Every company needs a good IT department (or at least a few competent people). Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to find an IT technician that is up to the job. If you choose to utilize a third-party IT service provider, this problem does not vanish. You still have to find a competent and trustworthy company. To make matter worse, widespread tech-illiteracy issues make it harder for people to evaluate technicians and IT providers. To help alleviate that problem, you should look for these signs that your IT provider isn’t good enough.
You Have Suffered A Cyber-attack Or Data Breach
This is the most obvious sign that something could be wrong. A good IT provider should always keep security in mind. When dealing with a business, this factor is far more important than it would be for home users. Again, this is something that any competent IT company or technician should know. If you have suffered from breaches of security (especially in the case of multiple breaches), it might be time to switch providers.
To be fair, we should acknowledge that there is no way to make a system 100% hack-proof. Sometimes, users can be tricked into giving up credentials through phishing or other means. This allows the attacker to bypass any security barrier, as all of them require credentials for legitimate users. This is what’s called a “social engineering hack,” and it should not be blamed on your IT provider.
Service Requests Take A Long Time
Computers and networks can suffer from a wide range of problems. It is very hard for one person to be familiar with all of those problems. As such, an IT technician will occasionally run into unfamiliar problems. This will obviously require more time to fix since the technician will have to do some research. However, this kind of thing should not happen very often.
A good IT provider should only employ competent and qualified people. As such, common problems should be fixed in a timely fashion. When you see that the service requests are regularly taking longer than they should, it reflects badly on both the technician and the company that hired them.
Lots Of Excuses
Although some excuses are indeed legitimate (i.e., “I can’t come to work because I was in a car accident”), most excuses are just a way to cover laziness or inability to fix the problem. For instance, some IT providers will make excuses for service delays by claiming that only one person at their company knows your system. Thus, if that one person is not working that day, you are out of luck. Whether this is true or just an excuse for laziness, it reflects badly on the IT provider. Excuses are worth absolutely nothing, even if it is necessary to accept a few of them.
Poor Communication
Communication is highly essential for these types of services to work. People hire IT companies to prevent and repair problems. Obviously, that process cannot begin until the provider is made aware of the need. If you are dealing with a company that does not offer quick and comprehensive feedback, they might not be worth your time or money. When there is a problem with the network or its connected devices, it can eliminate hours or even whole days of productivity. For a large company, this can represent a significant loss of income. For every minute that your network is down, you are losing money. That’s why fast and efficient communication is a must. Any IT company that takes a long time to respond isn’t going to provide that.
They’re Always Trying To Sell You Things
You should be wary of any IT provider that is constantly trying to sell you extra goods or services. Many providers offer extra options, and that is not a bad thing, but they should not be required in order to get good service. Whether they are trying to sell you new hardware, new software, or additional services on your plan, they should not be acting like salesmen.
We might compare this behavior to the way some software works. You can buy the basic version for a relatively low cost, but all the best features require you to pay for a much more expensive version. The idea is that they use the basic version to lure you in, and then they jack up the price. Unfortunately, some IT companies operate like that as well. Needless to say, they should be avoided.
Network Downtime Is A Regular Thing
We have already discussed the problem of network downtime, but let’s elaborate further. As you already know, downtime tends to result in large losses of profit. You aren’t directly losing money, but you are missing out on money that could have been made…and that’s basically the same thing in terms of results. For this reason, your IT provider should not make this a regular problem.
A lot of these companies will promise a certain percentage of uptime. You want those numbers to be greater than 95% and you should hold them to their promises. Take the time to calculate your true percentages of downtime and uptime. If that company promises no more than 5% downtime and you are experiencing more than that, it’s probably time to look elsewhere. If the company has offered some sort of guarantee, you might even be able to a refund.
Conclusion
These are not the only warning signs that can indicate a need to switch IT providers. However, they are definitely some of the biggest. Any of these problems should be considered a serious red flag. In the end, it just doesn’t make any sense to pay for substandard services. If you are now asking yourself “who are the best managed IT providers near me?,” then we would recommend the fine people at PCH Technologies. They have some excellent managed IT service plans and can be reached at (856) 754-7500.