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Choosing the right managed IT services company in West Sacramento
The managed IT services industry has won over the hearts, minds and wallets of companies of all sizes and industries. It’s shown itself to be a convenient and cost-effective way to get the regular IT services you need without the hassle of needing to recruit and retain skilled IT staff (of which there is a global shortage).
As a result, the IT managed services industry has grown massively and continues to grow. This means that companies have plenty of choice, but it also means that they need to know how to make best use of that choice. With that in mind, here is some guidance on how to choose a managed IT services partner in West Sacramento.
Check out any necessarily legalities/compliance requirements
The law and compliance programs are non-negotiable, so it usually makes sense to start by checking whether or not there are any requirements you must meet. You’ll need to ensure that any potential managed IT services partner can fulfill them and you can only do that if you know what they are.
On this point, be very careful about making sure that you are clear on where any potential managed IT services vendor is located, both legally and physically. Managed IT services contracts are generally written under the vendor’s local law and specify that any disputes are settled by the vendor’s local courts.
This will be a non-issue if you are actually dealing with a managed IT services provider in West Sacramento, or at least in the West Sacramento area. You will, however, want to be wary of dealing with a managed IT services company which offers services in West Sacramento, but is actually located elsewhere.
It can be impossible to tell the difference from a quick internet search, you usually have to go into their website and check their address(es). You might want to do this at an early stage as it can save you from spending your valuable time looking at a managed IT services company you would never have considered if you’d known where they were actually based.
Define your needs and wants
There are two keys to defining your needs and wants effectively. The first is to insist on getting meaningful input from all relevant stakeholders or, at the very least, giving them ample opportunity to provide you with input. In other words, you want to make sure you understand where everyone stands and if you’re dealing with a colleague who really won’t cooperate, then you need to make it clear that their non-responsiveness is on them and they will have to deal with any consequences which arise from it.
The second is to be really clear about what is a need and what is a want, because getting this wrong can have major implications for your budget. If you define a need as a want, then you may find yourself desperately trying to claw back budget to pay for a service you didn’t realize you had to have. If however, you define a want as a need, then you risk wasting your budget on something you could have lived without.
Think very carefully about unexpected expenses before setting a budget
When it comes to budget, remember that managed IT services providers only deal with regular care-and-maintenance tasks. They do not deal with projects nor do they deal with break/fix work. The former may be obvious, the latter perhaps less so.
Projects are proactive and can and should be scheduled and budgeted. Break/fix work, however, is reactive, which means that you never know when it’s going to happen or how often or how much it’s going to end up costing you. This has two implications. The first is that you’re going to need either an in-house team capable of dealing with break/fix issues or you’re going to need a good IT support partner on your side.
Many SMBs will probably opt to hire a good IT support partner and the good news is that there is a very strong possibility that a reputable managed IT services partner in West Sacramento will also offer IT support services. These will, however, be billed separately as extra services, you will therefore need to think about how you are going to pay for them and how this could impact your budget for managed IT services.
You may want to consider the option of using a combination of sinking funds and cyberinsurance. If so, then you’ll need to check that your vendor is happy to support this.
If you would like to speak to a reputable and experienced managed IT services provider in West Sacramento, please click here now to contact Salient IT.
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