Where once even the mere thought of changing IT providers would send you into a tail spin cloud hosting has made it far less of a challenge. If you are experiencing disappointment in the way your IT partner is handling your needs it may be time to jump ship and find someone who will provide the excellent service you demand.

Along with a fresh outlook a new IT provider should be up-to-date with the latest solutions that will allow your company to grow, minimise risk and improve efficiency.

Some signs that it is time to look elsewhere for IT support are:

Lack of Pro activeness

Besides responding to your requests quickly, your IT partner should be proactive by informing you and alleviating risk of problems before they occur. By constantly analysing reports a proactive IT provider should unearth potential issues and solve them before your business is impacted. Routine monitoring and maintenance is imperative, and you have a right to expect this of your IT partner.

A good IT provider should insure that your business can work without disruption. All patches, security updates and hot fixes should be seamlessly installed in the background, when and as often as required to insure your servers, desktops, hosted desktop and applications are secure and up to date.

Recurring Issues?

One of the main purposes of hiring an IT specialist in the first place is to hopefully avoid any disruption to normal day-to-day business functions but also to quickly and efficiently address any issues that do arise so that disruption is kept to a minimum. If you find yourself facing the same issues time after time despite being told that it has been fixed, your IT provider is not doing everything within their knowledge to discover the cause of the problem and address it properly.

Lack of Value for your Business:

A good IT partner should be able to anticipate and recommend technology that will add value to your business in a timely manner. If your IT provider is not conversant with the specific needs of your business they cannot possibly make recommendations.

No Understanding of Your Industry

An IT provider of any value will not only be able to provide support on a general business level but also be able to address the specific needs of your business. They should have in depth knowledge of the function of your business and how the technology you use impacts productivity and efficiency. Failing to understand the specific needs of your business / industry is reason enough, without considering any of the other points, to put your IT support requirements in the hands of a new provider.

Your Business Lacks Security

Today more than ever the security of your business is of the utmost importance. Cyber attacks are rampant therefore you and your clients/customers should be secure in the knowledge that all sensitive information is being kept secure at all times.

Your IT provider will be well versed in dealing with the likes of phishing attacks, spam email, viruses, malware and more, and be able to instruct you and your staff in techniques that will insure these attacks do not become an issue.

You Have No Confidence in Their Disaster Relief Plan

Disasters happen to even the savviest businesses, both physical and computer-related. Even a small electrical fire can have disastrous consequences. Despite you taking precautions to prevent a disaster it can come down to as simple an act as someone stealing copper wires from the exterior of your building and causing your business to grind to a halt.

It is imperative that not only are there disaster relief plans in place before a disaster occurs, but also that as soon as you alert your IT partner to a disaster they immediately spring into action and minimise the damage, provide solutions and get your business up and running again as soon as possible. You need to be confident in their ability to provide you with a complete backup of your entire file system so that you can work from a remote location until your building is habitable again, should the need to work off-site occur. Your IT partner should be able to clearly spell out how they fit into your business continuity plan and if they can’t it is a sure sign that it is time to look for a new provider.

Lack of Communication Skills and Personal Touch

Your IT partner should provide you with a contact person for all day-to-day communications. You should not have to be transferred from party to party until the person assigned your account is reached. They should be contacting you before you need to contact them if there is an issue. You need to be able to converse with them in terms that you both understand no matter how technical an issue is. If you can build a rapport with your IT person it will make contacting them so much easier. He/she needs to be friendly and helpful at all times no matter how minor the issue may seem to them. Regular strategy meetings should be par for the course to insure that both you and your IT partner are striving to achieve the same goals.

1st IT, specialists in the private and charity sectors, is dedicated to providing solutions before they become necessary. In the event of disaster, 1st IT will have you up and running as normal again within 2 hours with the ability to work from the latest backup while waiting for normal functions to resume. This is our promise to you!