If you look at why any important project fails, lack of communication is at the root of it all. Whether your IT team is on the other side of your office or the other side of the country working remotely, you’d be surprised to learn how wide the communication gap can be. This leads to slower timelines and delays, and going over budget. Plus, the risk of what your business loses if a project fails is high. Without a strong understanding of your business’ networks and systems, your IT team can’t properly protect you from cyber attacks and security threats.
In this blog, we’ll cover the process of working with a managed IT provider like Simply Technology. We’ll also share some tips to effectively communicate, so everyone can stay on track to complete projects on time and within budget.
Part 1: Consultation & Onboarding
It all starts with a phone call. We’ll discuss some of the challenges your company is facing, and tell you a little about us. Once you’ve taken us on as your IT partner, we’ll perform a thorough audit of your technology. The audit will include areas like network health, data backups, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance risks. This will help us understand how your business has approached IT in the past and how it would like to improve moving forward.
Part 2: Strategy Planning
With a clear understanding of your systems, we’ll recommend improvements you can make to improve the efficiency, stability, and security of your network technology. We may advise a software update, migrating services to the clouds, and integrating security tactics and tools to minimize the risk of a breach.
Part 3: Execution
Once we perform any necessary updates and configurations to your network, we provide ongoing maintenance and support. We ensure that your technology remains available and efficient, continuously working to improve processes and avoid downtime.
Tips To Effectively Communicate With Your IT Team
Our relationship isn’t just technical–it’s human. It’s important that we find ways to effectively communicate so we can work towards achieving your business goals. Here’s how you can make the most out of your MSP experience
1. Communicate often and clearly
The best way to effectively communicate with us is to keep us in the loop of any changes to your business or goals that involve technology. From the beginning, we should have a clear understanding of your business goals, budgets, plans, and projects so we can meet your needs in a timely and cost-effective manner. This means that everyone within your organization should be on the same page, and that your internal teams can effectively communicate as well. Set time aside to prioritize the pain points your business frequently faces and where you see room for improvement.
2. Be open to new strategies
We stay up to date on the latest advancements in technology and industry compliance. We will bring our unique set of tools and processes to the relationship, along with a well-defined approach on how to use them. Realize that just because you’ve been doing something for decades, doesn’t mean it will continue to serve you forever. Part of being able to effectively communicate is being open to new ideas.
3. Set tangible goals, timeline, and budget
Projects are doomed from the start when goals are unattainable. When we effectively communicate with your team, we will collaborate on a realistic timeline. Every project needs real terms for success and a meaningful timeline. It’s also important to make budgeting a part of the planning process. We’ll determine what kind of budget is needed to complete the project effectively, and anticipate any roadblocks along the way.
4. Transparent measuring and reporting
The final step in effectively communicating with your IT team is to be transparent. We’ll establish metrics to gauge the success of your projects over time. It’s important you don’t just show us the good data. The only way we can make improvements is by knowing what’s working, and what’s not.
We know if this was a dating app, you would have already swiped right on us, because everyone knows communication is at the heart of every relationship. If you can’t wait to work together, give us a call and we’ll get started with your free assessment.