Why Tailored Services Are So Critical in the New Millennium
Written By: Derek Stiles | May 5, 2021
When it comes to legacy service offerings, we’ve all heard the old joke, “You can have any color you want as long as it’s gray.” And though that may get a laugh out of some, more than likely it can bring out tears in others.
As technology continues to evolve at such a rapid rate, the need for internal processes and systems to connect and speak to one another is the essence of modern business. Marketers of the world have even coined the phrase “Digital Transformation” to explain and containerize the concept.
Suddenly the “any color as long as its gray” approach not only becomes archaic, but also downright damaging to the whole business. After all, services now must adhere to a business process, either dovetailing perfectly or becoming a non-option.
A perfect example of this is within our own industry: IT hardware maintenance services. The one-size-fits-all of OEM support has quickly become a non-starter for so many companies. Put aside the idea that most OEM support contracts are insanely overpriced, the worst part is that the pricing structure is there to simply make it easier to buy brand new every time something fails instead of fixing what’s wrong.
Now, is new gear really cool? Absolutely! There is nothing quite like opening a box for the first time and pulling out the shiny new server, switch, etc. Who doesn’t love shiny? Well, IT people aren’t necessarily happy with shiny under many circumstances because when shiny shows up, it also means time, money, and energy in everything from configuration to migration, and more. With any of those things, there is also the associated planning for potential downtime and so on.
When we look back at the Digital Transformation trend, everything from brand to customer experience has been impacted. This is why custom service becomes imperative. In our case, our customers almost always need highly customized support, all based on their own unique business model. For instance, perhaps it’s simply a matter of budget because the all-mighty dollar still rules. Therefore, the question becomes, “is your IT support solution tailored specifically to your needs and budget?” The best way to reduce your budget expenditure is to avoid buying new equipment. You can do that by maintaining your existing equipment, which is easy with the right IT support provider.
Maybe budget isn’t a concern. Sometimes spending money where needed increases revenue fourfold on the other side of the equation. Perhaps it’s more about having highly tailored and highly responsive help desk and onsite hardware maintenance agreements to cover all your technology needs due to the high availability nature of your business. In those situations, the need to choose coverage hours and response times, ranging from the next business day to 24×7, along with access to a network of experienced technical personnel, is what is really needed to keep customers happy.
Again, whatever the nature of the service you’re looking for, find a provider who makes it possible to customize the service to your actual needs. The idea of one-size-fits-all is long gone, and so should the service providers in any industry that push that idea. Your business is yours and your processes and service needs are yours. There are far more colors out there than just gray; never let any service provider tell you differently.