Problems you might find working with Pronet Technology

While a strange topic to discuss as a business, ensuring your SME is properly informed about our services is crucial to our interests.

Problems

Size

Pronet Technology is an established Managed Service Provider, not a one-man or enterprise-level MSP. This may or may not suit your business needs so it is essential to understand how each size works and what you will be receiving with each.

• Ad-hoc IT Support: Involves hiring a technician or consultant on an as-needed basis to address specific IT issues. This can be a cost-effective option for SMEs with limited IT needs, but it may not provide the support or expertise required for more complex systems or ongoing maintenance.
• Established MSP: Larger than one-man ad-hoc IT support service but not as large as ones dealing with over 200 or 300 computers, established MSPs typically provide a range of IT services and support such as help desk support, network management and security services. Established MSPs are on par with large MSPs in terms of their services, resources, expertise and cost, they just have a smaller team and typically work with small and medium-sized businesses rather than larger ones.
• Enterprise-level MSP: Large MSPs typically have broader resources and expertise than smaller MSPs and may offer 24/7 support, comprehensive IT solutions due to hiring niche employees — an SAP expert, for example — and greater scalability, however, they may also have higher long-term costs due to their industry technology standards and sales-focused approach, and less personalised service.

Working with Tech Staff

When dealing with IT problems in your business, one concern you might have is that the tech staff you’re dealing with might not answer your questions in ways you completely understand. Tech staff are very technologically minded and are not as eloquent with their words when speaking with those who are not so. You may have faced situations in the past where you have felt as though you were being talked down to with all the technical jargon and have left the conversation feeling even more confused than you entered it. While this is quite stereotypical, many tech staff are often quite introverted also, meaning when you do talk to them, you find you’re not quite getting all the answers you need. While not the case with Pronet, if your IT support is outsourced overseas, you also might come across heavy accents and different explanations due to colloquialisms and cultural words used.

For this reason, Pronet Technology hires by motivation, eagerness to learn and positivity. We believe that, while a technical education is essential, skills can be learned but it is the attitude of the individual that makes an employee valuable. This is our way of ensuring our IT staff can work effectively with clients while also fixing the issues you need fixing.

24/7 Support

In our over 20 years of working in the industry, we have found that most small and medium-sized businesses don’t need 24/7 support. Even clients with busy Christmas periods rarely need emergency support, but that’s not to say it’s not for you.

Even then, after-hours support is usually outsourced overseas, such as in the Philippines. MSP tech staff are either Level 2 or 3 trained whereas outsourced are mostly Level 1, so when you have an after-hours emergency, they don’t have the training required to help. This means they then need to call a local Level 2 or 3 trained staff member to come out who they may not be able to get in contact with as they’re asleep.

For that reason, Pronet Technology offers after-hours emergency support over the weekend and between 6:45am and 10:30pm to cover the early start by manufacturers and the occasional after-hours work by staff. As long as the issue gets solved quickly the following day, it’s generally not a big deal.

As one of our clients said:

“If you’re a manufacturing facility, in reality, does 24 hours really matter?”

If your current provider offers 24/7 support, it is worth asking what level those support staff are trained to see if you’re getting value from the service.

Website Security

A question to ask your MSP is ‘Do you deal with website security.’ While on our Platinum Plan, we offer website hosting and website management services, Pronet Technology doesn’t directly deal with website publishing and design. Passwords and network security are areas we work with, so this is often looked after, but website design and copywriting are often outsourced so the onus is on those working on the site to have secure networks. As a website is a function of marketing and sales, it’s best to leave this to professionals who know what they are doing

As a business owner or executive in charge of growing the company and its IT systems, it is necessary to know the pros and cons of IT providers before signing contracts. We hope this has answered any questions or lingering fears you had about our services, but if not, contact us at the number above to have a chat to see how we can help.