There’s never a bad time to have an honest assessment of your business IT. Without it you’ll never know how you could be doing better, where you might have vulnerabilities and what you need to simply leave behind. But when you consult with a business IT specialist, how do you know if they’re being honest, and not just telling you what you want to hear?
If you know something’s not working right and you’re serious about progressing towards your business goals, the only assessment that’s useful is an honest one – otherwise you’re wasting your time.
Is your IT provider a business tech specialist?
Check out your IT provider’s credentials. If there are no reliable-looking reviews on their website, ask them for a reference; a customer of theirs you can speak to directly about the service they provide.
Ask them for a case study of what they’ve improved for a business customer who has a similar to model to yours that interests you. You need to get a flavour of the depth of their work and what they can actually do for you to progress your business. If they’re genuine tech people, with a love of all things tech, they will want to tell you.
Get the feeling they’re just being ‘nice’?
Maybe you invested a large sum of money in a system, and are eager to tell the IT provider who is providing the assessment. But is this system still doing its job? If the IT provider seems to think it’s fine, but isn’t really investigating and questioning further, are they trying to spare your feelings, for fear of not winning your business?
If you feel taken aback by any blunt criticism of the IT you’ve put in place, you need to take this as a good sign that the IT provider is actually being honest and not afraid to tell you things could be better and some aged processes need to go.
Do they ask too many questions?
Too many questions are a good thing. It means the IT provider is taking the time to really dig deep and invest time and knowledge in getting to know your systems. It’s a sign that they are making a thorough and proper assessment of your operation and its current IT setup.
The last thing you want is an IT provider who has a cursory look and says, ‘everything seems fine’. It means they couldn’t be bothered to unearth any issues and/or don’t want to bother with you. Move on if that’s the case!
Even if the news is bad, you’re still grateful
The IT provider has done a good job of investigating your systems, questioning you about your tech issues and concerns, and providing a thorough assessment of your business IT, if you feel genuinely grateful for their input. Even if the news is bad, but you feel grateful for their time and effort, it’s a good sign they’ve prioritised an honest appraisal over just keeping you sweet.
And, if instead of just providing the negative, ‘this system is doomed’, ‘you’re vulnerable here’, ‘this isn’t right’, etc., if they’ve provided helpful suggestions for moving you forward, this also means they’ve put thought into helping you get better.
The last thing you want is a half-hearted assessment of your business IT that gives you empty reassurances and doesn’t set out a plan for the improvement of your operation. Honesty, above all else is crucial, and if that means pointing out some issues you’d rather not hear, that can only be a good thing in the long run.
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