As IT technology continues to develop
at lightning speed, it’s easy to see how
a company could struggle if its IT
department doesn’t keep pace. That’s why it’s
imperative that as a business owner you
know what to expect from your IT service
provider and what you can do to make sure
you’re receiving proper service.
“Everyone expects to be connected — to
the community, to the world and to work,”
says John Grismore, vice president of Insight
Business Services, a provider of business-class phone, high-speed Internet, digital TV
and Enterprise fiber data transport services.
“It used to be that people would leave a message and then wait for you to call them back.”
Smart Business asked Grismore what constitutes good IT service in today’s business
world and how to know you are receiving it.
How has what a business can expect from its IT provider changed over the last five years?
Information is required so quickly in the
business world today. We have Blackberrys
and other devices that we carry with us at all
times. We used to be able to play a round of
golf without being expected to stop and take
a phone call or answer an e-mail. Now, everybody wants what they want right now, at this
very moment. This is an information world
and we all have to adjust to it. Your IT
provider must understand the needs of your
business and help you identify where you can
improve and update your services to be competitive. Many businesses will have to move
to more Web-based interactivity, which will
require greater bandwidth to accommodate
new software that helps businesses streamline efforts and maximize revenue. Your
provider should be your partner — invested
in your success and ready to help you adapt
as your business grows and changes.
What’s new in technology developments?
Today, cable providers are no longer looked
at as simply the cable TV guys. Sure, they still
provide cable TV for homes and businesses,
but cable companies now provide a whole
range of sophisticated services that allow
them to provide all the communication needs
of small, mid-size and enterprise level businesses. Cable providers offer the latest technology for phone, data and video services. A good service provider will listen to customer
needs, invest in well-trained customer care,
and have salespeople who are able to advise
companies how they can best maximize their
investment in communications services.
Another great advancement is the availability of bandwidth for everyone. Using cable
modems instead of fiber offers more bandwidth at much less cost. Some applications
do still require fiber, though, and now fiber
can be taken directly to the home. For example, if a doctor needs to read X-rays from a
home office, fiber allows for super high-speed uploading and downloading.
Now, you can get as much bandwidth as
you need at your home, which means you
can run just about any type of business out of
your home. It’s like in the Old West when
guns became available to everyone; the ‘great
equalizer.’ Today, information and super big
pipes that pass that information are available
to everyone. Thus, a small business is just as
effective, and sometimes even more effective, as a large company at getting to market.
How can a company be sure it’s getting what
it needs from its provider?
In today’s economy, every business should
be looking at areas where they can realize savings. Of course, you don’t want to cut
costs and lose reliability. A business should
be asking: How can I get great value and
make sure my communications services provide the reliability my business depends on?
Look at the track record of your provider’s
performance, compare pricing and look for
values in bundling phone and Internet services, for example. A company may also want to
check that the speeds it signed up for are
actually the speeds it is getting. You can go
online and test speeds and connections. J.D.
Power annually ranks the satellite, phone
and cable companies — you can access
those ratings. Consumer Reports does some
ratings, as well.
The important question is: Does a service
provider have a culture of helping the client?
The culture, people and customer onboarding experience are all more important than
the technology. Look at tech stocks today.
Even a great invention has a limited payback
because there will be better technology in
two or three years. So if a company is going
to grasp technology like hybrid-fiber/coaxial
architecture, like the cable industry has done,
it needs to decide on a strategy, stick with it,
and then build customer care around it.
Bottom line, can a company get a bill out
correctly, answer its phones, show up on
time and provide a service that won’t go
down? If your service goes down for even 10
minutes it might cost you 10 times what you
paid for that service. If the broadband cable
modem behind your credit card machine
goes down and you have a line of people in
your retail store waiting to swipe their cards
to purchase your product, that’s simply
unacceptable.
How can a company choose the right
provider the first time?
Companies should always ask for referrals.
You want to ask around to other businesses
and make the necessary phone calls because
a provider’s reputation is out there. Many
CEOs now have blogs and if a business is
even the least bit disappointed it will blog the
CEO, and in minutes a solution is sent to the
business. It just shows that the right culture
starts at the top.
JOHN GRISMORE is the vice president of Insight Business Services, Insight Communications. Reach him at (877) 972-4100 or
[email protected]. Insight CEO Michael Willner blogs at www.michaelsinsight.com.
