Category Archives: Manage Service

How to Choose the Best Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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Quality Managed Service Providers will go beyond simple monitoring and management by preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement.

Quality Managed Service Providers will go beyond simple monitoring and management by preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement.

IT solutions today have redefined efficiency and effectiveness in any process, specifically in business operations. Yet the rapidly increasing reliance on IT is often not supported by resources needed for the complex IT environment. This is where managed service providers step in to provide professional assistance for businesses to assist in the delivery and management of IT operations. Despite this, the potential benefits of managed services can only be unlocked by selecting the right provider.

First, consider what kinds of services your business needs and which provider can best suit those needs. The provider selected needs an understanding of your unique service needs. This should be a priority, by offering more than just a “cookie cutter” solution. Giving you plenty of choices in your IT management are important so that your business can select the best option, whether it involves network speeds for each user or location, business-class voice services, range of equipment, or fee structures.

Also find out if providers are proactive in IT services management. Providers that take this approach will go beyond simple monitoring and management; preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement are priorities to these providers. Sophisticated technology should elevate services to not only offer better solutions, but also to reduce human intervention to improve quality and productivity.

Managed service providers should measure up in terms of skills and experience. Providers should offer skills beyond basic maintenance and management to ensure that they are prepared to handle your requirements. Some areas to question your provider on may include: change management, virtualization, availability of staff, databases, security, cloud technologies, etc. It is crucial to ensure providers have the expertise across all delivery models so your business achieves an integrated multi-sourcing strategy.

Ensure that your provider is able to consistently provide services worldwide. Unified communication services globally are vital to supporting current and potential operations in various locations.

The success of business processes migrating to converged communications should depend on your provider using the ITIL standards. By ensuring that your provider is aligned with the best practices defined in ICT processes, customer service is optimized even on a global infrastructure, through quality delivery, SLAs, regular reporting and a control structure.

For more information on how we can help you choose the best managed service provider, contact us. 

Eight truths about IT support that every business owner should know

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IT support can do more for your business than just fix problems as they arise.

IT support can do more for your business than just fix problems as they arise.

For many business owners, IT personnel might as well not exist unless there’s a specific computer problem that needs an immediate solution. Once it’s fixed, the IT support folks can promptly withdraw from the scene, and business can carry on as usual.

However, there’s much more to IT support than just fixing problems as they pop up. The following are eight truths about IT support that every business owner should know:

  1. Your IT support should be proactive and not just reactive. IT support personnel can help you come up with ways to prevent problems from occurring; for example, they can regularly enhance your cyber-security plan and data backup measures.
  2. IT support can further your business goals. Your company’s productivity and the direction you want it to take depends in part on your IT infrastructure. If you discuss your business goals with your IT personnel, they can help ensure that your IT set-up lines up with what you need (and with enough flexibility to accommodate future changes).
  3. IT support personnel are human. Highly skilled and highly trained humans (hopefully), but still, only human and not magic robots. Often, solving a problem will take more than pushing a button or typing a single command. Although proactive measures reduce the risks of problems, there’s no such thing as a 100% problem-free work environment. The best you can hope for is an IT support team that works effectively and as quickly as possible, while prioritizing their work based on your needs.
  4. IT support saves you precious time. Think of all the time you and your employees would waste dealing with the problems that IT support personnel take care of. Beyond handling specific computer difficulties, IT support can help you make your day-to-day business operations flow more efficiently, with your employees relying on the right programs and devices.
  5. IT support personnel can help educate employees. Many cyber security breaches and other computer problems have their source in employee error. And in regards to simpler computer issues, your employees might also be given the means to quickly solve simple problems themselves, leaving IT to deal with the bigger issues. Your IT support is a potential source of employee knowledge and training.
  6. Your customer relations can improve thanks to IT support. From keeping your website up and running to maintaining software that allows you to connect with and keep track of your customers, good IT support enhances customer relations.
  7. IT support personnel know the best, most up-to-date practices. They keep up with tech and software developments, understand safe and effective practices, and are up-to-date on industry standards and guidelines. They can help you benefit from state-of-the-art, cost-effective solutions that also comply with government regulations.
  8. You can outsource IT support to a trusted provider. Hiring an IT staff or expanding on your current staff might not make financial sense. In many cases, it’s more cost-effective to outsource IT support to a provider who will work closely with your company and provide you only with the services you need; the money you save on IT can get redirected to your core business areas, promoting growth. Furthermore, even if you keep in-house IT personnel, it’s useful to have trusted outsiders to consult with; they can bring additional expertise to your company.

Be sure to contact us for more information about our IT support services. Strong IT support is indispensable to your company’s success.

The Service Your Customers Really Want

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The customer-service department should be friendly and conversational, while maintaining professionalism. The representatives should listen to each customer, regardless of how many are waiting in line.

The customer-service department should be friendly and conversational, while maintaining professionalism. The representatives should listen to each customer, regardless of how many are waiting in line.

A company’s customer service department is simply answering customer concerns in a prompt environment.  When you are dealing with online backups, emails and system monitoring, customers expect more from companies than answering questions efficiently.  Customers want appreciation and companies want loyalty in return.  One bad experience with their website or computer and customers are quick to turn.  Here’s how to give the service your customers really want.

Companies need to make the customer service department sound like a conversation while maintaining the business substance.  It’s up to the employees to make it happen.  As consumers chat with a representative about a virus or disaster recovery, mention each person by name during the conversation.  Try to sound friendly, likeable and warm to the customer to make them feel like prom queen/prom king.  Each person needs to feel important no matter how many people are waiting in line.  Listen to each one thoroughly, offer an answer when the customer has stopped speaking, and take action.  A great suggestion is to send an email asking consumers to take a survey about their recent customer service experience.  The answers may open your eyes about what is next.

In addition to appreciation, offer flexibility, accessibility and accuracy.  Customers should already know about hours of operation, various lines of communication and bilingual representatives.  The customer service foundation is about providing an answer, and there’s no point in being fast if the answers are incorrect.  When customers deal with computer, email or web issues, companies can’t afford to be wrong.  Have an experienced staff who is detailed in problem solving so customers can follow the instructions.

It’s never enough to provide a solution; consumers expect exceptional customer service.  Customers expect more from companies now.  For more information about our IT services, contact us.  Contact us for more information.

10 quick tips about working with your Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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To take full advantage of the benefits of an MSP, you need to maintain a strong relationship with them.

To take full advantage of the benefits of an MSP, you need to maintain a strong relationship with them.

By outsourcing at least some of your IT operations to a Managed Service Provider (MSP), you could potentially save money and further your business growth.

However, to take full advantage of these benefits, you need to maintain a strong working relationship with your MSP. The following are 10 quick tips about working with your Managed Service Provider (MSP):

 

 

 

  1. Share your business goals with them. They can help you most effectively only if they understand what direction you want your company to go in and anticipate how your IT needs might change along the way.
  2. Keep communication lines open. Regularly touch base with them about your IT configuration, whether everything’s going smoothly, and whether anything could improve or needs to change.
  3. Understand what they’re doing for you. You don’t need to know all of the technical details, but you should understand the general picture of what they’re doing for you and why it’s necessary, even if you don’t consider yourself a computer savvy person. If they’re good communicators, they can explain to you what’s going on.
  4. Establish clear collaborative boundaries from the beginning. Understand the scope of their responsibilities from the start. And if you have an IT staff already, establish a relationship of collaboration and clear boundaries, to avoid a situation where your in-house employees think the MSP is pushing them out of the picture.
  5. Hammer out a clear contract. Make sure you know how long they’ll work for you, how they’ll bill you, and what devices, programs and services they’ll take responsibility for.
  6. Quantify results. How will you measure increased productivity, savings in costs, or other benefits you might expect from your MSP? What is your MSP’s response time to various problems?
  7. Keep being a manager. Even when you outsource various services, you still need to stay on top of things and make informed decisions.
  8. Look into security. When you outsource your IT needs, in whole or part, to another company, you want to ensure as much as possible that your security won’t get compromised. What powerful security practices does your MSP have in place? What’s their security record?
  9. Ask away. You should feel comfortable asking them questions and bringing your concerns to them immediately.
  10. Treat them with trust. This doesn’t mean blindly accepting everything they do or suggest; however, if you’ve taken the trouble to choose a reliable and effective MSP, you should also feel comfortable delegating things to them and not second-guessing everything they do. By following the other tips here, such as communicating regularly and quantifying various results, you can monitor their contribution to your company without potentially obstructing their work.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about the managed services we offer. When collaborating with us, you will receive IT services responsive to your company’s needs and aimed at promoting its survival and success.