If you’re a business owner with a limited budget to spend on IT infrastructure or customer support, you might want to consider partnering with a managed IT service provider who can take the stress and hassle out of these areas for your business.
Sounds great, but if you’re just starting out in business, you may not be across what managed IT services providers do, let alone who they are, and where you can find them. In this article we’ll shed some light on this for you.
Managed IT services providers are IT firms or individuals that help businesses manage their information integrity and security. As they undertake very important duties for small to medium businesses, it is of the utmost importance that the businesses they’re working with receive good value for money and time.
As it’s not just about contracting these IT services providers just for the novelty of having a stand-in IT team at your beck and call. It’s essentially about building a relationship with a trusted contractor who can help you achieve your IT requirements and within your set budget.
Let’s consider a few points on how to get the most from your managed IT services provider.
Be Open With Your Managed IT Services Provider
For any business to thrive, trust is a necessary ingredient. It is necessary for you as the business owner to be clear and frank with your chosen managed IT services provider so that you can tell your work situation and requirements as they stand.
Be Specific With Your Managed IT Services Provider
What are your requirements and what results do you expect? Within what timeframe do you expect them to be completed? These are salient questions that you both need to deal with so that no unforeseen issues arise. As you know the results you want achieved, it is better if you discuss your expectations with the provider before you both proceed.
Always Communicate With Your Managed IT Services Provider
The key to effective work delivery and results is communication. Ensure that you establish which lines of communication are going to work for both parties (e.g. email first, text message second, phone call last) and stick to these. Always attempt to articulate every step of the work process so as best to manage unexpected errors. Another way to ensure clear communication is to follow up every phone call with an email so that both parties are completely across actions and expected outcomes.
Define Clear Roles With Your Managed IT Services Provider
Your provider should know what is expected of them. They can’t know this though if there are no clearly defined roles. You shouldn’t assume that as they know the bulk of the work, they should know all that’s expected of them. State it and stick with it. Make sure as the business owner you are clear as to what your role is as well.
Work With Your Managed IT Services Provider
Working on the same wavelength as your provider will help your business and your peace of mind. The first step towards achieving this is by creating a solid working relationship with your provider. Consider treating your provider as your internal department so ideas can flow freely and they can deliver big for you, as far as work processes and results are concerned.
Working With A Managed IT Services Provider Shouldn’t Be Difficult
When you do decide to outsource your IT services to a third party provider, you will no doubt be a little cautious at first – however we are confident that once you have made this leap, you’ll soon be wondering why you didn’t do so earlier.
The team at Itopia, based in Brisbane, makes it easy to manage your IT services because we offer many packages to suit. You don’t have to be based in Brisbane to take advantage of our Brisbane IT support services however, so get in touch with us to today to discuss your specific needs.
Call 1800 ITOPIA (1800 486 742) or email sales@itopia.com.au to arrange a free no-obligation appointment to discuss further.
