Choosing the right IT Company for your Business – Part 3

This is the last post in the 3-part series on choosing the right IT company for your business. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series I gave some advice on questions to ask when choosing an IT Company.

A good IT company bridges the gap between business and IT - they make an effort to understand and become part of your business environment and are able to anticipate changes and trends in your environment. They become an asset and a business partner instead of being just another service provider.

Small business IT Support in South Africa is growing in terms of offering as well as price. It’s no longer something reserved only for large corporates or those who could afford the luxury.  In this post  I list 5 things to look out for and avoid in a prospective IT support provider.  

• Be on the lookout for crisis-based, fly-by-night operators who try to sell you the latest fads as they are released in the IT industry. These guys are out to make a quick buck and are not equipped to manage your operations in the long run.

• Always be suspicious of a “professional” who installs black-market, pirated copies of Office software - If they don’t care about the legal risks to your business – the chances are that they don’t care about your business at all!

• If you have a small business and someone tries to sell you costly top-of-the-line and enterprise-level IT solutions, be comfortable with the fact that if you don’t do your research and take a stand, you’re going to live on bread and cold water from then on.

• A techie speaking in bits, bytes and buzzwords is often just trying to sound smart. Their level of expertise is evident in whether or not they can explain their jargon instead of bewildering a client.

• Always get a second opinion when an IT “wizard” insist on wiping your hard drives and replacing all the equipment you own. Often these hard drives can be restored and your equipment is sufficient for your business needs.

With a pretty exhaustive list of questions from which to choose, you’re well prepared to choose the best IT support company for your needs. Whether you’re in Cape Town, Johannesburg or Centurion you should now be well equipped to tackle the mine-field that is choosing the right support company.

Written by: Christine Kleyn
Copywriter at The Computer Guyz