5 Things To Consider When Hiring IT Support in Melbourne

In 2021, more businesses have made the shift to conducting their trade from the digital space. Half have realised the growing need for an online presence in an ever-digitizing world, and half have been forced to do so due to frequent lockdowns and retail closures during the pandemic. For many businesses, there online dealing became the only source of income and way of staying afloat.

But when moving to the digital space, you also put yourself and your business at risk of problems you may never have faced before. Not even counting the cybersecurity threats and the risks of hacking attempts, all of your orders for the day could be stalled or delayed by something as simple as a small software issue. For a small business, this could be a costly delay and could mean several hours of the day wasted trying to find a solution to the problem.

This is why all businesses in Melbourne and the surroundings should have access to dedicated IT support in Melbourne to cut back on time spent solving network and software issues as well as to strengthen your online presence and reduce the risk of cyberattacks. But before booking the services of an IT support provider, consider the following factors to make sure you’re making the right choice:

Experience

This one goes without saying. Whoever you hire should have a reasonable amount of experience in providing IT support to businesses of your size. An IT company that has made a name for itself providing IT support to large corporations would not necessarily know the challenges faced by a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) and vice versa. Check for past experience as well as for working licences to ensure they have what is needed to successfully provide you the support you require.

Communication

There’s no point in hiring an IT support service if they can’t be reached when you need them most. Check if they have a 24/7 or at least a late-hours help desk, and what the turnaround time is for when you come to them with an IT problem. Also notice how well they communicate with people, especially frustrated employees who may come to them with minor problems with tech that may cause flare-ups. You also don’t want your IT support provider to talk to your employees in jargon that may be difficult to follow but should be able to provide instructions in an easy-to-follow way.

Services

What will the IT support be doing for your business in the time that there are no tech stuff-ups or problems to be solved? The IT support service you hire should have a plan to help you optimise your digital and networking systems, conduct ongoing device setup, updates and maintenance and strengthen your cybersecurity. Of course, a lot of these services will be addons, but it is still worth asking what your support service is going to be doing during downtimes. Your support partner should have a proactive approach to fixing your processes rather than a break-fix model.

Reputation

Online reviews are a great resource to help you shortlist the best candidates. However, it is also important to take negative reviews with a grain of salt, as they could be from a disgruntled employee or from a difficult customer. Ask any support service you’re interested in working with to provide at least 3 references and check with these references about the services provided to them. Ask pointed questions like:

- Was someone always available at the help desk when you needed them?

- Was there ever a time when the IT support couldn’t solve an IT issue? What did the issue look like and what did they do after it was clear that it was beyond their scope?

- On the other hand, what is an example of a time when they exceeded your expectations and got you out of a tricky situation in good time?

These will help you get an idea of what their approach to problems is and what you can expect from your partnership with them.

Price

A trap many small businesses fall victim to is choosing the cheapest possible IT service provider to handle costly equipment and software. This can quickly backfire if the managed IT service provider (MSP) you chose is undercharging because they’re an amateur or new to the business. Always choose value for money over the cheapest option! Get quotes from at least three different vendors and compare what’s included in the packages, as well as all of the above considerations before you come to a conclusion about the best IT support in Melbourne.