Michelle V. Rafter wrote an excellent article on choosing an IT services vendor: Good Match: Choosing an IT Services Vendor from Inc.com.
Michelle really hit it on the head with this article. Choosing an IT services vendor can be a difficult process. Who do you go with? What recommendations count? Is Google searching viable? What do I really need to know?
I recently picked an IT services vendor to work with me and I started with Google searches. Then I visited their websites. If the website was outdated, too generic or simply bad, I went to another website. To me, a former small time web developer, if your company is a service oriented company and your major form of communication (website in this case) is poorly done, then that shows you either do not care enough to communicate or do not have the resources. Both of which causes me to look elsewhere.
The next step was an email inquiry about services. You'd be surprised how many companies did not reply to my email. This is another indicator of how well a company runs: if they can't manage their emails, how could they manage your IT environment? The final two steps involved telephone interview and a face to face interview.
Choosing an IT services firm can be a very rewarding experience if you follow Michelle's advice. Just like choosing a law firm or plumber, the more thought you put into it, the more you get out of it.
