As a small business owner, you have a lot on your
plate. You have to create and set the company culture, lead the
organization, make sure accounting is accurate, make sure HR is humming along
and employees are happy, ensure your operations are running smoothly, ensure
customer service is leading to satisfied customers, manage sales and marketing
efforts that deliver the revenue to
meet goals, and make sure IT systems are aligned to business goals and reduce
business risk.
What if IT isn’t aligned to business goals, and it is
apparent that IT just isn’t working? During a recent meeting with a
prospective client, that was exactly what we found. Their
outsourced Managed IT Services vendor was struggling with keeping up with the
demand for IT support, there were frequent outages, and end users were
struggling to get their work done because of IT issues. This resulted in
a lot of pain and lost revenue for this prospective client. They asked
how they should approach the situation. I gave them these 4 tips.
Tip 1 – Review Your Existing Managed IT Services Scope of
Work
I had the prospective client send me a copy of their latest
Managed IT Services monthly bill and a copy of their agreement. After
reviewing, it became obvious that the scope of work was insufficient for the
prospective client’s needs. This is a common scenario, especially if they
are paying less than what other similar companies for paying for IT outsourcing
Managed IT Services. Underpaying is a recipe for getting completely
reactive IT support that leaves you frustrated and dissatisfied. In this
case, the prospective client should have been spending approximately $5,000/mo
for full IT outsourcing, but instead they were only paying $2,500 for a limited
scope of work that didn’t fully cover their needs.
Tip 2 – Have an Open & Honest Conversation with Your
Managed IT Provider About Your Needs
I suggested to the prospective client that they have a heart
to heart conversation with their current Managed IT Services Provider before
considering making a change. Let’s face it, changing IT providers is a
hassle, and we don’t recommend it unless you’ve reached the point of no
return. You have to make sure that the scope of work covers your
requirements. If you’re expecting full IT outsourcing, and their scope of
work doesn’t cover that, you have to find out if they can cover it, and if they
can cover it, then what is their proposed scope of work and updated monthly
pricing. Make sure to fully vet their proposed scope of work.
Tip 3 – Get at Least 1 Competitive Proposal for Managed
IT Services that Meet Your Needs
Your current IT provider has been underperforming, or
they’ve been working under a scope of work that didn’t meet your
requirements. It’s time to get at least 1 competitive proposal for
Managed IT Services. Compare the scope of work and pricing with what your
current Managed IT Provider is proposing. Review the contracts, call
references, and fully vet both options. Then make an educated decision.
Tip 4 – Give Your Managed IT Provider Access to Your
Executive Team
Now that you’ve got a new Managed IT Provider (or a renewed relationship and updated scope of work with your existing Managed IT Provider), it’s important that they have access to your executive team. This should result in better alignment of technology with your business requirements, de-hassled employees, and better IT results.
Reach out to us here at Fulcrum Group if we can help you
have those difficult conversations about IT.