7 Essential Questions To Ask When Hiring A St. Louis IT Company
You didn’t start your business to stress about technology, and that’s why you’re hiring experts to manage your IT infrastructure. But, what if they aren’t as competent as you imagined? How do you know that the IT service provider you’re considering is the right one?
The truth is that there’s no one-shoe-fits-all criterion to determine if an IT company is right for your business. You must first understand your unique support needs, which will guide you in finding a service provider with the requisite expertise and adequate experience in your field of practice.
Watch our short video to get started:
Why Do You Need to Carry Out Research as Your First Step?
We’re insisting on this because it’s the most important step. If you don’t do enough research, you will be back to the hassle of looking for another IT company in the next few months, or even weeks.
Reviews posted on the service provider’s web page may not be adequate; they’re often filtered to protect the company’s reputation. Even word of mouth from the PR or marketing team could be just that — pure market-speak. Instead, do your research and look for reviews by yourself. Ask the IT company to provide you with references to current and past clients. Find out what the present customers think about their services and why the former clients left. You might be surprised at the amount of resourceful intel you can gather from references, Google reviews, and industry reports.
What Important Questions Should You Ask Before Hiring an IT Company? Recently, we’ve been witnessing a tremendous surge in the number of computer consultants, independent IT contractors, and even large national IT players. The increase has made it more challenging now, more than ever, to find the right service provider.
Consider asking the following questions to help you determine if the IT company is suitable for your business:
- How Qualified Are Their Staff? The right IT company will willingly give you information about their experts’ certifications and how they apply to your unique needs. Note that accreditation here also entails regular capacity-building programs to keep them at par with the fast-changing IT dynamics.
- Which Industries Do They Serve? IT support needs vary from one industry to another, and different service providers have different specialty areas. If you’re running a financial entity, for example, it’s only right that you hire an IT company that’s experienced in working with organizations in this field.
- For How Long Have They Been Providing IT Services? Most standard guides say that the prospect should have at least three years of experience in providing IT solutions in your field of practice. While we agree with this, the primary focus should always be the staff’s collective experience. Consider the following two IT companies. One has been in the market for only five years, but its experts have sixty years of collective experience. The other is twenty years old but keeps losing experts and admitting entry-level employees year in year out. It’s better to hire the first (younger) one with more experienced personnel.
- What’s the Size of The IT Company? The service provider should be able to meet your current needs and support your business as it grows. Usually, most organizations fail to consider the possibility of outgrowing an IT company until it dawns on them that the service provider is overwhelmed.
- Does the Company Have Any Partner Certifications and Technical Specialties? If you’re going to hire an IT company, you expect them to handle everything, including hardware and third-party software like Microsoft and the Cloud. Are they certified to handle the devices and software your business might need?
- What Are the Service Bills and What’s Included in the Contract? Be wary of a service provider that only sells you equipment and fixes breakages. The service fees should be agreed upon upfront. And if there are any additional charges, you should work out the specifics before signing the agreement. Find out what the contract covers, what they can/can’t provide, and if they’re outsourcing any services. A professional service provider will put all these in the SLA.
- What Kind of Customer Service Do They Provide? Do they offer round-the-clock real-time call, email, or chat support? Can the help desk team help you fix your issues? If not, how long will it take for your support requests to be routed to the relevant personnel and resolved?
The baseline is that the service provider must demonstrate considerable experience in providing reliable IT solutions to organizations like yours.
Looking for the Most Trusted, Reliable IT Solutions Provider for Your St. Louis Organization?
IT is more of a practical concept than it is theoretical. While knowledge is essential to the provision of quality IT solutions, having experience is even more important.
The Miller Group offers both; we have well-trained experts with extensive experience managing IT for organizations in and around St. Louis since 1985. We serve over 400 small and medium-sized businesses across the Midwest.
Call Us Now at 314-822-8090 or Schedule a Consultation to Get Started.
Stephen King is our Chief Technology Officer, and has the longest tenure as a technician at The Miller Group. Stephen puts his extensive experience to use for the good of our clients, providing expert technical support, as well as leadership, and guidance to other members of our technical staff.
