What You Need to Consider When Switching to a New IT Partner.

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The beginning of the year can often spark conversations about what a business currently has in place and whether there are any areas that need to be reviewed. If switching to a new IT Partner is one of those areas that your business is reviewing, then there are some key elements worth considering. 

When identifying a new provider for your business, it’s very important to find the right contract and the right IT Partner. Of course, we hope that Tribeca is the right fit but to help you make that decision we have developed some handy tips to consider during the review process.

Time-frames and Research.

As there are so many providers in this market it’s really important to start by being really clear on what you need for your business and your time-frames. There are many different reasons to be searching for a new provider for example: a pending notice period, you are moving office or there are changes happening in your business.

With clarity of what you need from your new provider you can start your research. This is a good opportunity to ask around, speak to other like-minded businesses or contacts within your industry and see who they work with and why. A referral or recommendation can be a great way to get to know more about a provider’s strengths and weaknesses before you have even started a conversation.

We hold what our clients say about us in very high regard – it’s crucial to our business success, as we’re sure it is for you too. Here are just a few of our client’s words.

Infrastructure.

A review process is also an opportunity to make improvements to your infrastructure. It might be time for you to implement or update your cloud computing services or ensure that you are keeping your business and data secure with improved cyber security

This is also a time to review the service levels you need from your new provider, ensuring that they are right for today but also fit for the growth of your business.

Asking the providers you are meeting with for recommendations is a good way to get an indication of their expertise in your industry and the technology that they excel in.

Price.

Pricing is always going to be of great importance when doing a review of any service but especially when you are looking for a new IT partner. It’s important to get a view of the pricing structure, for example is it per ticket, ad-hoc or unlimited. 

Agreeing the right structure from the outset avoids you potentially being overcharged but also ending up in a position where your employees are unwilling to call for support for fear of being overcharged.

We believe strongly that being open and transparent about pricing from the beginning of any relationship means that expectations are met.  Find out how we determine that final monthly cost in our pricing blog.

Due Diligence.

Meeting your potential providers is an opportunity to get to know them better and we would recommend having a list of questions ready to ask, for example:

  • How many engineers to you have?
  • How many clients do you have?
  • Where is your service desk based?
  • What are your response times?
  • What is your client retention like?

Gaining an understanding of the above will give you good indications of their service levels and give you the confidence that they have the expertise that you need, based on your needs.

Onboarding and Relationship.

Change is never easy but moving to a new provider doesn’t always mean migrating systems. It’s really important to get an understanding of a providers onboarding abilities, their time-frames, and their expertise with your infrastructure.

At Tribeca we pride ourselves on building long-standing partnerships with our clients and finding that right relationship, from the outset, is an important part of the process when securing the best IT partner for your business.

You need to understand what information is available to you but also what is important to you. Do you want regular account management meetings? Is it important to you that these are done face-to-face or via teams? Who do you expect to attend these meetings?

The start of the relationship is the time to get things right so don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from your provider or ask what they do with other clients similar to you and do they have case studies or best-case scenarios for you to consider.  

Our Managing Director, Mark Instance, recently highlighted these factors to consider further in this South East Business article.

Of course, Tribeca would love the opportunity to be part of your review process so please get in touch.  

London:

+44 (0)203 475 8733

New York:

+1 347 690 1190

Hong Kong:

+852 5808 4824

Dublin:

+353 1901 4077