PART ONE

 

Over the past few years, there’s been an explosion of technology service providers (also known as TSPs) that offer IT services to businesses. These firms typically position themselves as being more affordable than having your in-house tech team manage some or all of your computer systems and software.

Some even market their products as being less risky because they employ certified professionals as opposed to most Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMB) that generally employ a single general technology person. While this benefit is definitely a valid point, they can also be other reasons to outsource some of your IT support functions.

Utilizing a TSP as a vendor is often less risky than utilizing an employee. A bad employee could hurt your business in many ways that you typically will not see from a vendor. Unlike some employees, a vendor has no reason to create or engage in an internal political fight internal to the company. Their primary goal is to keep a customer happy so they keep paying their bill. Whereas, an employee, has political, personal, and other objectives in addition to the company goals. Too many SMB's find that their technology, the lifeblood of what makes their business run, can be held hostage by a single technology person they employ.

When adding a new vendor, budget is another concern. A good TSP will be clear and transparent about how much money you’ll spend. Because the TSP utilizes the same employees to support multiple customers, you can end up with a team of skilled professionals supporting you instead of only one or two general support employees. Companies need to know their costs (including their burden labor rates) when comparing the cost of the outsource vs the insource option.

Do I even have a technology support problem?

It is very important to look at the root cause of your technology issues before deciding how to fix them. Are your systems stable? Is your technology keeping pace with your growth or any business pivots you are making? Is your support adequate?

Cybersecurity

See if you can honestly answer this question: If our company was breached, would we know?

Most SMB's no longer have the tools, resources, skills, and systems to address the increasing and ever-present cyber threats that happen daily. If you think you can spend $500 on a firewall and have an adequate security posture, you may find your systems, and more importantly, your response to a security issue, lacking.

Many companies have purchased cybersecurity insurance. If you treat this insurance like people treat their health insurance, you are in for some tough times. You can't have a security breach, have your data stolen, and then expect a large enough payout from a cyber insurance policy to pay enough money to replace that data or eliminate or cover your liability to customers and other. We have seen SMB's that relied on cyber insurance find that when it came time to request a payout, they had not done the basic technical things required by the insurance policy and there for were denied their claim. Do you know if you are in compliance to your cyber insurance policy?

If you could cost-effectively defer most of your cyber risk, would you? Some TSP's will handle both your cybersecurity and your compliance

Microsoft Office 365 or Other Business Productivity Software

We all live in email, word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software. It's been this ways since the 1990's. But a few years ago, business productivity software giants Microsoft and Google started bundling additional software. Since almost 90% of you are utilizing Microsoft applications, let's start there. But the same principles apply if you are using Google or another product suite.

Most of you have, or soon will, purchase a bundle suite of software from Microsoft. This includes Microsoft Teams. Are you committed to educating yourself on where some of these additional products can help your business? Are you committed to installing, training, and supporting the products? Maybe ask yourself: We bought this stuff. Shouldn't we see if it can help us?

Some of what you bought are applications. Some are features. I strongly encourage you to uncover what these Microsoft apps can do for your company - then explore the rest of what you purchased - in no particular order. (No, I am not going to give you links and more info - you have to want it enough to do the research. Otherwise you won't uncover the ones that I don't list here):

• Bookings

• FindTime

• Stream

• OneNote

• Planner

• Power BI

• Power Automate

• SharePoint

• Yammer

• Cloud Voice for Teams

Oh yes, there are more. but most businesses could benefit from at least reviewing and implementing several of the ones above.

So what does this have to do with technology support? It's pretty easy. the companies we are seeing as being successful, you know them, the ones that do more with less, are reviewing their IT budgets and making some key decisions. Your desktop support, cybersecurity, local area network (LAN), wide-area network, printing, and server management are all basic infrastructure. There are great options (financial, risk, scope) to outsource the management of these functional aspects. Then companies look to invest in the business by utilizing tools that will increase collaboration and productivity. The list above is a great starting point.

Is it time to let a vendor focus on the basics and allow you to spend your precious technology time on helping propel the business to new heights? New frontiers? New levels of productivity?

 

 

No matter where you are in your technology initiatives, we can help. We are technology brokers. We help businesses of all sizes reduce the time it takes for technology evaluation and procurement. We work just like your insurance broker. We are paid by the companies we represent. Your contract is with the provider, not us. The pricing is the same as if you worked with a direct sales rep, but your experience will be much better. Our financial incentives are perfectly aligned with your business objects. We will also be here after the sale.

Please let us know if we can help your company with:

• Technology Outsourcing

• Cloud Communications

• Contact Center

• Connectivity

• Security

• Data Centers

• Business Continuity