Birds on a Cable

Hello, faithful readers! You know that I usually approach blogs with a common sense, easy-to-follow format that allows you to educate yourselves on some relevant tech trend. I’m easy-going and an easy read. Well, this post is going to be a little different because I need to get this off my chest.

Bad IT service providers will say, “trust us.” They lead you to believe that they provide every benefit imaginable with whatever low price attached. The truth is, low prices come with low value. And these providers can’t run their own business profitably while giving you optimal time AND attention to your platforms and systems. They will set up your infrastructure in the simplest way possible – regardless of efficiencies or advantages – and then hammer you with costs when the one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. We’ve made relationships with a number of new clients who came to us after being burned by low-cost IT support individuals or organizations. All of them experienced significant downtime, data loss and frustration. This isn’t what a business owner should experience with an IT partner who is supposed to help them grow.

And, frankly, I’m sick of hearing horror stories about bad IT service providers. Allowing these stories to become commonplace in our industry hurts all of us, and it gives the industry an awful name. Shame on these “businesses” that trick customers into contracts. Shame on these “businesses” that sell unneeded services. Shame on these “businesses” that deny access to assets their customers own. I can go on and on about the appalling tactics people are using to gain a quick buck. Don’t get me started on how often we hear about unanswered phone calls and support tickets. It’s ridiculous and unacceptable! Do better!

This isn’t every IT service provider and there are plenty of good ones, but it sure seems like lots of Bad Apples are hurting our reputation. And I’m not OK with that, nor am I OK with businesses allowing these Bad Apples to negatively impact their bottom line because they don’t know what to do.

You can probably tell, this fraudulent practice is infuriating to support providers like me, and the company I work for. We take pride in our relationships with our customers. We challenge ourselves to help customers grow. We service customers with the greatest level of support and integrity. This is how our industry is built to operate, and it’s why I love my job so much.