Technology is all around us. It has become practically impossible to do business if you do not meet all the technological trends, which are changing at the speed of light. That is why even small and medium enterprises in the USA spend several hundred billion dollars every year on IT because without that it is impossible to achieve a competitive edge. In order for everything to function properly and not to lag behind your competition, it is necessary to have a quality IT support team.
It can certainly be an in-house IT team, but it is generally too expensive an option for all small and medium businesses. IT experts are one of the highest-paid professions in the world, so just one IT expert will cost you over 100 thousand dollars a year. And it is needless to say that one man, on his own, no matter how skilled, cannot cope with all the tasks that need to be done. So if you have an in-house team, it would lead you to bankruptcy. Fortunately, there is a solution. And that is outsourcing. Then for a very reasonable amount, you will have the entire IT support team at your disposal. We hope you have found the ideal company to outsource IT tasks, but we need to draw your attention to the signs that if you notice that means that your company needs better IT support.
Table of Contents
1. They are slow
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The most important thing for IT support is that they are fast and that they solve all your problems as soon as possible. So if you notice that it takes them a long time to respond to your message and even longer to solve the problem, that’s the red flag. Them being slow will significantly negatively affect the work of your company, because for example, potential customers will not be able to access your website and therefore will never come back again. There can be many reasons why they are slow, one reason maybe because they are unprofessional and the other reason is usually too much work they had to do, but neither is your problem but theirs. You pay them and everything has to be quick. We totally agree with what Netstar representatives say, and that is that you just need to focus on your business without thinking about the tasks you are outsourcing. So if you have feeling that you are constantly waiting for them to finish their job, look for other company to entrust them this task.
2. Too expensive
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You have decided not to have an in-house team but to outsource because you want to save money. Of course, outsourcing also costs, but it should be a reasonable price. So check the price list of at least a few companies regularly, to know if the ones you work with offer realistic prices or are too expensive. Do this when you choose for the first time, but also later, especially every time they inform you they are going to increase the price. The annual price of this service should be about 10 percent of what you would pay if you have an in-house team and this is the easiest way for you to calculate if the price is reasonable. If you notice that you are paying for example 40 percent of the price of an in-house team it is way too expensive. You can certainly find a much cheaper option without compromising the quality of service you will get.
3. A data breach occurred
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A data breach can happen even to the largest companies in the world, but it is something that must not happen numerous times. There is nothing worse for your business than if your sensitive data has been stolen. That is why IT support must deal with cybercrime as well as possible. They must constantly update firewalls and anti-virus software to preserve all your essential data. If, for example, you notice that you have expired anti-virus software licenses and they are not taking any action on the matter, start seeking other IT support immediately.
4. They did not address your backup and recovery plan
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We believe this information will shock you, but more than half of small businesses that have lost their data will shut down in the first year after it happened. If you haven’t figured it out by now, you now understand the importance of a back and recovery plan. The big problem is also that hard discs have more and more memory, so it can easily happen that all your data is stored on only one hard disk. And that is where the enormous danger of data loss lies. In that case, just one moment is enough to lose everything, from important data to the trust of your customers.
That’s why IT support must come up with a backup and recovery plan for you immediately, and this usually includes cloud technology. Once everything is on the cloud, you will be much safer. If a couple of months have passed since you start working with them and they have done nothing to protect you from data loss, you need other experts. You don’t want to take risks because there are so many potential causes that can destroy your hard drive, such as human error, power issues, etc.
5. Employees are complaining
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Have you noticed that your employees are constantly complaining about problems that IT support should solve? This usually concerns the speed of operation of the entire network, but also other things. For example, they may have constant problems with computer viruses. Of course, this may be the fault of employees if they visit unsafe sites, but in general anti-virus software should be sufficient protection. Also, if they complain that everything is too slow, it is possible that IT support does not follow the latest technologies but works with out-dated ones. You certainly don’t want that. This is reflected in the fact that they did not offer you to move to a cloud-based server, for example, and in many other moments when you see that they do not use state-of-the-art technologies.
Conclusion:
There is one more thing you need to monitor, and that is the growth of your company. There is a possibility that you have outgrown your current IT support and that you need a more advanced company than theirs.
