Choosing the right IT services provider can be a complex, laborious process. But after more than a decade running an award-winning IT services company, we believe we have gained detailed knowledge about what it takes to support customers effectively and about the skills and capabilities that are crucial for the job.
To help you make the best IT support choice for your company, we have attempted to place this knowledge into an interactive chart. Each bar in the report below represents how good or bad a particular part of the service-level may be from differing providers. This should help you identify the aspects of a service that are important to your business, and guide you in the right direction in terms of the type of provider that can best support your company. High numbers (long bars) are better than low numbers (short bars).
Instructions: Click on the provider type. This will show you the aspects under review, with a table of definitions below the report.
This report uses AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML). Your browser needs to support this technology for this report to function correctly. Sorry if this causes problems, we felt AJAX was the most appropriate technology to use for the development of this tool.
Note: The data in the above chart will not be an accurate representation of every single provider in that category. But reflects the sector averages, some may be better, some worse. This report is based on our experience of the IT sector, from the providers we have encountered, and those of our staff members who came from other providers.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Agility | How quickly can a provider react and resolve new threats or other critical issues. Wavex has developed critically-acclaimed systems to provide a rapid response to many new security threats. |
| Breadth of knowledge | The breadth of knowledge available to the IT provider. The services offered by a company are based on the skills of their employees. The greater the skills, the more likely a recommended solution is appropriate for a customer. |
| Business longevity | How long has an IT provider been operating. Wavex has been operating as an IT service provider for over 10 years. |
| Capital expenditure | When you need to buy equipment, what could you expect to pay through an IT provider. Larger providers can often get better discounts from suppliers and pass these savings onto their customers. |
| Capitalisation | Does a provider have sufficient funding to ensure they stay abreast of training and new developments. |
| Continually educated staff | How much effort is made to continually educate staff. After all, a providers advice is based on the skill-sets available. |
| European reach | Can a company support offices in other European locations. |
| Expert / partner escalation | Should a service provider be unable to assist you, do they have good relationships with suppliers (Wavex is a Microsoft Gold partner, a DELL, Cisco and HP partner) |
| Financial stability | How many years of accounts are available. In these uncertain times it is important to choose a provider with a good solid financial history. |
| Focus | Has the company always been an IT provider. Many providers start as PC hardware resellers, or web designers. As you might expect, the longer a company has focused on IT services, the better their service is likely to be. |
| Honesty | It is important to Wavex to always be open an honest, the Wavex portal demonstrates this ethos. We believe honesty leads to a longer, more fruitful relationship. |
| Interactions | Are staff trained to communicate well, and offer excellent customer service. At Wavex, we want all interactions to leave a customer feeling positive towards our services. |
| Operating expenditure | For ongoing IT services, how do charges compare with other providers. |
| Personality | Every company has a personality, often originating from senior management. Is the personality of the company conducive to yours. |
| Return on Investment | For every pound spent you hope to save more through improved efficiencies, reduced downtime, greater productivity. |
| Sector applicability | Every sector has its own specific ways of working, its own processes and applications, and it helps if the chosen service-provider if familiar with them. |
| Speed of response | How quickly can a provider respond to your requests for assistance. |
| Transparency | How open and transparent is a provider. Do they give you and your colleagues the proof to show things are going well. |
| User satisfaction | How does the chosen provider ensure all users are kept happy, all the time. |