3 Skills You Should Look for in an IT Company
So you’re searching to partner with a reliable, reputable, and personable IT company.
Every business needs a great IT company in their journey towards success. IT professionals, after all, provide cybersecurity services, data management, and risk protection that are integral to smooth business operations.
But not all IT companies are the right match, and an unskilled IT team can wreak havoc. How, then, do you tell the difference between a strong IT provider and a weak one? Here are three ways.
The greatest benefit of working with an IT company is their cybersecurity knowledge and protection. As you may have noticed, a US pipeline that supplies the entire east of America with oil, was attacked by ransomware. The oil simply stopped being pumped and caused a lot of economic damage and panic among customers. But there are more reasons why you should work with an IT company.
The Best IT Companies Put People First
Though every good IT team specializes in technology, the best IT companies focus on people first. Their clients, their clients’ clients, and everyone in between.
You should always feel comfortable with your IT provider, no matter what the topic is. Have a concern about their firewall strategies? Bring it up. If they respond poorly or blow you off, you know that they’re a mediocre company at best. They should never be too busy or see a demand as too much to handle. The client, the people working in the business and your customers matter the most.
To decide if an IT team prioritizes customer relationships, check out their values before partnering with them. This IT company in Boston, for example, focuses on giving their clients up-to-date information and services without the hassle or confusion that comes with most IT contracts.
A Responsive IT Company Is Almost Always Local
It may be tempting to outsource your IT needs to someone on the other side of the country, but this strategy rarely ever pays off.
Good IT services respond quickly to issues. If your business is threatened by a cyberattack, you need an IT provider who can jump on the scene immediately and mitigate your losses. That kind of responsiveness can only be guaranteed by someone in the same time zone as your business.
Think about it this way. If your headquarters is based in LA and you partner with an IT team in Florida, it’s only reasonable to expect a three-hour delay. Worst yet, if you have an emergency at 3 pm your time, it’s already 6 pm in Florida, meaning that your provider might not even see your messages until the next business day.
By choosing a local IT business, you sidestep all these time barriers.
The Best IT Companies Are Long-Term Partners, Not Short-Term Fixes
As a business owner trying to cut costs, you might think a one-time break-fix call to an IT company will solve all your IT problems. Why bother working with an IT company when you can just call one for help when you need it?
Well, a managed service provider understands your business, knows how urgent your call for help is, knows what kind of software, applications and processes you use. They can help you to create a backup of your data and design your recovery and business continuity plans in the event of a natural disaster.
It’s worth the time and investment. And in the long run, you’ll actually save more money with a managed IT provider than with a traditional break-fix company.
The Takeaway
Search for an IT company that is always going to put your customers first, will always be a stone’s throw away and will always work with you to prevent harm from coming to your business—if you do that, you’ll find a reliable IT partner in no time.