How Long Does It Take You To Reach Your Current IT Company?

How Responsive Is Your Current IT Company?

An IT issue can bring your entire office to a standstill while you wait for your IT provider to fix the problem. And when that wait feels endless? To say it’s frustrating would be an understatement.

How Important Is Responsive IT Support?

The list of services you need out of your IT provider is a long one, but the item at the top of that list is support. In that regard, IT is no different than any other kind of maintenance. If the office A/C conks out or there are plumbing issues in the bathroom, you want a service technician there as soon as possible to get started on repairs. But there is no guarantee that they’ll get to you quickly, or even that day.

When you place a call to your IT provider only to be sent to voicemail, or be told that a tech will ‘get to you when they can’, or not hear back from your provider at all until days later, what are you supposed to do? You have no choice but to wait, while in the meantime you’re losing revenue thanks to a lull in productivity or lack of access to critical technology.

There doesn’t necessarily need to be an issue for this lack of responsiveness to be problematic, either. IT projects and system upgrades can take some time to complete, but when the work is dragged out over days or weeks or done poorly, you’re again faced with productivity and efficiency troubles.

The bottom line is, you need your IT provider to be there for you exactly when you need them.

Why Does It Take So Long To Get A Response?

There are a few reasons your IT provider might be leaving you hanging. Not having enough techs on staff to cover the number of clients a company has is the most common cause for slow response times. Too much work and not enough people means even high-priority IT problems can’t be handled as quickly as they should be. No provider is immune to staff turnover or growing pains, but ongoing coverage issues are not the norm within the IT support industry.

Sometimes, it’s also a case of getting what you pay for. Providers that offer a lower price point can lack the resources to attract or keep skilled professionals. A lack of well-trained staff can be just as problematic as a lack of staff in general; work is completed more slowly and not always done right the first time.

Both of these reasons often also lead to new IT projects and necessary upgrades being put off. These tasks can wind up on the back burner because you can’t seem to schedule a time for the work to be done that suits both you and your IT provider. Or, the work gets completed in bits and pieces over an extended period of time, tying up resources in technology you’re not using because it hasn’t been set up.

Both hardware and software – especially industry-specific and specialty items – are expensive investments. The longer these purchases sit in a closet or on a shelf because your provider hasn’t been able to get around to installing and configuring your new technology, the smaller your ROI on those purchases will be.

What Is Considered A Reasonable Response Time?

Guaranteed response time is something that should be outlined in your Service Level Agreement (SLA). A good managed IT provider offers a guaranteed response time of two hours or less.

EPC IT Solutions is one of those providers – we have an average resolution time of one hour for service tickets. This means within an hour from the time you reach out to let us know there is something wrong, our technician will be wrapping up their work and either leaving your office or logging out of your system to let you get back to work. Many common IT issues can be fixed remotely, which lets us get to you even faster.

Time is money. The last thing we want for our clients is to lose either because of IT issues. Resolving those issues fast and doing it correctly right off the bat is important to us. As is getting projects started and completed within an agreed upon timeframe.

If you’re not happy with the time it takes for your current IT provider to get back to you or take care of problems, looking for alternate support is a much better use of your time.

Contact EPC IT Solutions at (650) 592-4372 and ask us about the services we offer.

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