Guide to IT Support Services for Businesses

If you’re reading this guide, chances are good that something is happening in your world right now to make you question how you are resourcing IT. When IT isn’t functioning properly, it's frustrating for everyone who needs to use technology to do their jobs. For most businesses, that’s everyone!

In this guide, we’ll help you learn about your options for IT support services and give you the information you need to make an informed decision about which IT company is most likely to deliver the results that you want.

What Happens When You Do IT Right

IT Management

At its most basic level, IT management is making sure that your technology won’t let you down. In order to do that, you have to prevent problems before they happen, anticipate when changes need to be made, and respond to issues lightning fast when they do occur. The only way to achieve this is with a proactive approach and a process that utilizes industry best practices.

Just as with other departments in your business, managing IT means that you need to make sure that you have the right people who can bring their expertise to the different roles within the IT department, from helpdesk and network manager, to application specialist and IT strategist. Additionally, IT should be reporting to management with KPIs that are suitable for the role and are tied to business needs.

Focus on Business Needs

When your IT situation is reactive (such as IT support focused on fixing things that break), your first business need is to evaluate your current systems and identify weak points, or single points of failure. That’s like getting your bike tuned up before you plan to ride it in a race. It doesn’t matter where the finish line is if the vehicle you need to get you there is breaking down all the time.

When you have IT humming along, you can start to focus on different objectives such as helping people be more productive, giving your customers a better experience, retaining employees, or increasing revenue. The way to prioritize these initiatives is to look to your business plan. That’s where IT strategy comes in.

IT Strategy

Once you get a glimpse of how much better IT can function, it’s easy to think of all the ways that you can use technology to improve your business. The reality is that budgets are not infinite, so you have to prioritize which initiatives are the most important. Fortunately, not every improvement is tied to a big investment. Sometimes small changes in internal and external processes can net a big result.

The role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) creates a strategy for IT that is focused on business objectives along with tasks, timelines, and KPIs. As part of the process of creating IT strategy, the CIO communicates with all the other departments to identify patterns and trends so that IT can plan and budget for the future with the big picture in mind.

Transitioning to a Different IT Support Company

Change is hard for many people, and making the switch to a new IT company can be uncomfortable and even emotional. The key to having a good IT support transition experience is to have a plan in place that details how the changeover will occur and to make sure that the plan is communicated to those involved, according to their role in the company.

Here are some components that should be included in a transition strategy:

• Let employees know what to expect and let them know who to contact if they have problems or issues.
• Connect your new company with your technology vendors such as your line-of-business software vendors, internet provider, etc.
• Facilitate the sharing of knowledge between your internal IT staff or outgoing IT provider and your new company.

Your new company should have a process that includes these components in addition to an onboarding process that minimizes disruption for your staff. The way that your new company steps in should further build your confidence that they will take care of you and that they have your best interests in mind.