Technology is key to business growth, and having a reliable information technology (IT) partner is critical in achieving it. In both business and life, reliability is a valuable trait that fosters trust and credibility for you or your brand.
Your company may not be the first in its niche, but providing reliable and top-notch service can help you stand out from the rest. There are various ways in which a person gauges reliability in others. However, the idea is to find key characteristics that are common to the majority.
This brings us to the question: what makes an IT company reliable and why does it matter to your customers? Here’s a rundown of the essential attributes:
1. Expertise
At the minimum, the company and its staff should display adequate technical knowledge about things related to the sector. This can be difficult to assess, especially if you yourself don’t have enough knowledge in things related to information technology.
Experience is the best teacher. So, look for an IT firm with experience in working with companies that are similar to yours. Why? This makes them more familiar with your business chokepoints and predict potential problems.
Depending on your need, you may either choose a general IT contractor or an IT company that focuses on a specific or few services. Either way, you can never go wrong in opting for a reliable IT company such as IT Support Sydney.
2. Licenses and Permits
Business permits, professional licenses, and accreditations indicate reliability. States have different requirements for various types of industries. Skilled information technology professionals likewise need to have a bachelor’s degree, as well as state-authorized trainings and certification. Aside from that, they must be licensed to do business in their state. This ensures that they can be held accountable and you’ll be protected by the law whenever concerns arise.
3. Flexibility
An IT company should ideally be up-to-date in terms of theories, programs, networks, and infrastructure. However, this is not always possible, especially for small and mid-sized companies.
A reliable IT firm may not have fancy and state-of-the-art tools and pieces of equipment, but this should be compensated with the staff’s familiarity in addressing your needs with its available resources.
In the same manner, the company should reflect this adaptability in dealing with clients, especially that the latter don’t necessarily have the capacity to acquire the most advanced programs and equipment.
4. Good Relations with Clients
As with any other business, a reliable IT company should endeavor to form good relationships with its clients. This signals that they’re great to work with and are serious about providing the best services.
Before the onset of the project or partnership, the firm should conduct a thorough interview with their client about the current business setup, specific needs, objectives, as well as their expectations.
The IT staff should be cordial and able to explain the important points of the project and answer all your questions clearly. They should be able to explain the process, make suggestions, and respond to your expectations, as well as lay out perceived challenges.
5. Communicates Clearly
An IT company that’s worth partnering with should not overwhelm you with jargon. The representative should be able to break down complicated concepts and deliver them into chunks of information that’s fully digestible to a non-IT person. The staff should also be honest to tell you upfront what’s achievable and not after considering various factors that could impact the project.
This is important because the process can be very technical and hard to understand. If something’s wrong or if there are challenges along the way, it would be easier for you to decide or instruct the company on the next steps to take.
6. Outstanding Customer Service
A reliable IT company should be available especially in times when you need help the most.
Customer service should be a priority for IT companies. Make sure that the company is open, can understand clearly what you’re saying, and responds promptly to queries and requests.
This is vital especially if you’re planning to hire an offshore web development company, where time zones could be a major issue.
7. Courteous and Responsive
One way to look at how an IT company may handle challenging situations is to check on their social media accounts or website. Do your research and scan for product or service mentions. Are they negative or positive reviews? How did the company respond to negative criticisms?
It’s important to see how the IT firm handled the issue. We’re they able to come up with a solution to the customer’s complaints or at least attempted to solve the issue? Or were they ignored? Observing how the company responds to unfavorable comments says a lot about how they treat previous, existing, and future clients.
8. Forward-Thinking
Having experience in the field, being proactive should be an instinctive trait of a reliable IT company. Its specialists should be able to enhance, protect, and optimize your IT resources and keep you safe from all types of automation risks and cyber threats.
That being said, the IT specialist should be able to predict the evolution of technology and how it can impact your business needs and current set-up. This input should reflect in the proposal or should be discussed with you even before the project commences.
9. Ensures Data Protection
An organization can store information, whether personal, financial or business in nature. Some businesses, may even store customer details and purchase history, or other sensitive data in the system. No matter the nature of information, an entity that holds the data is responsible for not sharing the information further, and to avoid third parties from unauthorized access, or introduce fraud in the form of ransomware, phishing, and identity theft.
The IT company should be capable of strengthening your organization’s information security solutions. If you forgot this in your checklist, make sure that your IT company can flag it for you, being that cyberattacks are happening at an alarming rate on a daily basis.
Final Thoughts
Based on a 2011 research by a leading global public relations firm, Weber Shandwick, online reviews and consumer opinion were the top shapers of company reputation. Hence, keeping clients happy by providing top-notch customer service, as well as handling complaints properly, are key activities in enhancing business reputation and reliability. These key indicators are still applicable if you are looking for a reliable or trustworthy IT company to partner with.