Low-level IT workers average $50,000/year. CIOs average $150,000/year.
Those two numbers alone are enough to make businesses of all size and industry consider using managed services instead of in-house staff members for their IT solution.
But it’s hard to tell all your MSP options apart when they’re all saying the same things about “guaranteed uptime”, “flat rate pricing”, etc. When they’re all making such similar claims, how are you supposed to figure out which company is the right choice for you?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Before you sign anything, or even have the pen in your hand really, you need to know exactly what you’re getting.
Here are a couple things to consider when deciding on which IT company to choose based on what’s included in their managed services program:
- Proactive vs. Reactive
One of the key benefits of using a MSP is that you can get everything you’d get with an in-house IT department at much less cost.
However, that benefit is only realized if you get the proactive support that professionals provide to prevent problems and not the reactive support of the cheaper in the short-term, more expensive in the long run break/fix approach that deals with problems after they’ve presented themselves and already done damage.
OffSite IT provides proactive support to protect your long-term interests.
We’ll regularly assess your equipment to make sure hardware is upgraded or replaced before it fails and burdens your business with unnecessary downtime. Less downtime means your workers will be more productive, and more productive workers will allow you to more easily meet and exceed your revenue goals.
We’ll also check your network for weaknesses at regular intervals. Vulnerabilities must be found and fixed before they’re exploited by cybercriminals, as just one incident of data loss with cost you $150 per compromised file. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but thousands of files are compromised in the average attack, so really you’re looking at a six or seven figure hit from just a single incident.
- Resolution > Response Time
Don’t get us wrong, response time is important. Just don’t forget that response time only measures how long it takes for the MSP to give you a non-automated response when you report an issue, not how long it actually takes for them to come in and fix an issue. For that more-important piece of information, ask for the resolution time, not the response time.
And if you’re looking for the IT company with the best resolution time in Chicago, IL and Southern California, look no further than OffSite IT.
Contact us at (866) 828-6674 or info@offsiteIT.com for more information about the difference between the IT company you’ll be happy with a year from now and the IT company that will disappoint soon after signing the service contract.
