Managed IT services in Folsom

Choosing a managed IT services partner in Folsom

Managed IT services are the people who can keep your IT infrastructure running smoothly without any effort on your part – apart from the time it will take you to hire a good managed IT services partner. It’s definitely worth taking the time to manage the hiring process effectively as a good managed IT services partner can become as important to your company’s success as your C-suite. With that in mind, here is some guidance on choosing a managed IT services Folsom.

Deal with any existing issues before you even start looking for one

Managed IT services vendors only take over IT systems which are already in good running order. In fact, they may insist that you upgrade your current systems to meet their minimum standards. There are two good reasons why you should deal with this before you even start looking for one.

The first is that you’ll get an understanding of what was wrong with your system and what needed to be done to fix it. This can inform later discussions about what you need and want from your managed IT services provider. The second is that it will let you see how much money you really have for managed services and help you to avoid committing to a contract which turns out to be rather more expensive than you’d have liked.

Think about where you are and where you’re going

Even if your systems are in peak condition, there’s still going to be some level of effort and expenses needed to migrate to a (new) managed IT services partner. First of all you’re going to need to recruit the right one and then you’re probably going to need quite a bit of preparation work before you hand over the digital keys to your IT system.

The good news is that, unlike employees, who can (and do) leave whenever they want, a managed IT services partner will work with you for as long as you want them to. It therefore makes sense to think about not just what you need and want now but also to think about what you need and want going into the future. Ideally, you should be looking at least five years ahead. Longer is better, but may not be practical for many SMBs.

While you’re doing this, you might also want to research what legal/regulatory changes are definitely in the pipeline and what looks like it might be feasibly on the cards for later. You’ll definitely need to make sure that any potential managed IT services partner will be able to keep up with these as you’ll be the one in the legal/regulatory firing line if they’re not.

In this context, make sure to check if a company offering managed IT services Folsom is actually located in Folsom (or at least near Folsom, for example Sacramento) or if they’re based elsewhere. The safest option by far is to stick with managed IT services vendors which are physically close to you partly because it makes them easier to supervise and partly because it means that it is relatively easy to hold them to account if they fail to fulfill any contractual obligations.

Remember that the golden rule of contracts is that you need to be able to enforce them practically for them to have any real value.

Think about what pricing model suits you best

The vast majority of managed IT services providers have four main pricing models. These are per user, per device, per service tier and ad hoc. The names may change depending on the managed IT services vendor, but the basic idea will stay the same.

Smaller SMBs may prefer per user and/or per device pricing due to its simplicity. For larger SMBs, however, the right option is almost invariably per service tier pricing plus ad hoc services. While it might be tempting to pick the highest service tier you think you can afford, to get the best value for money, it may be better to pick a service tier which covers only your needs (and perhaps any high-priority wants) and pay for ad hoc services as, when and if you have budget.

Once you’ve seen where this approach leads you, you can reassess at a later date and see if you want to move to a higher service tier. Always keep in mind, however, that managed IT services vendors only deal with maintenance tasks. Any break/fix work is passed back to the client for them to manage in-house or to hand to their chosen IT support vendor. These days it will usually be the latter and you will need funds to pay for their services.

If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced managed IT services Folsom, please click here now to contact Salient IT.

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