What do you expect from your IT supplier?

A recent incident with a client, brings me to this discussion and what a business should expect from their IT supplier.

This IT supplier advertises themselves as a small business' IT department.

First, some background. This client is very non-technical as are many small businesses. I had helped to define the original requirements, since the organization didn't have the understanding of what they required. The supplier installed the complete suite of hardware and software, and had recommended the anti-virus, backup hardware and software, etc. So they knew and understood the situation completely and knew the skill levels of the staff.

When the organization needed to expand, they purchased an additional 3 PCs. They knew that they wanted Microsoft Office and specified the additional licenses. What they didn't understand was how the Anti-Virus licenses worked. When they ordered the PCs, the supplier did not say anything, just ordered exactly what was asked and installed the additional PCs with no Anti-Virus. Of course they encountered a problem, after which the supplier said "well, you didn't order the Anti-Virus".

For an organization that advertises itself as "your IT department", this is unacceptable. As far as I'm concerned, it is unacceptable for any supplier.

As the specialists, we need to help our clients do what is best for them. They don't know or understand the complexities of IT and they shouldn't have to. If we are to do the job, we need to understand the client's needs and specify exactly what is needed to address the problem, clearly (non-technical) the issues, the benefits and risks of the recommendations. If the client is willing to take the risk because of the costs involved, we need to understand and offer them options which mitigate those risks.

I doubt if any client would risk losing their business because of a $35 expenditure.

This is just another case of poor customer service.



Talk about the issue of buying a computer and not being told that they need anti-virus