In this day and age, almost all business is undertaken digitally. Long gone are the days of manually writing down customer information, transaction details, or accounting information. The digital age is well and truly upon us.
While this digital transformation has clearly helped to streamline much of today’s business operations, it also comes with a slight issue. That issue is that not everyone is an IT, data, or internet expert. Sometimes, people need a little help from external companies. Here’s how to find just that.
What is An IT Support Company?
In short, an IT support company is a company that provides external help with your IT infrastructure, management, design, and security. The spectrum of IT support can cover all sorts of things; mostly those that you may not have expertise in yourself. Some tasks require experts and, as mentioned, not everyone is an IT pro!
Starting at a small scale, your IT needs may be minimal. But, once your business grows, you may need advanced internal networks, huge websites, or massive data storage capabilities. External IT assistance teams can help you build, scale, and manage all of these things, as well as help with IT failures, testing, and more.
Benefits of External Help
One of the biggest benefits of external help is cost. Sure, you have to pay these companies for their time and their efforts. But, you don’t have to hire, train, develop, and pay your own IT team. Large-scale IT teams can be extremely expensive when you factor in all of these expenses. Instead, an external team can charge you a flat monthly fee or fees for certain tasks, meaning you only pay for the support when you need it.
On top of this, you can rest assured that you are getting top-level, expert help whenever you need it. These IT companies need to gain your trust and retain you as a client. So, in theory, they will do everything in their power to do right by you so that you never feel the need to switch to a different provider.
Work Out What You Need
The first thing you need to do is work out what kind of support you need. Is it internal network building, maintenance, and management? Is it data security you need help with? Or, do you just need someone to look over your workplace IT systems in general, giving you some pointers as they go?
All of these tasks vary in difficulty and, so, also vary in cost. You should make sure you know exactly what you need before reaching out to companies. This way, you will only be quoted for the work that actually needs doing.
Look For Proactive Companies
Many companies offer support when IT systems fail, which is great. But, wouldn’t you prefer to work with a company that can offer ongoing proactive help? Instead of simply waiting for a system to fail, a proactive management team will keep their eyes on your systems remotely at all times. This way, they will be able to prevent catastrophic failures from occurring in the first place!
Check Their Credentials
Picking an external team to trust can be hard. One thing you can do with IT firms is to check their credentials. Where do they train their staff? What level of education do their engineers have? Do they have any reviews online? It’s much easier, then, to build a picture of how experienced and well-trained a company and its team will be.
How Quickly Can They Help?
When an IT system fails it can cause a total business shutdown. This is not something you want to have to experience. Most IT assistance companies will quote a certain timeframe in which they will have your issues resolved. These timeframes are key. You do not want to find yourself waiting days or weeks for IT support. Make sure you compare the quoted repair times when looking at potential providers.
Do They Offer Training and Support?
Finally, it’s all well and good having an external team of pros, but what about making sure your staff actually understand their PCs and network? If a company is willing to come into your office and spend time training both you and your staff on how to properly manage their part of the system, you’ll likely have fewer issues.
Picking an IT company to support your business is all about comparing these things. If they are proactive, have good reviews, and can fix things quickly, you’re likely to be a winner. If they fall short in any of these categories, keep shopping around. There are thousands of companies out there ready and willing to take you on as a client.