Finding an IT provider willing to help you deal with a tech emergency or offer you a managed services agreement is easy. There are literally dozens of firms throughout Los Angeles and Southern California offering assistance to small and medium-sized companies. However, finding the right partner to take care of your hardware and software can be a lot more difficult.

To understand why this is the case, you only have to look at a handful of online reviews. Start looking through them and you’ll see that some firms aren’t always responsive to client requests for assistance, even when it’s an emergency. Other IT providers might lack expertise, round-the-clock coverage, or clear pricing guidelines.

Put it all together and you have a situation where it’s easy to identify candidates, but it’s not necessarily as simple to make a decision. So how should you choose the right IT partner?

Because we know it can be difficult to get the tech assistance you need, particularly if you aren’t an expert on things like servers, networking configurations, and mobile hardware yourself, we decided to put together a two-part guide on finding the perfect IT vendor. We’ll get started today with some tips you can use to make a list of potential IT companies, and then show you how to narrow things down, in the next post.

Where to Start Your Search for an Outsourced IT Partner
Remember, your IT firm is going to be tasked with helping you keep your business running smoothly, efficiently, and profitably for years to come. So, it’s not a decision you want to make lightly.

Knowing that, it doesn’t make sense to turn to the first listing you see on a Google ad, or to respond to a flyer in the mail. Instead, you should concentrate on finding the vendor who is a perfect match for your technology, business plan, and budget.

A good place to start is by asking for referrals from trusted colleagues and vendors. You don’t necessarily want to take their recommendations without doing your own research (after all your business is unique) but it gives you a good starting point.

The next step is to look through blogs like this one. What you’re searching for is a company that gives you lots of useful information and shares something about their character. This will tell you a great deal about their expertise, openness, and communication style.

And finally, if you have unique technical needs (for instance, your business is reliant on a certain type of specialized hardware software) you could look through Google to find potential vendors. Obviously, you have to take everything you read with a grain of salt, but you can use search engines, local review sites, and forums to continue building your list of possible vendors.

Once you have some company names and contact details, it’s time to start narrowing things down.

Want to Learn More about Finding the Perfect IT Vendor?
If you know you need help managing your company’s tech, want to avoid unplanned downtime, or just feel like you could be getting more from your IT budget, then we’ve got the answers you need. You can check back to see our second post on the topic of hiring an IT company, or contact us today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about our work!