IT service providers (ITSPs) are not one-size-fits-all. It is important to choose one that will be able to handle your company’s specific technology needs, but also one that is compatible with your corporate personality. After all, this is an organization you are going to be interacting with routinely, maybe even on a day to day basis. To aid in your screening process to determine which provider best aligns with your company, we’re revealing (what we think) the greatest question to ask your IT service candidates.
So, what’s the question?
Seems way too simple right? In fact, it has nothing to do at all with technology, prices, services or contracts. But we’ve found responses to this question will speak volumes about what type of company you are dealing with- both professionally and culturally.
If you’re unfamiliar with core values, simply put, they clarify the identity of a company. They are the fundamental principles or beliefs of the company by which it should behave, execute, hire and fire. The values will underline how a company should work and most importantly, interact with others.
So again, why do we believe this is the most telling and revealing question to ask? We believe that your relationship with an ITSP should be long term. It is something that can really make or break a business’s strategy for growth because technology undergirds almost every new business initiative out there. Understanding a company’s core values, and making sure they are compatible with your own, will build the most important factor in your working relationship: trust.
Why is this trust so important?
Having a solid level of trust in your ITSP, or any vendor, is instrumental to success because if it’s not there, then you won’t be able to trust in your own plan. Because technology is such a key pillar of business strategy and growth, if you can’t trust your provider to deliver what you need, then it creates a crack in the foundation of all upcoming initiatives. Trust is built through relationships, which are built on a shared understanding of values. So if your ITSP values the same things in business that you do, you can be quite comfortable trusting them to deliver what they say they will.
On top of that, knowing that a company has defined core values and carries them out internally with their own employees will be indicative of how they will treat their clients, being you and your staff.
Asking the right question of potential ITSPs will give you great insight into how they run their business and what type of service you will receive. Make sure you find an ITSP who shares the same core values as you- the strongest working relationships stem from like-minded individuals or organizations.
Bill McCharen, President
Our goal for this blog is to answers the questions that you have! For more information around IT and managed services, please feel to contact us.
If your business is centrally located in Texas and you are interested in hearing more about our services, feel free to email me at [email protected].
