In a perfect world, your IT provider would put your needs first. In doing so, they would recognize that earning your long-term business and referrals is the best way to keep their own bottom line healthy.
In the real world, we have seen that some of our competitors don’t operate under that mindset. In fact, new customers tell us again and again that they switched to Fantastic IT because they were tired of overpaying for lackluster support.
How can you tell if your outsourced managed services firm prioritizes your profitability? Time will usually tell, but a good technology support vendor will always give you these three things…
#1 Fair and Clear Pricing
This is an issue we hear about again and again, and it’s nearly as frustrating to us as it is to the business owners and executives who tell us tales of inflated invoices. The issue seems to be that some IT providers will charge whatever they want because they are assuming business-minded men and women don’t know much about tech.
You shouldn’t have to understand the intricacies of disk speeds to know what your IT bills are going to look like. That’s what good managed services arrangements are all about. So don’t settle for anything less than fair, clear, and consistent pricing from your IT vendor.
#2 Fast Response Times to Your Tickets or Requests
Time is money. Or to put it another way, when your managed services partner doesn’t respond to a service request quickly, it costs you lots of money in terms of lost sales and productivity.
A good IT vendor will recognize this. Even better, they’ll give you guaranteed response times for service requests, in writing, and stick to them. Our clients love the fact that they know we’ll show up when we are called. You shouldn’t tolerate anything less from the team that supports your technology.
#3 Proactive Suggestions for IT Improvements
You probably think of good IT care in terms of one of the two criteria we’ve already outlined: fast service and affordable rates. These are good guideposts when it comes to evaluating a managed services partner, but don’t forget that your support team can also be proactive in helping you to identify risks and challenges.
Your vendor should always be looking ahead to see if they can make you safer, find hardware and software that better supports your business goals, or saves your business money. If they only respond to service requests without ever being proactive about bringing up new ideas and solutions, they are only doing two-thirds of their job.
Is It Time to Get Better IT Value?
You should never settle for anything less than knowledgeable, friendly, and reliable IT care for a fair price. If you feel like that’s not what you’re getting from your current outsourced managed services team, you owe it to yourself to investigate your options.
Contact Fantastic IT today to schedule a free consultation and see how easy it is to get great service and support at competitive rates!