Ashville NC IT Support Company | Blue Ridge Technology, Inc.

The Dangers of Choosing Bargain-Priced Managed IT

a hand holding a credit card with the text here's a crazy question are you paying your support
If your business is like most, you have plenty to worry about in terms of keeping costs low, and you’re constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and shed costs. This just makes good business sense.

Still, savvy business owners know that there are areas where cutting costs can be strategic and other areas where doing so can damage the business, perhaps irreparably.

In other words, saving money by making workflows more eficient is a great idea, but saving money by skimping on quality or service could be disastrous.

Where does your managed IT services partner fall into this matrix? Should you look for the absolute cheapest deal around, or is choosing bargain managed IT support something that could cause deep problems in the long run?

Here at Blue Ridge Technology, we believe the right answer is to take a holistic approach to managed IT support Company Charlotte. Often, the best deals aren’t really the best: they don’t lead to the kinds of outcomes you want for your organization. Underpayment for IT support leads to underwhelming service that may just take your business under in the process.

This isn’t just a vague concern, either. Skimping on IT local desktop support leads to real dangers for your business. Let’s look at a few of those together.

Cheap Service Is Cheap Service

When you buy off-brand products, you usually know the trade-off up front. Those store-brand plastic cups are half the price of red Solo cups, and they’re about half as good, too. They’ll hold your beverage of choice, but they’re flimsy and hard to hold.

Still, they’re good enough to get the job done, and sometimes it’s worth the cost savings to go with the off-brand.

But service organizations and contracts don’t work quite the same. When you choose a cheap service, you’re not getting the same results with flimsier materials. You’re getting worse or fewer results.

In other words, cheap service is cheap: and by default, it’s not going to deliver at the same level as a market-priced or premium provider.

Appropriate Resources Cost Money

“You get what you pay for” may be a tired cliché, but it’s as true as it’s ever been. You want a managed IT partner with the depth and experience to meet your needs — both your everyday business needs and whatever causes the next IT crisis. You also want a partner with sufficient capacity, not one operating on a skeleton crew.

The thing is, IT services firms have to pay their staff, too, and experienced IT pros don’t come cheap. To offer the level of service you want and need, firms must staff up with the appropriate resources. And those resources cost money.

So when you choose a bargain player, you’re almost certainly choosing an under-resourced player. Is that who you want answering the phone when you encounter an IT meltdown?

Maintainer of the Status Quo vs. Partner You Can Rely On

Budget-priced managed service providers may perform well enough at maintaining the status quo. They’ll keep the lights on, the servers running, and the PCs booting up each morning. And when something deeper goes wrong, they may be able to fix it — eventually.

But is that all you want out of your IT partner? Definitely not.

You want a partner you can rely on, one that will work with you to set an IT vision and proactively recommend system upgrades and new tools. You want a partner that can identify and implement efficiency improvements, and more.

Otherwise, you’ll have to do those things yourself if you want them to get done.

Getting that next level of service may cost a little more, but the ROI is real.

Want to know how to get more value from your Managed IT Services? Check out our in-depth newsletter that exposes four of the biggest risks of going the cheap route.

Get That Newsletter Here!

And when you are ready to ditch your bargain-basement IT partner and move on to a better vision for managed IT, reach out today.