Businesses both big and small need help when it comes to their IT systems. When a problem arises it could cost a business in both time and money. Therefore if you are a business in Ottawa and you are considering hiring someone to help manage your IT support, this is the article for you.
You may be a market leader or someone who is disrupting the market, but none of that matters if your IT system can’t support your business growth.
A slow system will limit your growth and a faulty system could put you out of business. Today we will look at how you can hire an IT support company in Ottawa to help with your technical support. Bedrock IT is an IT support company in Ottawa that has many years of experience in supporting businesses in the Ottawa area. If you would like a quote or would like to know more about IT support please get in touch with us.
What is IT support?
IT support is also known as Technical Support and is a service provided over the phone or via remote support to help people having problems with their computer systems.
IT Support is a service that is usually outsourced because of the costs involved in building your own in house technical support team.
There are different forms of technical support, including reactive and proactive support. Both forms of IT support have their advantages and disadvantages and generally, the choice for tech support is made on budget constraints.
Reactive tech support.
Reactive tech support is when a company has an agreement with a managed service provider that when something breaks they come and fix it. This method of IT support is also known as break-fix, because when something breaks the IT company comes in and fixes it.
Proactive IT Support
Proactive IT support on the other hand will involve your IT support company constantly looking at your computer system for any problems that could occur and fixing them before they become a problem.
The main difference between reactive and proactive IT support.
The main difference between reactive and proactive support is the downtime your business suffers. A reactive approach will lead to more downtime while a proactive should minimise or stop a problem from occurring.
Other differences will include the cost of the service with proactive support being more expensive upfront.
How to choose an IT support service for your Ottawa business.
Choosing an IT support service in Ottawa can be difficult. There are over 197,000,000 results for “IT Support in Ottawa” so finding the right technical support company for your business is going to be difficult.
With that said, here are some of the things you should be looking out for when hiring a technical support company.
Reputation
The reputation of a company will tell you if you want to work with them or not. You can read testimonials on their website but it’s always better to find reviews on third party websites as these are less likely to be edited.
A company that is rude and doesn’t have the right knowledge or staff to provide the services you need should be avoided at all costs. From reviews of past clients, you should be able to see if you would be the right fit for working with this IT support company too.
Response times
Time is everything in business and if your IT support company is slow to respond to requests then you should fire them. The quicker the response the quicker an IT problem can be fixed.
Your service level agreement or SLA should outline the response and fix times that they have agreed to. If it doesn’t, walk away from the provider and find someone else to provide you with IT support.
What’s included in the SLA
Your service level agreement or SLA will outline what is expected by both parties. If something is a miss here then make sure to bring it up before signing any contracts. Your SLA will outline costs, response times and much more when it comes to IT support.
Account managers
Is your IT support provider a faceless company or will you work with the same account manager the entire time? Some businesses may not mind working with different people. However, if you have a complex computer problem and you need to explain the problem to different IT support technicians then it can get frustrating fast.
Analyse your current situation and decide if having a dedicated account manager could be of importance to your business.
Costs involved
Everyone wants the best but sometimes you may not need all of the bells and whistles that come with IT services. For example, a small business may not need all of the latest tech or expensive hardware that could launch a rocket. Instead, they may need proactive support, help with their network and a monthly software update.
Take a look at all of the costs involved before making your decision to make sure the most needed features are included in your plan. You can always add them later too.
Levels of IT support. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3
Tech support is often divided into tiers of support. This is to ensure that the most complex subjects are dealt with by the most senior IT technicians. You should check if the support company you are hiring have a similar system in place.
Final thoughts.
Your Ottawa business can benefit by outsourcing your IT support to the right provider. If you would like to see how IT support can help your business please get in touch with us today and one of our technicians can help you pick the right support solution for your business.
