Stuart R. Crawford

IT Services in Calgary – Something different

Over the past little while I have sort of gotten off topic with some of my posts here on my blog.  Today I thought I would come back to my roots just a little a speak about IT services in Calgary and what it means to provide support for Small Business Server, DELL computer support, Blackberry BES hosting and services and general small business computer services.

This week I have been speaking with a number of CFO’s and VP Finance for some junior oil and gas firms right here in Calgary and during my chats with them the number one concern from every single one of them is the unpredictable costs associated with IT support.  They are unhappy and dissatisfied with a number of their IT suppliers and many of them are looking or even thinking about switching firms because of the costs associate with IT and the lousy service many are receiving from firms here in Calgary.

Now I can not and will not speak about the lousy service because I am not sure on the levels of service from my peers here in the Stampede City.  However, I can say many of the same names are showing up on the radar from the CFOs who are not happy with their existing technology support firm for one reason or another.   The reasons are all over the board ranging from the value received for the price they are paying, revolving doors of service technicians to the general increased cost for support.

I believe these concerns are nothing new, I have been hearing stories about the resolving door of IT support staff forever, also stories about how some companies feel they are paying for an IT firms learning curve and also stories of just plain poor service, techs not calling clients back, not fixing issues right the first time and many others.

What can a CFO or VP Finance in Calgary’s Oil and Gas industry do about it?  I am not sure there is a silver bullet or a magic wand we can wave and all these problems go away.  If I wanted to promote Bulletproof InfoTech and the services we provide, this would be a good opportunity to do so.  However, blogs are not about shameless self promotion so I will refrain from telling our story here.

Here are some tips:

• Ensure your IT support gives you rock solid Service Level Agreements.  If they can not commit to a guaranteed response time I would walk away.  IT support firms in Calgary must start to realize they need to ensure their clients know how and when things will be looked at.
• Cost predictability – Can your IT provider guarantee your costs each year for support?  That there will be no extra fees for maintenance and support?  Can they guarantee they will not nickel and dime you to death?
• All inclusive – Everyone loves the ALL INCLUSIVE.  Can you IT firm ensure that everything they do is included in your support package?
• Reputation – How are they viewed in the market?  Are they industry recognized?  Do they have testimonials to prove it?  Can they back up their claims?  Are they viewed as an info source in the press?

Lots of things to review when selecting your IT provider.  If you need some help, call me at 403.206.2233 even if you are in Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver or wherever, if you just need to chat and get some help, I am here.