Partnering with a skilled IT provider should be a seamless experience. If you have the sinking feeling that things aren’t working out, it may be time to make a change. Many companies stick with the same ineffective provider for years, allowing their business to suffer the consequences. Service disruptions, slowdowns, and frequent repairs all affect your business operations. When a company isn’t doing their part to eliminate these issues, your customers pay the price. Therefore, it’s critical to be aware of potential problems so you don’t make the same mistake.
1. Reduced Communication
It’s important to feel like you can reach your IT provider whenever you need them. If communication is poor or they respond slowly, that could be a major issue. IT providers should have a service-first approach that is geared towards quick, effective solutions. When you contact your provider with a problem, how do they react? Are their representatives unfriendly, unhelpful, or condescending? Are the suggestions they have made simply unworkable? If this is the case, it’s time for a new IT provider.
2. Frequent Downtime
An IT provider is supposed to limit your downtime, not create more of it. If you’ve been experiencing more service interruptions than you’re used to, that’s a red flag you shouldn’t ignore. A provider’s processes should always produce effective results. Recurrent downtime is a sign of a poor IT delivery model.
3. A Lack of Proactivity
The best IT companies in the industry take a proactive approach. This means that they work to solve problems before they become problems. In order to accomplish this, providers have to understand the needs of your organization and communicate with you. Your security provider should make a concentrated effort to identify your vulnerabilities and limit them. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with the same issues over and over again. Proactive IT companies think about the future, as opposed to reactive IT companies that focus on the immediate.
4. Catch-All Solutions that Don’t Work for Your Business
Did your IT provider spend time getting to know your organization when you first began working with them? Are their services customized for each business they work with, or do they only offer a standard set of services? A skilled IT provider will always ask you questions and express an interest in your goals. They should be on your side. Generalized services can be effective for bare-bones IT solutions, but ideally you want an approach that is tailored to you.
5. No Transparency or Accountability
It is important for IT companies to be transparent about their actions. Unfortunately, some IT providers may use technical jargon you can’t understand. You follow their instructions, but you don’t know much about the solutions they’re implementing. When business owners invest in IT, they want to feel like they’re getting something in return. Companies should take time to educate you on the solutions they provide. That way, you have the ability to ascertain how effective they are. Without transparency, there is no accountability.
6. Their Experience is Limited
When searching for a provider, it’s important to find a company that has worked with other businesses in your industry. Unless they have proven experience dealing with the threats you are most concerned about, you can’t be sure they can help you. From there, it’s important to vet their experience as a whole. How long have they been in business? What are their reviews like? Did you receive a word-of-mouth recommendation from a colleague, or is the company unfamiliar to you? It’s possible that your current IT provider is less knowledgeable than others in the field if they are not experienced.
7. They Can’t Meet Your Growing Needs
If your business is growing, but your current provider can’t keep up, that’s a serious problem. Over time, it’s likely that your company will experience all kinds of changes. Perhaps you’re hiring more employees or upgrading the technology in your office. Your current provider should still be able to meet your demands and provide you with high-quality solutions. You may need to make a change if their response times are slowing down due to an increase in support requests. All your staff members should have access to IT support services when they need them.
Choose an IT Provider You Can Trust and Partner with Nauticon
Nauticon is a leading provider of managed services, workflow solutions and other office technology solutions that can transform your workspace and help you resolve common office printer problems. If you are looking for a better way to meet your office’s needs, we are here to help. To learn more about our company and see how we can bring innovative, real-world solutions for your office’s needs to you, contact us today by calling (301) 279-0123.
