As a business owner, you are always looking for ways to save the company money. One way to do this is to use an IT outsourcing company to manage your IT needs.
The right outsourcing partner can significantly affect how your business runs. If you choose the wrong company, it can cost your company a great deal.
This is why choosing the right IT outsourcing services is crucial. You want to find a company that offers scalability, access to highly trained industry experts, and sufficient data recovery skills.
To help you find the right company, here are eight ways to ensure you find the right outsourcing partner for your business. Keep reading to learn what they are.
In this article
1. Ask for Recommendations
What is one of the first things we do when we’re looking to buy something? We ask our friends and family for their opinion. As such, one of the first ways to start compiling a short list of companies to consider is to ask for recommendations.
Asking for recommendations means you can choose a company that someone you trust used before you. You can request anyone from the accompanying individuals:
- Family members
- Friends
- Colleagues
- Industry connections
2. Read Reviews
Another way to ensure you’re outsourcing your IT to a great company is to read online reviews. People who are happy with the service they receive from companies they use will likely leave positive reviews on their public pages, like their Google business listing.
If a company has received less than adequate service, they’re also likely to leave a review stating as such. If a company has many reviews, only consider the most recent reviews, ideally at most six months old. Since older reviews were posted, processes, staff, and policies can have changed.
3. Compare Services
Next, when you have a few companies to compare, now it’s time to see how their service offerings match up to their competitors. Services that your company may need can include:
- Network security services
- Network management services
- Cloud services
- Remote support
- Communication services
- Software development
- Software maintenance
- IT Training services
Your company may not need all of them, but you want to ensure your chosen company offers the particular services you need. If they don’t, move on to the next company on your list.
4. Compare Costs
Now that you’ve compared services, it’s time to compare costs. Of course, IT outsourcing companies’ prices will differ depending on their services. The more services available, the more the contract costs will be.
There are several ways IT outsourcing companies can structure their fees. For example, they can charge a fixed monthly fee or a fee based on the number of devices they manage. This pricing structure would include all devices, from work PCs to company smartphones and tablets.
Alternatively, they can charge based on a tier system. For example, they may have three different packages you can choose between, each with additional services than the first.
5. Set up an Interview
When you’ve found a company you can afford that meets your IT outsourcing needs, it’s time to set up an interview. This is an essential step in ensuring you select the right company. Having a one-on-one meeting serves a few purposes.
First, you can get a general feel for the company’s vibe when you meet them in person. It also allows you to ask any questions you may have about the services they offer. How they handle your questions can tell you a lot about the company. For example, if they’re dismissive of your questions, they may be dismissive of your IT needs.
6. Ask for References
You can also use your face-to-face interview to ask for any references they can give you. If they’re confident in their services, they should have names of other companies who have used their services you can contact.
However, asking for references doesn’t mean you have to contact them. The fact the company has references they feel confident providing you can speak to the quality of their services. It’s always recommended to contact at least one before signing on the dotted line.
7. Check Their Experience
An IT outsourcing company can have all the services you need, have excellent references, and have reasonable rates, but you also want to check how much experience they have.
If the company is too new, it may not have experience with complex network issues that can arise during your contract. You ideally want the company you select to have at least several years of experience in the industry.
If they’ve been in business for long enough, you can also trust they send their employees on regular training sessions to keep updated on the latest technology.
You also want to ensure that they have the experience your company needs. For example, if you require coding services, the team they assign to your company must have the coding skills to carry out your projects.
8. Review Their Security Protocols
Finally, when choosing IT outsourcing services, you want to make sure they have the proper security protocols. Should your company experience a security issue like a data breach, you want to ensure the company you’ve partnered with has the relevant security protocols to protect your data.
You also want to review their privacy policy and whether or not they adhere to security best practices. For example, if you’re using your outsourcing partner for software development, you must know how they handle sensitive information.
Fill Your IT Outsourcing Needs
Using IT outsourcing services can be a great way to save your company money. It gives you all the benefits of having an IT team in your company without the added costs.
To find the right outsourcing IT company, ask for recommendations, search online and read their reviews, compare costs and services, review their security protocols, and set up interviews. These are all excellent ways to ensure you partner with the best IT outsourcing company you can afford.
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