The ultimate guide to choosing the right IT support company for your business

You shouldn’t have to be an IT wizard to run a successful business. But in today’s digital-first world, IT awareness and proficiency cannot be overlooked. 

Whether it’s to navigate the constant influx of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, enable productivity, optimise hybrid and remote working, or even just scale your business – your IT lies at the heart of all of it. 

That’s where an IT support company can help take the pressure off. Consider this your ultimate guide to choosing the right IT support partner for your London-based business.  

Why choose an IT support company for your business? 

 First things first, as a business owner deciding where your budget is best spent, why even consider outsourcing your IT support? 

1. Increased productivity  

When IT goes wrong, the impact can be far-reaching – especially on your team’s productivity. System downtimes are sometimes unavoidable, but without the right skills and know-how to get your systems back up and running, it can mean significant productive time lost for your organisation. In fact, it’s estimated that IT-related downtime costs SMEs.

With the right IT support company, your time can be freed up to focus on more productive, profitable work. You will have a team of experts on hand to react quickly and efficiently when IT disasters strike, and constantly update and monitor your IT systems to ensure optimum efficiency.  

 2. Reduced cyber risk 

2023 saw more than 3 million cyber-attack victims across the globe. Can you confidently say that your business is protected? It’s easier than you’d think to let something slip the net – especially when you don’t have visibility of your system’s vulnerabilities and weak spots. 

A dedicated IT support partner can monitor, patch and strengthen your cyber security measures to help keep systems protected, increase cyber awareness across your organisation, and detect and react to threats before they cause damage. 

3. Extra peace of mind 

Every business is built on its data. Lose that data, and everything grinds to a halt. Whether it’s a ransomware attack, hardware failure, accidental deletion, or office flood – disasters happen, and the right IT support company can help to ensure processes are put in place to prepare for such situations.  

Data backup and recovery might already be on your radar, but if it isn’t, you will need an expert to set up an efficient strategy and execute on it should disaster strike. 

What should I look for in an IT support company? 

If you have come to the decision that outsourcing your IT support is the best move, then what? 

Not all IT support services are built equal. To ensure you find a partner that is well-equipped for your business’ needs, you will need to do some research and clearly define what it is that you need. 

Here are just some points to consider: 

Proven industry expertise 

Your entire business hinges on IT – whether it’s storing and analysing data, maintaining communications, ensuring security or simply managing and optimising projects. As such, you need to know you’re leaving your IT in the right hands. 

The credibility and reputation of your chosen IT support company will be critical. Your IT partner should have a proven track record of helping businesses within your sector stay ahead of emerging threats, opportunities, software updates, new technologies and so on.  

That’s why our team at RTP Solutions is made up of experienced IT experts, leveraging solutions from global technology leaders such as Microsoft, Azure, AWS and Cisco to deliver consistent, reputable IT support for businesses across various sectors. 

Responsiveness 

When IT issues arise, you need to know your IT partner will react quickly and efficiently to get your systems back up and running in as little time as possible. Every minute lost to downtime, software failures or cyber incidents is time that could have been spent on profitable, productive work. 

When choosing your business IT support company, consider the quality of their customer service. What are their ticket response times? Is it difficult to contact them? At RTP, our teams are available 24/7 – because we know that IT issues can even arise at the most inconvenient times. 

Proactivity 

Effective IT support is about more than being reactive. Your IT partner should also be proactive. Looking ahead can help stop potential IT issues in their tracks, before they become a problem. This means being aware of emerging technologies, software upgrades, looming cyber threats, and anything else that could harm or impact your business’ IT. 

Scalability 

For every business, growth is inevitable. Whether that’s evolving your services and solutions, expanding your teams, or increasing your customer base. However, that means your IT – and your IT partner – will need to have the capacity to grow with you, unless you want it to be the thing that holds you back. 

Room for scalability is an essential characteristic of the right IT support company. No successful business stays stagnant, so neither should your IT. At RTP, we offer adaptable, flexible solutions that can grow and change with your company, constantly looking for ways to scale and improve your software so it continues to benefit your business as it evolves.