Searching for a Fixed-Cost IT Support Partner? The Critical Factors That Will Make a Big Difference
One of the most important decisions facing your business is selecting the right IT support and consulting partner. We talked about the key differences between the two primary types of IT support models in a blog post earlier this year - fixed-cost IT service vs. hourly IT service.
But what are the key factors you should look at when searching for a fixed-cost IT support firm? Every IT support firm structures their service differently, and understanding those differences is the key to choosing the right partner for your business.
There are four key areas that you should consider when selecting your partner, each of which will impact your business productivity, risk, and support costs:
1.Will your IT partner serve as a virtual CIO? This specialty service focuses on your business needs over the long term by providing:
Vendor management. A virtual CIO manages your technology vendors, holds them accountable for providing the highest-level performance at the best price, and acts as the quarterback to ensure your change requests are completed and problems are resolved.
Asset management. Track hardware and software life cycles, tech support history and warranty information to ensure they are up to date, which will minimize potential downtime and risk.
IT planning and budgeting. Your virtual CIO should be available to you on-demand to discuss potential business changes, appropriate technology solutions, or anything related to your IT systems.
Strategic meetings. Being proactive means regularly reviewing and updating your strategic IT roadmap, ensuring your IT strategy matches your business strategy, and discussing trending issues or deficiencies in your IT systems.
2.Full network administration? A linchpin of proactive IT management is a network administrator to oversee your computing infrastructure. This administrator will regularly:
Manage the security of your networking equipment, including firewalls, routers and wireless access points. This is becoming more vital every day. The IT admin reviews configurations to look for security risks and vulnerabilities to ensure your systems are as secure as possible.
Ensure compliance of your systems with best practices and ensure software is always up to date. Why? To eliminate downtime and keep employees productive!
Develop recommendations for improvements with the vCIO, who will work with you to implement new technologies as warranted by your strategic IT roadmap.
3.What's included in their centralized services? This is where having truly all-inclusive IT support makes a huge difference in your operations. Ask about:
24x7 real-time monitoring and response for all devices. Minor issues should be identified and resolved before they become major ones (sometimes before your staff is even aware of the problem). Should a major problem occur with your IT systems, then your IT partner should be available to get it fixed immediately - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Daily backup management. Avoid worries about lost data with an automated offsite image-level system backup that is monitored and verified daily.
Disaster recovery services. Businesses simply cannot afford to lose time or data due to increasingly severe weather events and the potential for long-term power outages. Make sure your IT service provider can get your systems up and running again quickly at no additional cost.
Anti-virus and anti-malware licensing and management. This should be included for all of your servers and computers, as should complete remediation of a virus in the event of an incident.
Patch management. Regularly update operating systems (like Windows), software and firmware for all of your devices with the latest patches from the manufacturers.
Secure online support portal. This allows your team to view and track all support requests and projects that your IT support partner is working on for you.
Cloud services for your specific needs/business goals. This includes identifying, migrating, implementing and managing the right Cloud solutions for your company.
4.How comprehensive is their IT support? A robust flat-fee service package will include truly unlimited support (remote and onsite). Some differentiators to look for are:
After-hours emergency support. Is emergency support available when you need it? Make sure the plan includes 24x7x365 tech support.
Urgent response. Don't settle for less than one-hour response times to your urgent support requests.
Unlimited remote help desk. Users can continue working, uninterrupted, while tech support accesses, troubleshoots and resolves issues remotely. Make sure your provider has the capacity to support your needs to avoid costly downtime.
Unlimited onsite service. When remote support isn't enough, aim for unlimited onsite service within the scope of your fixed monthly agreement.
Breadth of expertise. Look for a support team with experience and certifications across multiple IT platforms and across various industries.
PC/workstation installation. After helping you source the right user hardware, make sure the IT services provider will also install it - the best providers include the time to install a new/replacement PC within the scope of their support agreement.
Mobile device support. Today's workforce is on the go and needs support for Android, Apple, Microsoft and Blackberry devices.
As you can see, there are many important factors of a comprehensive, truly all-inclusive, fixed-cost IT services package. At IND Corporation, we have the manpower, knowledge, processes and experience to provide total peace of mind for our New Jersey-based customers. To find out more about how we can help your small business with its IT needs, contact us today!
But what are the key factors you should look at when searching for a fixed-cost IT support firm? Every IT support firm structures their service differently, and understanding those differences is the key to choosing the right partner for your business.
There are four key areas that you should consider when selecting your partner, each of which will impact your business productivity, risk, and support costs:
1.Will your IT partner serve as a virtual CIO? This specialty service focuses on your business needs over the long term by providing:
Vendor management. A virtual CIO manages your technology vendors, holds them accountable for providing the highest-level performance at the best price, and acts as the quarterback to ensure your change requests are completed and problems are resolved.
Asset management. Track hardware and software life cycles, tech support history and warranty information to ensure they are up to date, which will minimize potential downtime and risk.
IT planning and budgeting. Your virtual CIO should be available to you on-demand to discuss potential business changes, appropriate technology solutions, or anything related to your IT systems.
Strategic meetings. Being proactive means regularly reviewing and updating your strategic IT roadmap, ensuring your IT strategy matches your business strategy, and discussing trending issues or deficiencies in your IT systems.
2.Full network administration? A linchpin of proactive IT management is a network administrator to oversee your computing infrastructure. This administrator will regularly:
Manage the security of your networking equipment, including firewalls, routers and wireless access points. This is becoming more vital every day. The IT admin reviews configurations to look for security risks and vulnerabilities to ensure your systems are as secure as possible.
Ensure compliance of your systems with best practices and ensure software is always up to date. Why? To eliminate downtime and keep employees productive!
Develop recommendations for improvements with the vCIO, who will work with you to implement new technologies as warranted by your strategic IT roadmap.
3.What's included in their centralized services? This is where having truly all-inclusive IT support makes a huge difference in your operations. Ask about:
24x7 real-time monitoring and response for all devices. Minor issues should be identified and resolved before they become major ones (sometimes before your staff is even aware of the problem). Should a major problem occur with your IT systems, then your IT partner should be available to get it fixed immediately - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Daily backup management. Avoid worries about lost data with an automated offsite image-level system backup that is monitored and verified daily.
Disaster recovery services. Businesses simply cannot afford to lose time or data due to increasingly severe weather events and the potential for long-term power outages. Make sure your IT service provider can get your systems up and running again quickly at no additional cost.
Anti-virus and anti-malware licensing and management. This should be included for all of your servers and computers, as should complete remediation of a virus in the event of an incident.
Patch management. Regularly update operating systems (like Windows), software and firmware for all of your devices with the latest patches from the manufacturers.
Secure online support portal. This allows your team to view and track all support requests and projects that your IT support partner is working on for you.
Cloud services for your specific needs/business goals. This includes identifying, migrating, implementing and managing the right Cloud solutions for your company.
4.How comprehensive is their IT support? A robust flat-fee service package will include truly unlimited support (remote and onsite). Some differentiators to look for are:
After-hours emergency support. Is emergency support available when you need it? Make sure the plan includes 24x7x365 tech support.
Urgent response. Don't settle for less than one-hour response times to your urgent support requests.
Unlimited remote help desk. Users can continue working, uninterrupted, while tech support accesses, troubleshoots and resolves issues remotely. Make sure your provider has the capacity to support your needs to avoid costly downtime.
Unlimited onsite service. When remote support isn't enough, aim for unlimited onsite service within the scope of your fixed monthly agreement.
Breadth of expertise. Look for a support team with experience and certifications across multiple IT platforms and across various industries.
PC/workstation installation. After helping you source the right user hardware, make sure the IT services provider will also install it - the best providers include the time to install a new/replacement PC within the scope of their support agreement.
Mobile device support. Today's workforce is on the go and needs support for Android, Apple, Microsoft and Blackberry devices.
As you can see, there are many important factors of a comprehensive, truly all-inclusive, fixed-cost IT services package. At IND Corporation, we have the manpower, knowledge, processes and experience to provide total peace of mind for our New Jersey-based customers. To find out more about how we can help your small business with its IT needs, contact us today!
