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For most businesses, choosing IT services or a technical support company is a one-off decision. The chances are your staff will not be experts in technology (hence the need to outsource) and won’t have time to spend hours learning the jargon to find the perfect company to suit your needs.

The best way to tackle any kind of freelance requirement is to create a comprehensive brief containing as much information as possible about the expectations of the service. With this, you can court quotes from a number of different people and find the most suitable provider for the job.

A few things to consider when formulating this brief include:

• How many people are in your organisation and who will need access to the systems. Who will need to be able to monitor/edit them, and who will simply need to view them?
• Where do your staff work? Are they all on one site, multiple sites, or do they need to work remotely? Will you need mobile (e.g. iPhone, Blackberry) solutions too?
• Do you use any specialist software?
• What are your back-up needs? Do you access all your data every day or keep a database that is referred to as-and-when? This will greatly affect the type of server and storage you need.
• How critical would full system failure be? Does your entire operation collapse if the server/database/programs are not accessible?
• When are your hours of business? You may need to contact a technical support line outside of the usual 9-5; will they be available?
• What level of security will you require? Doctors, accountants, and parliamentary bodies will require different levels of encryption.

Once you’ve received a few quotes, there are a number of other things to consider before making a decision.

• Think about future-proofing your company. Will these services be able to cater to any growth or developments planned within the organisation?
• Similarly, will you need new services in the future? If so, look for service providers that appear to be growing with the times. How up to date with the latest technology are they?
• Is it practical to tie yourself down to an annual contract? Any dynamic business will have changing needs - will your company’s requirements exceed the services you have paid for?
• Look at things like response time and a comprehensive list of responsibilities when comparing bidders. Do any of them offer a critical response time for serious system failures?
• How well does the service provider understand YOUR company? Will they work as a part of your team or merely see you as a client.

No two businesses are the same, therefore any reputable IT services company will need to create a package that is tailored to your needs. Only consider these quotes, and then determine which factors can be sacrificed if you find that you would be paying too much. Never compromise your IT needs to fit a pre-composed set of service packages. Remember that during the negotiation stage the ball is always in your court!

Call Fitzrovia I.T. today on 0207 874 8827 to discuss your IT Support needs.

Photo credit: Flickr user infomatique