Your Loyalty to Your IT Provider May Not Be in Your Favor

Your Loyalty to Your IT Provider May Not Be in Your Favor

Research has shown the importance of being available for your existing and potential clients. A McKinsey study found that 70 percent of purchasing decisions are based on how the client feels they’ve been treated. Further, a customer is four times more likely to switch to a competitor if they experience customer service problems than they are to switch because of price- or product-related issues.

Technology downtime can cause your business to miss connections with new and existing customers. And when your technology begins to negatively affect your bottom line, it’s definitely time to find a new managed services provider (MSP). But it’s even more advantageous if you can identify a weak provider and avoid them or switch to a new MSP before technology issues become customer issues.

So, how do you know you’re losing today’s revenue and tomorrow’s customers? Is it time to change IT service providers?

Signs Your MSP is Underperforming

Potential customers are calling and emailing but you aren’t receiving their calls or emails. Your employees are unable to work because their computers’ internet access is down. Your hourly billable employees can’t bill clients. Existing customers are becoming frustrated because they can’t reach you.

All because your managed services provider’s server went down.

There are the obvious signs that your managed services provider isn’t the one for you, like a system failure they can’t remediate. But then there are the smaller signs, like our 12 signs it’s time to find a new provider checklist shows, that many business owners overlook because they seem like only minor hassles. They’ve become loyal to an MSP partnership that is no longer working in their favor – although it is costing them new and existing customers.

A few of the subtler signs of an underperforming managed services provider include:

  • Your server goes down often, causing your employees unexpected downtime. This may be indicative of your MSP having incorrect or poor infrastructure. (Measure the cost of downtime for your business by using Datto’s Recovery Time & Downtime Cost Calculator.)
  • You are experiencing slow response time to service requests. Support tickets should be acted upon immediately – no matter the day of the week or the time of day or night.
  • Your MSP can’t find and repair system problems you are experiencing. This should be a huge red flag as it’s probably one of the main reasons you outsourced your IT in the first place.

All the small annoyances caused by poor IT providers that business owners shrug are often precursors to a major disaster – a loss of critical data, a major hardware failure, a successful cyberattack or other catastrophe. Thus, it’s of the utmost importance to choose a top-notch MSP to provide your business with strategy, service and support.

Picking a Top-Notch MSP

Contracting with a new IT managed services provider can be time-consuming and a little overwhelming. If you’re switching from a provider who has failed you, there are already some aspects of potential providers you’ll want to cover. Some other areas to consider when looking for a new IT service provider include:

  • Strategy. Will your new MSP help you define and implement an IT strategy that will help you reach your business goals?
  • Service. Can your new MSP provide you with the infrastructure, hardware and software solutions you need to comply with any applicable laws or regulations?
  • Support. Does your new MSP offer immediate technical support 24 hours a day and 365-days a year?
  • Backups and Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity. Do they insist on setting up backup and disaster recovery plans? And how often are the solutions tested?

Doing your due diligence in choosing a managed services provider is time and effort well spent. An experienced and attentive MSP will not only anticipate issues before they arise but will also provide you with the technology your business needs to grow. A trustworthy and experienced MSP will be a valuable partnership for your business where you receive the outcomes you expect.

Are you considering switching IT providers or outsourcing for the first time? Let Stratus IT show you what a valued managed services provider can do. Contact us today.