{"id":37308,"date":"2020-04-07T19:59:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T23:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?p=37308"},"modified":"2020-04-07T19:59:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T23:59:25","slug":"creating-lasting-relationship-service-provider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2020\/creating-lasting-relationship-service-provider\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Lasting Relationship with Your IT Service Provider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Service providers are everywhere. From the traditional roles most businesses outsource \u2013 like accountancy \u2013 to service providers that are now offering an alternative to in-house departments \u2013 like IT and HR.<\/p>\n

The thing is, getting your outsourced IT provision isn\u2019t something you should take lightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

IT generally represents the backbone of a company \u2013 and, when asked, 94.4% of businesses believed that losing their IT systems would severely inhibit their ability to trade from day one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, you need an IT provider to make sure your systems work \u2013 but will just any provider do?<\/p>\n

The answer is a very definite \u201cno\u201d. For every managed IT service provider out there, there\u2019s likely to be 100 that don\u2019t have the skills you need to be a good fit with your company and to keep your systems up and running.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, how do you sort the good from the not-so-good?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve put together a series of questions that will help you find a provider that\u2019s perfectly suited to your business, the way you work, and the IT you use.<\/p>\n

How will we pay you?<\/h2>\n

\"6-tips-to-manage-your-business-s-expenses-and-reduce-your-costs\"<\/a>
\n6 Tips to Manage Your Business’s Expenses and Reduce Your Costs<\/em><\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s perhaps not the first question you\u2019d ask a managed IT service provider, it\u2019s important to understand how IT companies will generally charge you for their services.<\/p>\n

Almost all companies will work with a \u2018service level agreement\u2019 – or SLA<\/a>. In essence, this is the contract that the two of you will commit to \u2013 the service they provide and the price you\u2019ll pay for that service.<\/p>\n

Although that\u2019s a pretty standard way of retaining a company\u2019s service, it\u2019s absolutely vital that you make sure the agreement outlines everything that you expect to get from the company. For instance, a provider might tell you that you can call them at any time \u2013 but does that mean you can pick up the phone in the small hours of the morning? Or does it mean that there\u2019s an account manager who can help you in office hours?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to get these things mapped out exactly \u2013 because there\u2019s no room for misunderstandings when you\u2019re dealing with the systems that keep your business on track.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re absolutely clear about what the company offer, you need to make sure they outline the costs for services above and beyond this too. Generally, managed IT service provider will offer support and maintenance \u2013 but adding to your network might fall outside this remit. As such, turning to your provider when you need a network redesign, help finding a good value MPLS provider<\/a>, support setting up new offices \u2013 and a huge number of other tasks \u2013 could be expensive. Having a price list of services will help you decide exactly how you should be managing your IT budget.<\/p>\n

Will you help us keep ahead of problems?<\/h2>\n

Picture the scene; you walk into work on a Monday morning, boot up your PC and the latest email to land in your inbox is a message from your managed service provider telling you they\u2019d managed to keep your infrastructure up and running \u2013 despite a software issue overnight.<\/p>\n

Good news, right?<\/p>\n

Of course, this is the kind of email that means you can get on with your day \u2013 and there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll have forgotten all about it by 10am. The thing is, you\u2019re only going to get an email like this if you\u2019re working with a provider that monitors your systems and applications 24\/7.<\/p>\n

The alternative is sitting down at your desk and finding out mission critical applications won\u2019t launch when you need them \u2013 or, quite frankly, that your PC won\u2019t come to life.<\/p>\n

If you rely on IT to keep you business running, it\u2019s important to use a provider that\u2019ll work proactively to keep your most important systems and devices working as they should. With downtime costing even small businesses enough to often put them out of business, the alternative will definitely still be on your mind when you get to 10am\u2026<\/p>\n

Do you speak our language?<\/h2>\n

\"strategy-is-different-in-service-businesses\"<\/a>
\nStrategy is Different in Service Businesses<\/em><\/p>\n

IT has its own language<\/a> \u2013 and it\u2019s not at all uncommon to find people who work in IT that forget other languages exist.<\/p>\n

Where a culture like this exists with a managed service provider, it can make it very difficult for their team to gel with yours in the way you might need \u2013 especially since they\u2019re going to be working remotely a lot of the time \u2013 relying on talking to you and your team over the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A good managed service provider should be a team you can turn to when you know what you need \u2013 but you don\u2019t necessarily know how to get it. In much the same way you can drive a car without knowing how exactly how an internal combustion engine works \u2013 but knowing where to find a good mechanic.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, this is something that you\u2019ll be able to gauge from early conversations. Are they clear about what they offer? Are they patient when you\u2019re trying to describe your needs or hopes for your IT systems? If the answer\u2019s yes, they\u2019re likely to keep that up during your time working together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you got experience of working with companies like ours?<\/h2>\n

\"4-ways-to-help-you-choose-best-service-providers\"<\/a>
\n4 Tips for Finding the Best Service Providers<\/em><\/p>\n

There really is no substitute for getting a first-hand account of how a managed service provider performs when they\u2019ve been working with you for some time.<\/p>\n

This is why it\u2019s very useful to talk to a provider about who they\u2019ve worked with \u2013 and the kind of problems they\u2019ve helped those companies overcome. They might not be able to give specifics \u2013 but it\u2019s good to get a feel for whether or not they\u2019ve worked for companies that are like yours \u2013 either in industry type or size.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s also a good idea to reach out to companies they\u2019ve worked with and talk to them directly about their experiences. You might even want to go back over this list and get a feel from real clients as to whether or not they\u2019re proactive, clear with their pricing, and helpful with their communication; after all, IT keeps most businesses running \u2013 so you shouldn\u2019t be hoping for the best. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Service providers are everywhere. From the traditional roles most businesses outsource \u2013 like accountancy \u2013 to service providers that are now offering an alternative to in-house departments \u2013 like IT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,5695,1],"tags":[5891,10900,8293,8665,4803,5837,6295,20,10497,224,12014,7404,3737,5759,5760,12013,11106],"yoast_head":"\nCreating a Lasting Relationship with Your IT Service Provider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Service providers are everywhere. 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