IT Management Tools Your IT Support Team Should Be Using in 2015

With many more SMEs looking to outsource their IT provision in recent years, the number of companies offering such services has risen considerably. At its heart, outsourcing your IT support comes with a wide range of advantages such as reducing overhead costs and getting access to the latest technology, without having to employing an onsite expert full time.

But how do you know that the company you choose is providing the best value for your hard earned bucks?

If you are an SME who is beginning to look at outsourcing your IT management, then there are a number of parameters you need to look at if you want to be sure of getting the best service. One very useful indicator of an IT management company’s value comes from finding out how reliable their management support tools are.

These are the platforms that take care of the day to day running of your support and give a pretty good indication of how effective the IT support team is going to be in providing customer care and keeping your systems up and running with limited downtime.

The two main, industry standard, tools to look out for when you are considering hiring an IT management company are Autotask and Kayesa.

Autotask
The Autotask platform allows IT companies to centralise all their data and operations from one place including billings, outsource management, sales and marketing, helping everyone from the tech support staff to the CEO to boost productivity with quicker response times whilst maintaining best practice. Autotask is essentially a purpose built platform for IT support providers which means that the company you choose will have all the right tools at hand to help you get the most out of your IT provision.

Kayesa
Kayesa is another integrated IT management system that can provide the support needed for all small and medium sized businesses. With a web-based user interface and real time interaction, that includes elegant IT automation and intelligent reporting, you can be confident that your help desk query or ongoing IT project is followed through from beginning to end. It means you get the software updates and maintenance that you need, whether for smartphone or desktop pc, in a timely manner that won’t leave your company out on a limb or vulnerable to security issues.

If you are working with an IT company who are prepared to invest in the latest technology such as Autotask and Kayesa then you can be sure they are serious about their support for your SME. These top-of-the-range IT support platforms have an increased number of system alerts which enable the IT management company to provide a more proactive service that caters for potential problems, often before they actually arise. Access to these tools also enables your IT support company to provide quicker responses and an overall better service that help reduce costs.

Of course, having the right infrastructure in place for a business to business IT provision isn’t the only aspect your business should consider before signing on the dotted line. There are the usual indicators such as how they explain their provision without blinding you with tech speak and the customer testimonials they have received from other, satisfied SMEs. But checking out their system delivery tools is a good place to start and can help you sort the wheat from the chaff before you look at those value added extra traits that make for a good IT management company.