When it comes to business there aren’t many situations that are worse than when you have a tech problem and you are stuck on the phone listening to some generic music waiting for a tech advisor to help.
IT downtime can cost a business thousands per hour and having to wait around before even telling your tech support team about your problem is frustrating.
If you have had this problem or still are, there is a good chance you have outsourced your IT support to a national company or an overseas company.
Hiring a local IT support company is a great way of avoiding this problem as most smaller IT support companies won’t be dealing with enough problems at the same time where you will be put on hold. With smaller local IT support companies you often will be assigned an account manager that you can get access to right away.
Why hire a local IT support team?
Speed.
Local IT support teams will need to solve your problems quickly as they know there are different tech support companies out there waiting to steal their business. If an IT support company isn’t helping their clients resolve their issues quickly they will go out of business.
Having a local company help you with your tech is also beneficial in that they can visit your office or locations nearby if they need to replace any hardware or software.
National IT support companies on the other hand would be slower to react and send out a consultant if one was needed.
Local IT Support companies can help with on-site checks
As with most businesses these days, many services can be provided online but with IT support on-site meetings could be needed to fix certain problems.
Having a local IT support company on call will mean that they can check on your hardware, software and network more often in person than a national or virtual IT support company.
Local IT support companies can learn your business and your staff, providing a better service.
Working with a local IT support company will mean that your staff will get to know the support staff and they will get to know your business. Making personal connections is only going to benefit your business as your IT support team can become well aware of your system and may even notice problems before you do.
A faceless national tech support company won’t have this connection with your business and your staff so they may not know the best solutions for your business or even spot any problems in your system until you report them.
A local IT support team can also learn your companies culture, your business goals and make the overall experience more positive than a national company.
Going local could save you money in the long term
Many businesses will choose a national or virtual IT support company initially because they are cheaper. Local IT support teams are usually smaller and have fewer customers so the costs are higher. But, as we mentioned above, a local IT support company will learn your business and will be able to suggest solutions that can make you more profitable in the long term.
National and virtual IT support companies won’t provide this level of service and often will just provide you with new software or hardware in the event of something breaking. This relationship is good for some companies but you should look at your IT support provider as a valuable partner that can help you optimise your workflow and save you money in the long term.
Conclusion
As with everything when it comes to IT support, one solution isn’t right for everyone. For some businesses a national or virtual IT support company may be more than enough while for others they may want to create an in-house IT department. If you would like to see which is the best option for you continue reading the articles below.
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Disadvantages of building an IT support department