When should you switch your IT support service?

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A guide for those in the alternative investment sector


It is a pretty common occurrence for those working in the alternative investment industry to experience a degree of frustration with their IT support or IT systems from time to time.

Where these frustrations become frequent or have a significant impact, it’s fairly standard to review IT support provision, and consider IT migration.

In most cases this follows an ‘event’ of some kind i.e. a security breach, system downtime, or some other form of business delay or interruption.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the set up or support service received so far has been sub-standard, it just means that the topic goes under the microscope most often at that point.

Three questions to ask:

  • Could this situation have been foreseen and prevented?
    • Are there questions about supplier competence, forward planning, or awareness of risk?
  • Could the situation have been resolved more quickly or simply than it was?
    • Was support easily accessed, capable of resolving the problem, and enthusiastic to help?
  • Is this a repeat issue that could have been permanently resolved by now?
    • Was the resolution completed with a view to ‘symptom management’ or ‘addressing underlying cause’?

What response should you make?

Depending on the answers you give to the questions you should be able to see whether your existing supplier is focusing on the symptom only, or is actually addressing the root causes behind the issue.

Symptom focused suppliers look at the obvious issue only and how they can solve that specific issue right now only.

Cause focused suppliers look at both the symptoms and the root causes that allowed them to occur. The difference may seem obvious in theory, but it is the actions that are telling in the real world.

In addition, as part of your due diligence, it is worth asking yourself if the current support provision is planned towards the future needs of your business.

Whilst the above questions ask about the lead up to a problem in today’s business, the really good suppliers are focused on where you are taking the business towards. These suppliers want to be involved in the planning for future growth. They will be keen to ensure the IT systems and support are lined up for the future.

If the outcome is that you identify you have a symptom only focused supplier (short term mindset), it’s probably worth exploring an alternative provision.

If the outcome is that you believe your provider is solution focused (long term partner mindset), it’s likely best to sit down and have a discussion with them first.


What happens when you decide to migrate IT support to a new provider?

Regardless of the reason behind choosing to change your IT support company, at Tribeca, there are a number of standard elements involved in migration projects.

The main three business process elements are below:

  1. Onboarding Audit
  2. Project Management
  3. Service Migration

If you’d like to know the detail behind these three titles and learn how they can be delivered for your business, check out these short videos on our Youtube channel here 

Tribeca is an IT Managed Service Provider with a wealth of experience providing services to firms across the Alternative Investment Sector.

If you’d like to discuss an IT issue you have now, or see becoming a problem for the future, do get in touch with our expert team on 0203 475 8732 or email us at info@tribeca-it.com

London:

+44 (0)203 475 8733

New York:

+1 347 690 1190

Hong Kong:

+852 5808 4824

Dublin:

+353 1901 4077