Many businesses choose to outsource their IT support. Doing so enables you to get expert guidance and maintenance across your IT needs. It also reduces the costs and effort required to upkeep your IT infrastructure.
A good IT support provider should fully address your needs. However, as your business grows and evolves, needs change. You might require support across more users, devices and processes.
Over time, you may find that your IT contract no longer fulfils your requirements. Here are the signs this has happened to your business.
The signs you’ve outgrown your IT support provider_
1. Slow response times
A common sign your IT support contract is no longer fit for purpose is slow response times. When a critical issue occurs, you naturally want a fast response.
As your IT infrastructure grows, the likelihood of outages increases. However, it also makes the impact of downtime and lost productivity more damaging.
If your support provider isn’t responding to requests for help promptly or are taking too long to complete repairs, it could show they don’t have the capacity to serve your needs.
2. Lack of capacity
As your business grows, you’ll have an increasing number of devices and users. Your IT needs may become more complex, especially if you implement new processes or technologies.
You need to ensure your IT support provider can offer the expertise and capacity needed to address these changing needs. However, if you find that they are struggling to maintain systems or respond to your calls, it suggests you need to move to a bigger provider.
3. They’re reactive, not proactive
A proactive stance is crucial to protecting your IT infrastructure. Your IT provider should conduct regular preventative maintenance, planned upgrades and a forward-thinking strategy.
If it feels like your IT provider is constantly putting out fires instead of taking a proactive approach to prevent problems, it could cause headaches. For example, if they aren’t offering suggestions for improvement.
This could thwart your future growth, especially if you find yourself limited by your IT.
4. Lack of expertise
When you outsource your IT support, it’s because you want access to their expertise and experience. They should have dealt with common IT issues a hundred times before, allowing them to give you accurate guidance and fast resolutions.
As your technological needs evolve, you might need greater expertise. Your IT provider may not have the specialists required for your industry or new solutions.
In this scenario, you need to switch to a provider who is an expert in the core areas you need support in. This will enable you to get the most from your solutions and access recommendations to level up your IT.
5. Security concerns
Cyber security is crucial, especially with criminals targeting businesses at an increasing rate. As you grow, you’ll likely become more of a target.
Your IT provider should be able to give guidance and support when it comes to security. They will recommend provisions to keep you and your data protected.
If you’re concerned about security, or you feel your provider doesn’t offer the robust security solutions or proactive measures you need, it’s time to switch.
6. Spiralling costs
As your business grows, you might find your current IT support is becoming a bigger and bigger expense, without offering the scalability or flexibility you need.
Many providers will offer a contract as a set cost, which you add on to over time as your needs change. This can result in a patchwork of contracts, licences and add-on costs, which doesn’t work out as a cost effective.
Instead, it’s worth investing in a set-price contract that completely covers your needs and streamlines costs.
7. Fragmented systems
Often when your business grows, your IT systems don’t keep pace. This leads to a hodgepodge of different technologies and platforms, hindering communication and workflow.
Ideally, your IT support provider will guide you out of this issue. That might be by suggesting more scalable systems or helping you to configure existing solutions for better connectivity.
However, if your IT provider isn’t equipped to help you or struggles to get your systems working better, it could be another sign you need to move on.
How to upgrade your IT support provider_
If any of the signs listed above apply to your business, your next step is making a change to a new provider who meets your needs. Here are six steps to follow:
1. Make a list of your requirements and nice-to-haves
First, you need a clear list of exactly what you want from your IT support. This should contain your non-negotiable requirements and those that would be beneficial.
To uncover these, start by considering the challenges you currently face and your ideal outcomes. You should also contemplate your goals, the technologies you utilise and any team or process-specific needs.
Once you have this list, it’ll be much easier to refine providers.
2. Scope out providers
Next, it’s time to research potential providers. There are a few ways to find providers, including searching for those in your local area or with specialism in your industry.
You will want to ensure any provider you select meets your main criteria, such as being able to provide on-site and remote support as required, offering the services you need and having capacity.
Once you’ve determined a few providers that could be a fit, arrange calls with them to more comprehensively discuss your needs.
3. Look at solutions
If your businesses uses specific software or solutions, you’ll want a partner who has experience with them. This will enable them to provide better advice and maintenance. Check any provider you utilise has the right expertise.
If you feel your solutions aren’t fit for purpose, ask new providers what they’d recommend. This is a good way to test their expertise and understand if they’re suitable for your business.
4. Seek scalability
It’s never ideal to change IT support providers. So, you want this to be the only time you need to switch.
We recommend seeking a partner who can scale with your business. If you have growth plans, make this clear to the provider and ensure they have the resource to support you long-term.
Ideally, this scalability should come as cost-effectively as possible, so look out for hidden add-on costs in your contract.
5. Prioritise cyber security
When it comes to IT, security must always be a priority. With cyber attacks growing in volume in the UK and AI posing new threats, it’s even more essential to protect yourself.
Any support provider you work with should have extensive knowledge of cyber security and help you to cover your business. Look for accreditations and certifications in areas like GDPR, ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, as these indicate the provider is up to date in the latest security standards.
If you have specific security concerns, such as industry compliance issues, raise these with the provider and ensure they can deal with it confidently.
6. Regularly review performance
Once you’ve found the ideal provider and negotiated your contract, it’s happy days! You should have the support you need for your IT to run flawlessly, enabling optimised efficiency and productivity.
However, it’s important to regularly review the performance of your IT. With technology developing at a rapid pace, business IT needs will constantly evolve. You need to stay ahead of the curve, with suitable guidance and maintenance.
Track KPIs like response times, frequency of IT issues and system efficiency, alongside the strength of the relationship with your support provider. This will help you identify if you’re getting the results you want, or if there’s still room for improvement.
Get reliable, scalable IT support_
Infinity Group are one of the leading IT support companies in the UK. Since 2001, we have provided award-winning services to thousands of businesses of every size and vertical.
We can fully manage your IT support or expand the skillset of your internal IT team. Our specialist service desk can deliver expert, fast services tailored to your specific requirements.
Plus, with a flexible range of contracts, we can provide exactly the service you need to thrive. Our services cover cyber security, remote working, on-site care, IT infrastructure, disaster recovery and more.
Give us a call today to discuss what you need from your next IT support provider.
