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15 Tips for Choosing the Right IT Support Partner

By July 13, 2021No Comments12 min read
Right IT Support Partner

Your IT support partner is going to act as the biggest support for your business. Thus, you should ensure that you are choosing the best IT support partner for your business. Your IT partner should have a clear understanding of your company. They should understand your business and IT needs. However, most companies don’t know how to evaluate an IT support partner. In this article, we are going to share some tips which will help you in evaluating your IT support partner.

  1. Expertise

You should first check the technical expertise of your IT support partner. Client references and case studies will help you in this process. You can ask for a detailed resume from your IT support partner. Also, you should arrange a meeting with their IT experts.

Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire have access to various IT experts. This will ensure that they can help you in solving any IT problem. If you are facing some problems associated with IT security, you can talk with the IT security team. IT is always going to change with time. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support partner is focusing on upgrading their team. They should spend money on upskilling their IT team skills.

  1. Rates

IT outsourcing is one of the best ways to reduce your IT costs. The main reason behind the rise of IT outsourcing is cost savings. However, the focus is shifting now. Companies are also looking at increasing business revenue by using the latest technologies like AI, Machine learning, and IoT. The demand for IT outsourcing companies is increasing with time. Good MSPs are using the latest tech stack for providing support to their partners.

  1. Experience

This is another very important. You should ensure that your IT partner has enough experience. If your IT support partner is new, then they might not provide good services to your business. You should check if the company has been in the market for a long time. This will ensure that your IT support partner is actually providing good services. If some MSP is not providing good service, then they will get crushed in this competitive market.

The trust factor will mainly rely on your IT support partner’s age. If they have enough experience, then you can easily trust them. Understanding business needs, trust, and mutual respect are the most important factor for your new partnership.

  1. Flexibility

Every organization will have different IT needs. You might need mail migration or you might want to install a firewall in your network. Experienced MSPs will cover most of your IT needs. For example, Bleuwire can help you in protecting and monitoring your network. They will install the latest security tools in your network. Thus, they will look for intruders in your network. They can also provide IT support to your business. This will ensure that you don’t need to work with multiple MSPs for getting different IT services.

If your IT partner is outsourcing their work to other MSPs, then this can be a red flag. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire are your one-stop-shop for IT services. You can get any IT services from a good MSP. Every organization is different. Thus, you should ensure that your SLA will at least cover all the basic things. The SLA should be flexible enough to meet your specific needs.

For example, if you have offices in a different geographical area, then you need access to 24/7 IT support. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support partner is providing 24/7 IT support to its customers. There are various other conditions that can affect your SLA. You should ensure that your MSP can tackle all these conditions.

  1. References and Clients

You should also check the companies that are working with your IT provider. This will give you an idea about your IT support partner. If you want to identify the main focus of your IT support partner, then you should check their clients.

You should also check the market reputation of your IT support partner. The best way to do this is by asking for the client’s references. If your IT support partner is experienced, then they will automatically share the success stories with you. Your IT support partner might have an NDA or non-disclosure agreement with their clients. Thus, their information won’t be available on a public website. In such cases, you should ask for client success stores from your IT partner. You can also ask for the client’s contact details.

There are various online sites where you can check reviews. It is better to first check the reputation of your IT support partner. This will ensure that you are going to work with a good IT support partner.

  1. Response Time

Downtime can kill your entire business. Thus, it is important to ensure that your IT support partner can respond quickly in case of a major IT disaster. According to a report from Smallbiztrends, IT downtime can cost up to $1.55 million every year. You should ensure that your IT support partner has a fast response time. They should help you in quickly solving your problem.

Your IT support partner will provide an SLA to your business. You can check the expected response time in this SLA. Your IT partner will define the maximum response time in this SLA. If they are taking more time to respond, then they will be liable for your damages. Thus, they will usually try to solve your problems before their maximum response time. Your IT support partner should back their claims with SLA.

  1. Scalability

Your business is only going to grow with time. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support partner can also scale up with your time. If your business outgrows your IT support partner, then you might need to change your IT support partner. This will be a very long and painful process for your business. Thus, you should first ensure that your IT support partner can meet your business needs. Your IT support partner should meet your yearly needs.

  1. Services offered

Every IT support company provides different services to their clients. They will offer you different services and different tech stacks. If you are outsourcing just to save your money, then you should ensure that your IT support partner is covering all your needs.

There is no point in hiring one IT support company for your backups and another for your managing your phone system. You should ensure that your IT support partner can actually meet your needs. The best way to do this is by working with an experienced MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in covering all your needs. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about working with multiple MSPs.

  1. IT security

A good MSP will protect your data from attackers. Your IT partner should help you in maintaining your IT security compliance. This is very important if you are operating in a heavily regulated industry. For example, if you are operating in the healthcare industry, then you need to follow strict HIPAA compliance. Similarly, if you are operating in the financial industry, then you need to follow the PCI DSS compliance. Bleuwire can help you in following all these security compliances. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about any legal penalties or data breaches.

  1. Business Continuity

A good MSP will help you in setting up both offsite and onsite cloud backups. This will ensure that you can always access your data. It is important to protect your business from disasters like storms, earthquakes, and cyberattacks. If you have stored backup in multiple locations, then you can easily restore your services. This will help you in maintaining business continuity.

Bleuwire will also help you in creating a disaster recovery strategy. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about disasters. Your IT support partner should help you in recovering your services in case of a disaster.

  1. Proactive Support

Your IT support partner should provide proactive support to your business. The reactive IT support approach is dead. Thus, you should work with an IT support partner who understands the importance of proactive support. Bleuwire is offering proactive IT support to its clients. They will always monitor your network for weaknesses. This will ensure that Bleuwire can help you in fixing issues before they even affect your business. This is very important for your business as you can save a lot of money by having a proactive approach.

  1. Communication

This is another very important indicator. A good MSP will have a fast response time to their client inquiries. In case of a problem, you need quick access to your IT support partner. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support partner can actually respond to your queries quickly. You should also have a single point of contact. This will ensure that you will actually know who to contact in case of an emergency. For example, a good MSP will have a dedicated manager for your business. This will ensure that you will always have a point of contact with your IT partner.

  1. Certifications

Make sure that you are working with a good organization. A good IT company will have a partnership with multiple organizations. Their staff will also have certifications from multiple organizations. For example, they might have a certification from Google. You can ask about the current certifications and partnerships from your MSP. This will ensure that you can trust their skills.

However, you shouldn’t give a lot of weightage to certifications only. Certifications are important for an IT organization but they are not everything. You should also ensure that your IT support partner has clients and a good reputation. They should have good working experience.

  1. Infrastructure

More than 8 billion records were exposed in 2019. Data breaches are only going to increase with time. The frequency of ransomware attacks increased in 2020. This was mostly due to the rise of remote work. Most employees are working from their homes now. Thus, they are an easy target for attackers.

Cyber attacks are only going to increase with time. These cyber-attacks can cause both reputational and financial damage to your business. You should give top priority to security. Your IT support partner should have a highly secured infrastructure. This will ensure that they can actually manage your business. They should have access to IT security experts.

  1. Efficiency

Unexpected malfunctions can occur at any time in the IT world. It is impossible to protect your business from every mishap. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support partner can assist you quickly and efficiently. Downtime can be extremely costly for your business. If your network is down, then your employees can’t do their work. Thus, you will lose productivity. Your customers can’t access your services. Thus, you might lose your customers.

Your MSP should provide 24/7 IT support to your business. This will ensure that they can provide efficient services to your business. They should provide timely support to your business. At Bleuwire, the topmost priority is given to the SLA. Bleuwire will help you quickly tackle your IT issues. You can create your SLA according to your business needs. If you need very quick service, then you can reduce the response time. This will ensure that you can create SLA according to your business needs.

How Bleuwire can help your business?

Bleuwire can provide quality IT support to your business. They will offer proactive support to your business. This will ensure that they will actually proactively look for weaknesses in your network. It will help you in saving a lot of money. Bleuwire also has access to a large team of IT professionals. Thus, you don’t need to worry about hiring your in-house IT team. They will also help you in protecting your business from data breaches. Bleuwire will proactively monitor your network for intruders. If you need more information regarding IT support, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.