How To Select An IT Support Company
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. How about if it ain’t broke, it will be?
Computer and network problems are going to happen; it is a fact of life. So are you reactive; wait and see, or do you take a more proactive stance?
The old wait and see; aka burying your head in the sand approach can cost your company a significant amount of valuable time and money. Just how much would it cost your company if you lost access to email or customer files for an extended period of time? Probably more than you want to think about. And in many cases, more than some companies can ever recover from.
That is why being proactive is one of the best investments you can make for your company’s long term objectives. By proactive we mean continual monitoring of your network to identify potential problems early, before they become an issue. When developing patterns are identified early, corrective action can be taken before major problems arise. Keeping on top of anti-virus, spam filters, critical updates and database management also helps to minimize unscheduled downtime.
We know, you are thinking right now that everything is working fine and has been for months if not years. Well you have been very fortunate indeed, but at some point when you can least afford the time or expense to deal with it, things will change and a hardware or breakdown will occur.
In an ideal world, every company would have an in-house IT staff, but this isn’t an ideal world. More typically, computer and network maintenance is often an afterthought at best. Thought about after the server crashes, or after problems arise, or after the customer database becomes corrupted and you can no longer process billings or collections.
But let’s think positively, let’s think about selecting a company that can help you proactively minimize problems and downtime. Let’s think about a business partner to help you keep things moving along as uneventfully as possible.
That is not to say that with the proper support structure in place you will always realize 100% uptime, but the odds are a whole lot more in your favor than crossing your fingers and just reacting to problems when they arise.
So what is the real dollars and cents impact if you do have problems? Every organization is different. For some, email is not critical, but for others it is. And while some companies might be able to operate without the internet for days (indeed, employees may even get more work done), other companies could lose thousands of dollars not being able to access emails, customer files, critical applications or research web sites on the web.
All in all, the impact is relatively simple to calculate (Click Here To Instantly Calculate Your cost Of DiY Computer Repairs). If you have 10 employees who each need the server for their jobs and the server is down – you lose the productivity of 10 employees x 8 hours x their average (burdened) hourly pay rate. For example: 10 x 8 x $40 = $3,200. That’s $400 an hour!
Not to mention lost revenues, delayed collections, aggravated customers and disgruntled employees. What about corrupted database files or a failed back-up? Now we are starting to talk about some real money. At that rate, it’s again not surprising that some companies never recover from a major systems failure.
So are you now starting to see the need for a plan? Are you finally starting to see a need for professional approach in maintaining and managing your IT infrastructure? Ok terrific. But where do I go for assistance and how do you choose the right support company you now ask?
Many companies only consider advertised hourly rates which are deceptive at best. Remember the fact that your company does not give away your products and services for free and that you expect to make a fair and reasonable profit, and so do the support guys. The best companies are not always be the most expensive, but they definitely won’t be the cheapest.
Consider company A is charging $80 per hour and takes two hours to fix a problem while company B bills their labor at $120 but has you back up and running again in an hour, who is really the best value?
It comes down to doing a little research …
1. Is the company fully bonded, insured and licensed?
2. Are their technicians properly certified and trained?
3. Does their technical staff keep current on new and emerging technologies?
4. Are they members of the local Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce and active within the local community?
5. Do they have experience supporting companies similar to your own or are you going to be paying xxx dollars an hour while they learn how you business works at your expense?
6. Can they provide local references from satisfied customers of similar size and industry as yours?
7. Do they offer hours of support that match your businesses hours and what about after hours or holiday support in an emergency situation?
8. Do they provide a guaranteed response time?
9. Do they offer flexibility in structuring a support program that matches up well with your specific needs and budget or do they take a one-size fits all, take it or leave it approach?
10. Are they a full service support company or are they only able to provide support for a portion of your potential needs?
If after doing a bit of research you find that you can’t answer yes to all 10 of the above questions, it’s probably best to keep looking. Talk to your local Chamber of Commerce, other business owners and most importantly, do some more research. With just some due diligence, you will make the right choice and have one less thing on you desk to deal with in the future.
So how do most support companies stack up to the above, all we can say is that Jaydien Network Solutions gets a big yes on all 10 points. Where is your support company on a scale of 1 to 10?
Jaydien Network Solution
Email Us: info@jaydien.com
Call Us: 877.561.6734
35 Beaverson Blvd, Suite 3A
Brick, NJ 08723
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