Poor Business IT Support Is Common, But Complacency Makes It Stick

How bad does your IT support need to be until you do something about it? That’s a question I’ve often asked myself when I talk to new customers. Is it the delayed responses, unresolved repeat issues, or generally a lack of accountability that leads to frustration and eventually to step out of your comfort zone that actually hasn’t been a comfort at all in a long time?

As it stands, poor IT support is common and unfortunately also tolerated for way longer than it should be. We all know that time is money, but if the time your IT support provider is spending on you is going down while the IT costs for you are going up, you should seriously look for a better deal. You can of course start the conversation with your service provider, but usually when you’ve worked with them for a longer time, you would know if they’re willing to enter that discussion.

If you're running a business with a small to medium sized team, you probably don't have a dedicated IT manager. That means when something goes wrong, it lands on you - or whoever is least busy at the time. You're already wearing multiple hats: you're the decision-maker, the closer, sometimes the delivery person. IT problems shouldn't also be your problem to chase. That's exactly what you're paying your IT support provider for.

You've Stopped Expecting Better — And That's the Problem

As mentioned in the introduction, it usually starts with delayed responses. Then the annoying unresolved repeat issues that hold your staff back and seriously hamper their productivity. Then you spend time chasing them – which is actually intended to get your job done – not chasing third parties. And outside of that, how can you tell what they spend their time on and justify the money you spend on external support if they don’t provide reports or regular catchups?

But it goes beyond that: if your competition uses IT wisely to further expand their business, where does it leave you if you don’t get strategic guidance? Especially now that there’s so many platforms/so much software available to solve one problem and a multitude of SaaS offerings – each with their up- and downsides and massively different price points – who will help you decide what’s the best for your business case if not your IT provider?

Why Complacency Is The Multiplier

Poor support alone is already damaging due to a negative effect on productivity, but complacency means you turn it into a permanent condition, a toxic long-term relationship: you get used to poor support and you tell yourself you have someone external handling it (albeit barely). But what you’re left with is IT “keeping the lights on” with a dim light here and there rather than IT that helps you firing on all cylinders and putting you at a competitive advantage because it’s part of your business strategy.

If you’re satisfied with the status quo of bad support, you’re left with constant firefighting. The only way out is taking the bull by the horns, as the situation won’t resolve itself, but you dread the thought of picking up the search for a new provider and onboarding: new partner, new relationship without established trust, and all the work involved in handing over your platforms and information from one provider to another. I get it.

But really – especially in this economy – is putting up with bad support sustainable? External IT support becomes difficult to justify if you’re putting in more money year on year but get less service. The least your IT support should do is provide you with evidence what they’ve achieved with what you’re spending on them. Apart from that, they should be able to help you rationalise your budget, so you only spend money on technology that supports your business case. I’ve often seen businesses paying for software that was wholly unnecessary because they already had other software that was covering it (it’s sometimes just about user education).

Don’t Be Like Kodak

Kodak is a perfect example of complacency. It more or less invented the digital camera in the 1970s but stayed heavily committed to its film business because film was highly profitable. Its leadership seems to have underestimated how quickly digital photography would take over. Competitors moved faster, consumer behaviour changed, and Kodak lost its dominant position, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012.

With a strong market position and brand, Kodak assumed its existing business model would keep working and only reacted slowly to a disruptive shift it could already see coming. And while it protected short-term profits, it did so at the expense of long-term survival.

And if you look at the current world: we’ve shifted most of our software online, we’ve seen the rise of AI and efficiencies it realises but at the same time also an increase in cybercrime. If there’s anything you shouldn’t be, it’s complacent, especially not with your IT due to the aforementioned change.

The Cost Of Letting It Stick

To sum it up, you’re dealing with

• Lost productivity
• Frustrated staff
• Hidden operational drag
• Leadership Blind Spots

and even potentially with missed business opportunities if you’re not staying ahead of IT trends.

In a Nutshell

While poor MSP support may be common, it’s up to you to decide if you choose to whether to challenge or absorb it. At Innovate, we want our clients to succeed, solve their challenges for good and make their IT work for them – accountability and strategic focus included.

If any of this sounds familiar, it might be worth a conversation. We offer a free, no-obligation IT review for businesses just like yours - no jargon, no hard sell, just an honest look at whether your current support is actually working for you. Book a call with us today.