It's so easy to just take for granted that your IT support company is doing all the right things and there's nothing for you to think about.

This may well be true, but on the other hand, you may have a niggling worry at the back of your mind that things just aren't quite right, or you're not getting the service you think you should be.

Just to help, here are some key services your IT support company should be giving you as pretty much routine:

·         IT support and security are two separate things and if the support company is just merging them together, they may be missing out on some things. Have they carried out a thorough security review with you? You don’t need to take everything, but it should have been made clear.

·         Are you given clear reports showing transparency across your business, e.g. who has access to which email accounts, files, what has been shared … In other words, they are giving you a magnifying glass over your business, in user-friendly reports.

·       Do they put in measures to protect your hardware and system users: you and your staff? Kevin Mitnick (cybercriminal, now turned good guy) said he would always take the path of least resistance if trying to break into systems: socially engineer people – always worked. Do you protect against this?

·         Do you have meetings booked, not because you’ve asked for them, but strategically placed to make sure what you have is what you actually need, things change, as we all know.

·         Are you constantly being sold to – advised you really need the latest bit of kit, but you’re not sure. You don’t need to take everything, only what is going to bring some serious improvement or security enhancement.

·         Does your IT company take the time to know your vision? This is fundamental. If they don’t know what your goal is for you (the business owner), your IT plans may not match. For example, if you plan to spend less time in the business or want things to work more seamlessly, your IT bods should be planning to put in more automation and reporting so you will be able to know exactly what is going on in your business whether you’re there or not.

Habits can be broken
Never overlook the fact that sometimes you just know things aren’t working but put up with it as ‘better the devil you know’.  You accept them not being able to fix problems rapidly and as for seeing them, well that’s a rarity unless they’re racing around trying to fix that incessant problem, which you know is going to result in another costly bill.

You don’t have to put up with this.
Would you put up with a dentist who left you writhing in agony, did half a job at fixing the problem, and still left you with intermittent pain, even after the fix? I think we all know the answer!

Not all IT companies are the same. Don’t settle for poor. You and your business deserve more.