Choosing The Best Technology Partner For Your Developmental Disabilities Board

Is A Local Technology Partner The Best Choice For Your Board Of Developmental Disabilities?

As technology becomes an increasingly critical part of virtually all organizations, county boards of DD, providers, and agencies are facing a difficult choice: outsourcing the management of their information systems or handling it on their own.

For many, outsourcing simply makes the most sense. After all, an MSP (Managed Service Provider) knows information technology inside and out. There’s no need to spend a ton of time, energy, and money finding and retaining staff. Instead, you simply pay a flat-rate monthly fee for all the service and support needed, including:

• Data backup and business continuity
• Help desk support
• Around-the-clock monitoring
• Regular maintenance
• Cloud services
• Cybersecurity solutions
• And much more

As you’re serving individuals with disabilities and their families, it’s vital to avoid any sort of technical issues that result in downtime or the loss of sensitive information. Outsourcing gives you peace of mind knowing you have access to an entire team of experts who have varying skill sets and experience – meaning you’re able to:

• Keep up with changing regulatory compliance requirements
• Maintain the confidentiality of sensitive client information (HIPAA)
• Continue communicating with clients via accessible methods
• Prevent downtime that would impact the way you serve clients

Once You’ve Made The Choice To Outsource, Do You Need To Find A Local IT Company?

Once you’ve made the choice to outsource, it’s tempting to find the closest IT companies near you. After all, you never know when you’ll need support to keep your technology running so you can serve individuals with disabilities and their families efficiently. But here’s the question…. Is a local IT company always the best option for your board of developmental disabilities?

Here are a few things to consider:

Issues Shouldn’t Be Happening Regularly In The First Place

First and foremost, it’s important to note that technology issues shouldn’t be a regular occurrence when you’re working with an IT company. Sure, it’s great to have someone nearby, but it shouldn’t be necessary. Your IT company should be working to proactively prevent technology issues from happening in the first place as they:

• Keep an eye on system health and performance logs while monitoring around-the-clock for issues.
• Implement a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity, including various technologies, processes, and more.
• Perform routine maintenance, such as applying patches and updates, to avoid issues.
• Maintain an up-to-date technology plan that accounts for replacing updated, antiquated systems.

If they’re truly proactive, you won’t need them to be located right near you because you won’t need onsite support often at all.

Expertise Is More Important Than Location

In such a unique industry, it’s more important to have an experienced IT company that knows the developmental disabilities industry inside and out. They will understand the technologies you use, the specific board of DD software, the regulations you must comply with, and most importantly, the requirements of the people you serve.

VC3, for instance, is dedicated to working with the developmental disability’s community - working with boards of DD, providers, and agencies. Giving you peace of mind knowing we have the expertise to help you:

• Achieve a higher level of operational efficiency with reliable and secure information technology.
• Embrace 21st-century solutions that improve the way you serve individuals with disabilities and their families.
• Minimize costs associated with purchasing, maintaining, and troubleshooting information technology.

Local Doesn’t Always Mean Responsive

Even if your local IT company does proactively manage your information systems and something happens, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be responsive. Just because an IT company is near you, doesn’t mean they’ll get back to you quickly when you need support. So how do you figure out whether they’re truly responsive – aside from working with them? Here are a few tips:

• Review their service level agreements closely for any expected response times AND resolution times and make sure you’re comfortable with them.
• Talk to their existing clients and ask to see any testimonials or case studies they have relating to their response times.
• If currently working with a local IT, evaluate by: documenting downtimes, security breaches, tickets and resolution times, review quarterly, and finally don’t accept IT being OK, expect GREAT IT.

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