The ACCENT Learning Hub

Southern California business executives call our office daily asking for a quote for IT support services. It generally sounds something like, “We’re considering changing IT providers and I’d like to get a quote for your IT services.”

If you employ between 20 and 500 employees in today’s competitive marketplace, you recognize that your IT department is not what it used to be. A seasoned staff, legacy equipment, and yesterday’s processes will no longer support your business into the next generation.

When someone starts exploring the idea of IT department outsourcing, they generally want to figure out why they would outsource your IT support, what IT services can be outsourced, and the advantages of outsourcing IT technical support.

Note: The costs below are typical prices you can expect to pay for managed IT services in the Greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and Inland Empire areas.

In today’s world, there are almost no companies that can function without Information Technology (IT). From sole proprietorships to Fortune 500s, EVERY successful business requires the right IT system implementation and management to truly thrive. 

Toy Story 2 was a major hit for Pixar Animation Studios. Woody and the gang were back in the mix solving life’s little adventures, but it was almost lost forever. Pixar Studios suffered a now infamous data loss, the biggest data loss in the company’s history and it included a significant portion of Toy Story 2. How could this happen you ask? Because their out-of-date backup method failed them.

Let’s just be honest, switching vendors for almost any reason can be a distraction and a time snatcher. But sometimes it’s the right move for your company long term. Changing IT vendors doesn’t have to be that hard if it’s planned out in advance. Perhaps your contract is up, or you’re not getting what you need from your current arrangement. Either way, moving to a new IT provider should be about adding value to your company. But value can be lost in transition if your processes, needs, and expectations are not planned and communicated beforehand. The transition might be the hardest part of your new IT services contract, but it doesn’t have to be.

Whether you call it a plan, template, checklist or strategy, your  disaster recovery document(s) is your key to success when disaster strikes.  And no, a disaster recovery plan is not the same as your backup – think of it as your backup’s bodyguard.

We have all done it.  Met someone who does (fill in the blank profession) and asked them for “10 minutes” of advice.    Just like your co-worker's dentist husband can’t tell if you need a root canal at the company holiday party – the IT world isn’t quite that simple either. As it turns out, like your potential root canal, that “simple IT thing” can be much more complicated than you thought. 

You’ve interviewed a couple of IT companies, and now you're ready to pick a service provider. Congratulations on narrowing your search to a top 3, but now what? Staring at the contracts, they all look similar. And not just similar, but downright identical in some parts. So, how do you choose? Which is the best option for you? How do you really tell the difference between the contract options? Which one will be the best investment for your future?