How To Choose The Right IT Support Provider

Picking the wrong IT support provider can make your life more difficult, introducing unnecessary risks to your business, including cyber security issues, increased downtime and slow responses to problems. In this guide, we look at how to choose an IT support provider that meets your needs, including the key benefits of choosing the right company.

Why Choosing the Right IT Support Provider Matters

Choosing an IT support provider that meets all your needs and reduces your risk is invaluable in maintaining smooth operations for your business. Some of the key benefits of choosing the right IT support company include:

• Improving productivity: Picking the right provider can help to improve your business productivity by making your operations run smoothly. This may include upgrading, patching, and installing systems to optimise your infrastructure.
• Reducing downtime: A provider that offers proactive support can reduce interruptions to your business. Continual monitoring enables problems to be fixed before they affect your business, rather than waiting for those issues to be discovered.
• Preventing security risks: Choosing an IT support team that is also highly knowledgeable in cyber security prevention, including protection, training and threat detection, can keep your business safe from multiple avenues, reducing risk.
• Enabling long-term business growth: An IT provider that can scale along with you is invaluable for the long-term success of your business. You need a team that can match your needs as you grow, adapting to your changing company requirements.
• Lower costs: Opting for a package solution with the right IT support provider reduces the unexpected costs for callouts, repairs and support services, with everything built into one transparent cost.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing an IT Support Provider

1. Experience And Expertise

A trustworthy IT support services provider should have plenty of experience to back up their service. Online reviews and testimonials can show a company’s experience and skill. You can also explore case studies on their website to see if they have a proven track record.

Beyond this, looking at the certifications they hold, such as Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001, can let you know if the IT company has the experience and expertise you need from a provider. Most IT services will list their accreditations on their website, making it easy to confirm if they are qualified for your requirements.

2. Do They Offer A Range of IT Services

You don’t want to have to work with multiple companies for your IT services when you can work with one. Picking a provider that covers a wide range of IT services ensures every aspect of your business is protected and managed effectively. At a minimum, your chosen IT company should offer:

• Managed IT support
• Cyber security
• Cloud services
• Backup and disaster recovery

At Technical Drive, we offer coverage for all vital IT services, ensuring your business has the support and resources needed in all areas of IT.

3. What Are Their Response Times and Service Level Agreement?

Fast response times are integral to preventing downtime in your business. IT companies will typically offer guidelines on the amount of time taken to respond to queries, in addition to rapid responses to serious problems. Service level agreements can also cover the time taken for call-outs when needed.

Availability is also a key concern for your IT support providers. For example, if your business runs around the clock, you’re likely to require 24/7 support from an IT company, whereas if you are open 9-5 on weekdays, less extensive support is suitable. Automated monitoring processes can trigger alerts in response to issues around the clock, reducing the response time.

4. Proactive vs Reactive Support

Proactivity allows businesses to increase their uptime and reduce their risk in comparison to a reactive, ‘break-fix’ IT support service. Selecting an IT company that provides proactive solutions enables you to address issues before they impact your business, lowering emergency costs and helping to mitigate risk.

Examples of proactive service include:

• Monitoring systems
• Threat detection
• Patching and updating services
• Infrastructure testing and replacements

5. Do They Provide Cyber Security Capabilities

Cyber security is integral for modern businesses, protecting your data and preventing significant risk to you and your customers. At a minimum, your chosen IT support company should work with you to improve your business security, identifying any immediate issues that could threaten you.

Some of the services that IT support companies should offer for cyber security include the following:

• Threat protection through both detection and prevention of cyber attacks
• Compliance support to help your business adhere to Cyber Essentials
• Staff training to prevent risk caused by poor internal processes or lack of knowledge
• Business continuity services to securely store and recover data

6. Do They Offer Scalable, Bespoke Solutions

As your business grows and changes, you need an IT support service that can grow alongside you. A scalable service ensures you are still getting the coverage and security your business needs as it expands, instead of outgrowing your existing service.

For example, you might need to change your communications and telephony solutions to adjust to an increasing number of employees or have higher storage requirements. An IT provider that offers a bespoke package has the flexibility to adapt to changes in your business, whether it’s slow and steady growth or rapid expansion.

7. Communication and Support

Being able to get in contact with your IT provider as and when you need is essential for accessing support quickly and effortlessly. Ideally, your IT service will have a clear, easy line of communication to report issues or to discuss business requirements with a qualified professional, such as a dedicated account manager.

A team that offers clear, non-technical explanations is also valuable for your IT support partner. This is helpful not only in resolving ongoing problems but also in knowing when to complete critical tasks to improve your operations, from upgrading hardware to migrating to the cloud.

Things to Watch Out For

When exploring different IT support providers, it’s important to be aware of certain red flags and avoid them. These issues can suggest that you won’t get the level of service you need, or that support may be delayed or less available:

• Slow response times: If the company’s SLAs and response times don’t meet your expectations, this suggests they may not be the right fit
• Lack of transparency: IT companies that don’t state the specific services they offer or are unwilling to list qualifications may be less suitable for your business
• No proactive monitoring: Companies that operate as ‘break-fix’ IT providers won’t actively monitor your systems and prevent problems before they can result in operational downtime
• Poor communication: If you struggle to get in contact with an IT provider when discussing working with them, this can indicate that there may be problems down the line when you require support
• Overly technical or unclear explanations: IT companies unwilling to provide clarity over their IT services in plain language can be a red flag, leading to difficulty understanding the problems your business faces

Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Provider

If you’re in the process of finding the right IT support provider, here are a few of the questions you may want to ask to make the right decision:

• What’s included in your support package?
• What are your response times?
• Do you offer proactive monitoring?
• How do you handle cyber security?
• Can you provide references or case studies?

How To Decide On an IT Provider

If you have considered all of the above, it’s time to choose the best IT provider that ticks all the boxes. You can compare any shortlisted providers directly to see which is strongest in the areas you value most, such as cyber security or an accessible support helpdesk.

While it’s tempting to use cost as the decision-maker for your IT support, it’s important to choose a company that can support you in the long term. A partnership that spans many years needs to be adaptable to your business requirements and able to offer continued, high-quality support year after year.

Looking To Switch IT Providers? Contact Our Experts Today

Technical Drive is a top choice for IT services, providing high-quality support that helps you keep your business safe and enhances your day-to-day operations. Our team is on hand to offer clear, professional advice and guidance to help you achieve your goals.

Ready to switch your IT provider? Call us at 01527 880088, email us or fill out our online contact form to discuss your requirements.