Common Service Pitfalls of IT Providers

The low barrier to entry required to provide IT services to small businesses means there are a ton of providers in the market.   What are some common pitfalls that businesses suffer through when they work with an under performing IT service provider?  What does good look like?   Why are the providers under performing?

Typical IT service providers for small businesses, often referred to as Managed Service Providers (MSPs), are started by engineers and as they gain a few clients the technical skills that got them started no longer serve them as they have to start finding the right talent, managing that talent, and all the business skills that become with being a small business owner. 

95% of all MSPs are under 1 million a year in total revenue because most can’t scale beyond that for various reasons, that I won’t go into detail on here, but customer service is typically the first thing to suffer as they grow and move from calling “the guy” to calling “the company” for support.

Signs of A Struggling IT Service Provider

Be on the look out for the following signs of an MSP struggling to scale and read on afterwards for the NetTech way on how we solve these challenges, and what its like working with our team.

1. Inability to Solve Problems: A fundamental expectation from any IT service provider is the ability to diagnose and resolve issues efficiently. Unfortunately, some providers struggle with problem-solving, leading to prolonged downtimes and frustrated clients. This lack of technical acumen can be detrimental to your business continuity.
2. Slow to Respond or Don’t Respond to Tickets: Timely response to service tickets is crucial in maintaining operational flow. Providers that are slow to respond, or worse, do not respond at all, can cause significant delays and disruptions. This lack of responsiveness undermines trust and can escalate minor issues into major operational crises.
3. Consistent Outages Indicate a Lack of Proactiveness: Frequent outages not only disrupt business activities but also indicate a provider’s failure to anticipate and mitigate potential issues. Proactive monitoring and maintenance are essential for preventing downtime and ensuring a reliable IT environment. A provider that cannot ensure consistent uptime lacks the foresight necessary for dependable service.
4. Lacking the Ability to Provide Strategic Guidance: Beyond troubleshooting and maintenance, a competent MSP should offer strategic guidance to help clients align their IT infrastructure with business goals. This includes the ability to develop detailed budgets and roadmaps. Providers that cannot offer this level of insight fail to support long-term growth and strategic planning.
5. Poor Communication: Clear, consistent communication is vital for effective IT support. Providers that do not maintain regular and transparent communication channels can leave clients in the dark, causing confusion and frustration.
6. Inadequate Cybersecurity Measures: In today’s digital age, robust cybersecurity is non-negotiable. Providers that fail to implement comprehensive security protocols leave clients vulnerable to breaches and attacks, which can have devastating consequences.

IT Service Provider Maturity

At NetTech, we provide a mature service delivery model that delivers proactive IT, cybersecurity and disaster recovery, and strategic guidance to our clients.   We provide a team of service coordinators that you can consider to be your personal IT service valets, their jobs are to ensure that your issues or requests get to the right team member at the right time, and work with your schedule to ensure that IT does not interrupt your workflow.

Moving Toward A Proactive Approach

Our proactive engineering team’s entire responsibility is to ensure that your business does not suffer outages, maintains good backups and disaster recovery, and stays protected against the latest cyber security threats.   Their mission is to prevent issues issues before they occur and keep you safe.

A More Strategic Approach To IT

Finally, all of our clients are provided with a strategic consultant that works closely with your business to align technology and your business goals.  They familiarize themselves with your industry and develop a roadmap and budget to keep technology and business in consistent alignment, eliminating surprise costs as much as possible and allowing you to predict your IT costs.

Contact NetTech today to find out how we can work together.