Partnering with an IT service provider should bring many benefits that can help achieve business objectives. One of those is improved staff productivity.
I guess it’s safe to say that your IT service provider is an asset that lets you access the best tech for your business with a dedicated IT support team and cyber security.
You have many things to consider when choosing an IT service provider.
You usually look out for three things to confirm if they’re a perfect match for you: speed, pricing, and quality of service. Although it's ideal if an IT service provider has all three qualities, you only get to pick two that you need the most.
Today, we’ll talk about why fast IT support is essential and how it can make the most bang for your IT buck.
Why is fast IT support important?
Say one of your servers goes down, and five of your employees can’t access their documents for a time-sensitive task.
When you contact your IT service provider, it takes them approximately five hours to respond to your request. Then they start working on your issue, and it takes them another three hours to fix it.
That’s a total of eight hours of lost work. Then multiply that by the number of employees affected.
All in all, the server downtime problem has cost 40 billing hours.
Although it may not seem much, your customers may be looking to switch to another business that can provide better service quickly. This effect ultimately leads to reputation damage and loss of sales.
In the technological age, everything is instant.
Customers have high expectations, and it’s only growing every year. Support speed is critical not only for staff productivity but also for customer happiness.
It makes the most bang for your IT buck
IT support is a hefty investment. That’s why it’s so critical that you’re with the right service provider if you want to make the most out of your investment.
If your system is faulty, you're not only wasting your IT budget but also losing money at the same time.
When your business is experiencing downtime, you lose profit every hour for every employee.
After IT support fixes your issue, you’ll have to deal with the aftermath.
Because your IT system was down, you must respond to emails, manage client orders, or reschedule important meetings at warp speed. There’s also a big possibility that you or your staff must work overtime for overdue tasks.
Remember that it only takes one IT problem to get you and your team off the rails, and this can cost your company a substantial loss per employee. And that's if you can get back up again after a reasonable amount of time, and the problem won’t resurface again in the future.
But that’s the thing.
What if there’s one issue after another, and it keeps your staff from being productive?
Say your downtime costs you an average of $400 per hour for one employee every quarter.
That doesn't seem to be too expensive.
But what if ten employees are affected by the same problem?
That could easily total $4,000 per quarter or $16,000 worth of loss per year.
And it’s all because you’re with a substandard IT service provider.
Fast IT support and service quality is usually the two most important factors to consider if your objective is to minimise costs.
Think about it.
If you’re paying more for an expensive service provider that offers faster and better-quality 24/7 IT support, you’re less likely to experience IT problems in the future. And if you do, it will be taken care of immediately.
This option is a more worthwhile experience since you’ll be making the most out of your IT budget with little to no issues.
Increases productivity
Poor IT support can cause a multitude of problems. When you’re sitting there and waiting for IT support to fix your computer, you’re not accomplishing anything. Your work will end up piling up.
There is nothing more frustrating for an employee to experience IT-related issues often, whether it’s a system problem, server complications, or internet troubles. All in all, it affects the overall performance of your staff and eventually your business output.
Fast IT support should help you get up and running in no time.
It will save you from technical hassles, and you can focus on what you do best. This quality is helpful if your business operations rely heavily on multiple platforms.
If done fast, you can execute tasks efficiently and increase quality work output. But all these would depend on how good the IT support was.
Take note that speed is not synonymous with quality.
If your service provider fixes issues quickly but only applies band-aid solutions, I can bet you $100 that your IT issue will appear again in the future.
Speed and quality should always go together if you’re aiming to increase staff productivity with your IT.
It’s an investment that’s worth considering.
Although fast IT service providers cost more, they provide more benefits that will bring the best ROI and save you from troubles in the long run.
Positively impacts your customer service
Keeping customers happy is a priority of every business.
Even a one-hour downtime can be damaging, especially now that customers want everything fast and instant.
It’s important to understand that IT issues are inevitable. You will face tech issues from time to time, and when that happens, you need a responsive IT support company that will get you back online ASAP.
Say you have a law firm, and your Microsoft 365 suite suddenly stops working. You can no longer connect to Teams or access your SharePoint and important documents.
So, what happens then?
Your operations are on hold, you’re losing billing hours per employee, and your clients are getting impatient.
If your service provider delivers fast IT support, you can do what you do best once your tech issues are fixed. Remember to discuss long-term solutions with your IT service provider to prevent similar problems from popping up again.
Fast IT Support vs Good IT Support
You might have noticed this section mentioned throughout this article.
Remember the three things to consider?
You only get to pick two that you need the most, and you must choose the right combination to achieve your business objectives.
Let us look at the situation if you pick speed and pricing.
Although you’re paying less and getting a faster response time, how effective was the implemented solution?
Did it solve the issue once and for all?
Or is there a possibility that it will show up again in the future?
Note that fast IT support doesn’t always mean you’re getting the best service. They might be cheaper and quicker, but you might be compromising the quality of your IT support.
When you pick pricing and quality, there’s a good chance that you’ll be getting long-term solutions to your IT problems. But time is a critical factor to consider as well. Yes, they can get the job done right at a reasonable price, but at what pace? If you’re experiencing server downtime, how long will it take to get you up online?
Think about this: the longer you’re offline, the more money you’re losing.
When you decide to go with speed and quality, you’re getting the best IT support service but at a much higher cost.
Getting prompt and long-term solutions to IT problems doesn’t come cheap. There’s a possibility it will be higher than your typical IT budget. But if you’re getting fast and quality IT support, wouldn’t that be a worthwhile investment for your business?
You’re less likely to experience expensive downtime, and it would improve staff productivity, which would generate more income for your business.
