Nowadays, there are plenty of IT service providers: PC shops, hardware and software suppliers, freelancers, small companies and large corporations like HP and IBM, etc. Here are some core criteria to indicate the right outsourcing partner and easy ways to find the company that meets these criteria.
1. Expertise
This is the key element you should be looking for. In most cases information technology is about Microsoft. To find out whether the company is credit worthy go to Microsoft online directory: http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/home. Gold level competency, except for Gold Small Business and Gold Volume Licensing, signifies that company employs at least 3-4 Microsoft certified specialists. This alone cannot guarantee the quality services but definitely is required.
2. Management Software (Ticketing System or CRM)
If company employs qualified specialists but doesn’t have any automated system to manage clients’ requests, it’ll inevitably influence the quality of services. If the system performs poorly and your request is lost, the risk for downtime increases. Complex and overloaded systems can be rather ineffective. You would not want to spend a lot of time filling out ten obligatory fields to create a ticket that doesn’t work for you.
What could be a solution? All client-oriented companies offer a free trial period or solve first issues for free. Use this chance to find out how long it takes you to create a ticket, and if you can do it by phone. Make sure you get an email notification of a ticket status and you can easily reach the person whom your ticket is assigned to. The way the company manages such tasks not only speaks for its professionalism but shows the care for customers.
3. Pricing
You should avoid companies investing a lot in advertising and sales. High competition holds the prices for IT services almost on the same level. While some companies concentrate on sales at the expense of IT staff, others choose to switch to online sales, focusing on the core business operations and cutting off non-operating expenses. Don’t trust advertising or telesales people. Some time spent searching online and using our tips will help you find a reliable partner yourself.
4. Target Client
Your ideal IT partner targets businesses of your size. Avoid too small or too large companies. On the one hand, if you want to get hold of the specialist, you don’t really want to waste your time dealing with IVR menus and talking to operators who know nothing about the matter. On the other hand, you should think twice before thrusting yourself to the company, where only 2-4 people manage all kind of tasks.v 5. Negative Experience.
Don’t forget to look through the company’s review section on http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/home. Positive feedbacks don’t guaranty the quality, while negative ones give you the reasons not to have business with the company.