Outsourced IT support – what to expect

The word ‘outsourced’ will often set off alarm bells for a lot of companies. It leaves work in the hands of those outside of your business which to some is- pardon the pun, risky business. However, outsourcing should not have to mean you compromise on quality especially when it comes to outsourcing your IT support. These days every modern business whether they be big or small relies heavily on a wide range of software and hardware and it is almost impossible for them to have in house technicians with knowledge on it all. This is why many businesses choose to outsource their IT so that they have access to large teams of people, specialising in everything tech based. And whilst this seems like a logical steps for many, it can often be difficult to know what to expect from these IT services.

There are four main areas of expectation you should have when outsourcing your IT- problem resolution, customer service, maintenance and proactive care.

When it comes to IT there will always be unexpected issues that you have to deal with. From your computer suddenly crashing, losing emails, forgetting login details, error codes, the list is endless. But, without adequate IT based support in place your business will suffer potential long term losses. By outsourcing your IT you can have peace of mind knowing that there is a team of people on hand 24 hours a day ensuring that everything is running smoothly. Any issues that arise whether it be something small or completely disastrous can be quickly and easily solved. Your outsourcing partner should be on hand at all times to resolve any issue within minutes of you calling either by talking you through the issue or remotely accessing your computer and solving the problem themselves.

Prevention should be one of the key priorities of your IT support so that you have as little issues as possible. This is called Remote Monitoring and Management and is something most IT specialists will put in place to provide you with the best service. Whilst having someone on hand at all times to help you with any tech issues is great it is much better to have someone working behind the scenes to ensure there are no problems to begin with. Any reputable IT service will be happy to inform you on what is being done to monitor your systems and manage the performance of your network on an ongoing basis.

Generally what you should expect from your outsourced IT support is quite simple and generally, you would assume that all four of these areas were being covered as a normal part of your agreement. However, it is important that you have these four areas in mind at all times when dealing with your outsourced IT support. Often we expect these things to be done but that is not always the case which is why it is important to ask and ensure everything is as you want it.

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