What is the cost of change?
Is a price increase with IT or technology prompting you to look for different solutions?
And how do you look at costs versus value?
As prices increase in almost every industry, IT and technology are not immune.
But change can be difficult, as technology is connected to every part of your organization.
And during past economic downturns, like in 2008, the companies that invested in innovation were the ones that prospered the most.
So it is important that your organization look closely at your technology and the IT services behind it.
Reducing expenses and containing costs is critical, but you must understand the value vs. the cost of technology. This includes assessing the current IT support provider vital to your future.
Technology is an integral part of any business today – small or large. And there is a cost to supporting this technology.
Most managed IT services companies charge a flat monthly fee for IT support.
Costs range from $69 per user per month to $250 per user per month.
Higher monthly fees generally include more support services and provide more comprehensive cyber security protection.
Yes – cost and price are very important for organizations that look at technology as a commodity – like electricity and heating/cooling in their offices.
Employees in a business expect to walk into their offices and have the lights turned on, and they expect the office to be at a comfortable temperature.
Employees also expect to sit down at their desks, turn on their computers and have them work. So having a computer system accessible like this day-to-day is important … and there is a value to this.
If a company has a downtime incident that prevents 10 employees from working for several hours, there is a high cost to the business for this disruption.
Likewise, if lingering issues with an organization’s computer system create a lack of productivity for employees, these times are also very expensive.
“Keeping the Lights On” is important, but technology can do much more. Businesses that understand this have used technology to:
A 25-person company receiving “keep the lights on” IT support and paying $4000/month might consider shopping for a lower price.
But a 25-person company engaged in discussions with the IT support company about technology might help their sales team produce over $1M in new revenue and would consider the $4000/month a good investment, especially if these discussions included metrics for validating the ROI for the investment in the CRM solution!
If a company has a downtime incident that prevents 10 employees from working for several hours, there is a high cost to the business for this disruption.
Likewise, if lingering issues with an organization’s computer system create a lack of productivity for employees, these times are also very expensive.A business that is not growing is dying … and technology is a tool that can be used to help any business thrive. Mature managed IT services companies can help businesses ask the right questions to find technology solutions necessary to generate more revenues.
These discussions must be conducted strategically with the leadership teams within a business. The discussions need to be focused on the business goals and mission. Metrics need to be identified that will be used to verify that results are being achieved. A plan of gathering and reporting on these metrics also needs to be part of the plan to show ROI.
Similar processes can be used to find areas within a business where expenses could be reduced. New technologies allow all companies to find efficiencies and redundancies that can be streamlined or eliminated. New technologies also enable all-sized businesses to utilize automation.
Automation can reduce the manual workloads of employees and can increase throughput and productivity.
Technology consultants can help formulate the questions needed to find these expense reductions. The processes also identify the metrics that will be collected to support the accountability necessary for these reductions.
In today’s world, there is great value in keeping good employees. Everyone wants to be successful. When employees seamlessly use their tech to be productive … they love it! When tech is easy to use and helps a team produce more, it creates an active and collaborative space where people want to work.
On the other hand, aging technology that is slow, frustrating, and consistently underwhelming creates frustration. When employees are handcuffed with bad tech, their jobs become miserable. Stress mounts, and people start looking for other places to work.
In today’s highly competitive world, organizations need to provide their teams with tech that allows them to do more with less. Efficiency creates wins … which makes very satisfied employees.
All organizations know that there is also great value in loyal customers. New, collaborative technologies allow for better connections with customers. The days of mandatory face-to-face time are gone. Instead, all businesses recognize the value of consistent, quality collaboration and remote meetings’ role in this collaboration and communication.
Face-to-face interactions are still very important, but they are not exclusive. Most organizations are finding ways to mix face-to-face and remote meetings to keep customers highly engaged. Remote teams can work together seamlessly to
It wasn’t very long ago that changing IT providers was a difficult situation. It was costly, labor-intensive, and often took multiple weeks to happen.
It was just not fun.
However, most of that has changed with technological advances, as almost the entire move can be managed remotely.
But as a business owner, you know that transitions like these are challenging but critical to your growth.
… And the IT Provider you choose couldn’t be more vital.
It can be difficult to know when it’s time to change your IT provider, especially if you’ve stuck with them for a long time.
Many organizations like yours have grown up with their current provider, and even though you feel something is missing, you’ve become very comfortable with them.
But, if you find yourself seriously considering switching IT providers, this short article will give some valuable insights to consider.
If your team is experiencing a few of these red flags with your current provider.
Maybe we can help with your search …
Information technology services are being transformed. The frequency at which new technologies emerge makes the break-fix model no longer sustainable. Some Managed IT Providers like Imagine IT are separating themselves from traditional IT service providers.
Information technology services are being transformed. The frequency at which new technologies emerge makes the break-fix model no longer sustainable. Some Managed IT Providers like Imagine IT are separating themselves from traditional IT service providers.
The most common complaint is about slow response times. There are several reasons for this, including staff levels, how they track each ticket … and they don’t have a system or plan that proactively handles many support tickets regularly.
SMBs no longer have the option to sit on the sideline regarding cyber-security. Most IT providers do not include a fully layered cybersecurity solution. Instead, they will offer many security deployments they recommend for an additional charge. You are looking for a Managed Service Provider that provides a fully layered security bundle that is part of their MSP monthly cost.
There are a lot of sales tactics that MSPs use to get you to sign long-term contracts. I won’t list them here. However, the majority of top MSPs do not require a long-term contract. So if they need a year’s contract, keep shopping!
You’ll find that many MSPs don’t have a Co-Managed program per se. And most will tell you, “But we do work with companies with an IT staff.” So, you are looking for providers with a written Co-Managed program that is highly customizable and offers metrics to measure the ROI of that engagement.
Switching IT companies should be the beginning of a good relationship that takes your organization to the next level.
As emerging technology is changing how your industry services and manages customers, it is critical that you choose one with that in mind.
Could you make sure that the company you choose has a documented onboarding process and that you see that in writing before you change?
Also, most of the work in switching IT providers is done remotely. So make sure the company you choose has these automation tools to deploy things properly and without interruption.
And don’t forget about your remote workers. It would be best if you had tools to push updates to your entire team, including your remote workforce.
In addition, the break-fix philosophy needs to be updated. Technology is tied to everything you do. Therefore, it is critical that your new IT provider creates a full Technology roadmap that captures your short, mid, and long-term goals … and matches your mission and vision.
At the end of the day, we want to help organizations leverage technology to be successful.
We want you to be confident you have an IT partner you can trust, and who can take you to the next level.
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