Changing suppliers, whether that’s at work or in your personal life, can be seen as a bit of a pain. Normally, however once you’ve made the move, you feel so much better. Like you’re receiving the service you deserve at a price that’s actually reasonable. Rather than settling for the same old poor service you’ve become accustomed too.

So, if you’re not feeling the love, check out our 5 signs its time to change your IT provider below;

1. Communication is poor

If you’re struggling to get hold of your provider, they’re not responding in a timely manner, or there seems to be constant crossed wires, its time for a change.  In any relationship, communication is key. Your provider should work hard to understand you, your business and your IT needs. If you’re having to constantly explain things or you have multiple points of contact who are completely out of the loop, it can quickly cause frustration. Good IT support today is proactive, if there’s an issue, they’re already on it and chances are they’ve fixed it before you even realised something was wrong.

We all make mistakes, but what makes a good MSP is being upfront and honest with you at all times.

2. IT is slowing down the growth of your business

IT is there to enhance what you do. Almost every department relies on IT to operate and if it’s not running efficiently and adding value, then you’re not maximising your investments. Your provider should be assessing your overall business needs, evaluating your IT systems and understanding the impact they have on your success. If  IT is holding you back in any way, a good MSP would be proactively suggesting alternatives, keeping you up to date on new technology and working hard to support your goals.

3. You feel vulnerable to a cyber-attack

It’s no secret that hackers target small businesses as well as large ones. If you hold data (who doesn’t?) then you’re as attractive to hackers as the next business. In fact, smaller organisations may be seen as more appetising as they’re likely to have less robust security measures in place. If you’ve not had a frank discussion with your IT provider about the best ways to protect your business from cyber-crime, then its time to move on. Whether its proactive monitoring, staff awareness training, or data backups, you should be working with a supplier who offers all this and more when it comes to IT security.

4. One off issues keep reoccurring

IT should run seamlessly in the background, not affecting your day to day running, but simply enhancing the ability for you to do your job well. When issues do occur, they should be dealt with promptly, without fuss. Preventions should be quickly implemented to ensure you don’t experience that disruption again. If you feel like you’re on repeat with the same old issue rearing its ugly head time and time again, with no explanation as to what’s being done to nip it in the bud. It’s not being taken seriously, and quite frankly you deserve better.

5. Disaster Recovery? What recovery?

If either, you have no confidence in your IT providers disaster recovery plan or worse still, you haven’t even had the chat about how your IT provider is part of your disaster recovery plan, its time to say bye bye. Luckily, disasters don’t happen often, but when they do it can be catastrophic to you, your business, your customers and your reputation. The financial impact can sometimes be unrecoverable.  You should have a clear, succinct plan of how to keep your business up and running with minimal disruption, should the worst happen. Whether that’s the ability for your staff to remote work from home or move to an alternative location, mirroring the same systems and files they’re used to, your business should experience minimal downtime and minimal disruption. If your provider doesn’t fill you with confidence in this respect, you’re taking a very big risk.

When it comes to your IT provider, you should feel like they are an extension of your business, part of the furniture if you like. You should have trust in the fact that they’re experts at what they do, leaving you to get on with what you do best.

It may take a little effort to move, but finding the right provider can make all the difference to the growth of your business.

So if any of the above are ringing true, its time to call us on 01392 207 194, email us or request a call back and start enjoying a fresh approach to your IT.