outside help if you could do the job in-house. As such, choosing a reputable IT company in Raleigh, NC, is one of those things you have to take seriously.
Look out for these things when deciding about the IT support company to hire.
1)Experience
In the world of business and IT, experience is key. The right experience could mean the difference between getting things done and poor quarterly earnings, just to name a few problems. Before choosing an IT support company, ensure that they have the relevant experience to handle your needs. Do your research and ensure that the company you choose has experience in providing the kind of IT support your organization requires. A key indicator of experience is the number of years a company has been in business. The longer, the better. The number of years plus the right experience usually means they’ve won the trust of many clients; hence they’ll likely be a good fit for you.
2) The Right Tools
Not all IT support services are equal. What worked perfectly for another company may not work for yours. For instance, your idea of IT support may involve remote monitoring and using the latest management tools, such as Syslog servers with PRTG. Therefore, your ideal IT support company should utilize such tools. The whole idea of having an IT support company is to reduce downtime by ensuring that serious issues within your IT infrastructure are promptly identified and addressed. The right tools make this much easier. Before committing to an agreement with an IT support company, ensure that you get a good idea of the tools at their disposal and their relevance to your company’s tasks.
3) Track Record of Success
Being in existence for long is not always an indicator of success or failure. Such a determination can only be made after thoroughly examining an IT company’s track record.
An IT support company that has been among the top performers in their industry will likely have the track record to suit you. It is upon you to critically assess their claims about what they can do and how many such successful projects they’ve accomplished. If their track record of success is as impressive as they claim it to be, it shouldn’t be hard for you to verify it.
4) Seriousness About Security
In the world of IT support, security is just as important as being able to accomplish the needed task. An IT support company promising you the best services cannot be taken seriously if they do not prioritize security. Such security should begin with the company itself. If they are always harping on the importance of security for IT systems yet don’t seem to implement such measures in their own systems, it is unlikely they’ll do a good job for your company.
Before you hire any such company, enquire about their security protocols in case of data breaches and any active measures against cyber attacks. A good IT support company is one that is serious about training its employees about the latest security measures and does regular penetration testing on its own systems to identify vulnerabilities, among others.
5) A Well-Documented Onboarding Process
Working together with an IT support company for the first time may not always get off to a perfect start. Even with a seemingly ideal company, you may need time to really get into it. That’s where an effective onboarding process comes in. The IT support company should have a verified process of getting the necessary information to mount a good cyber defense and do other IT support tasks. This is usually a large volume of information. Of course, all this should be done without impeding day-to-day company operations.
Any such onboarding process should not come at the cost of addressing immediate IT concerns. If there’s an active threat, it can be dealt with while collating the necessary information for long-term use.
6) Proactive Approach
Even in today’s world of constant cyber security threats and the possibility of IT issues arising spontaneously, many IT support companies still rely on the break-fix model where they’re only responding to a threat. A better approach involves actively scanning the system to identify vulnerabilities long before they become serious concerns. You want a company whose thinking is about taking proactive measures. You don’t want to always have to deal with IT issues after they’ve wreaked havoc on your business.
7) Cost
At the end of the day, you’ll have to pay for any IT support services. While an IT service provider may have all the qualities you’re company is looking for, they may just be out of your price range. Cost is always something to keep in mind when choosing an IT support company. You don’t want to hire expensive IT support that will affect your company’s finances.