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If you have performed a recent search for IT support in NJ, you likely saw more than 1,800 options. However, only one of those can be the best company to meet your specific needs.
Researching that many companies is impossible. Luckily, narrowing down your shortlist to a handful of options is relatively easy.
Ready to start? Save time and confidently choose your best option using this 3-step process.
1. Determine the Broad Services Your Company Requires
Many business leaders do not know that IT support comes in 2 different options:
- Break / fix companies fix your IT devices after they break.
These services provide no proactive or preventative IT support, but they can be a cost-effective choice for very small businesses with only a handful of devices and zero IT complexity.
The majority of those 1,800+ IT providers listed in your search will be break / fix companies.
If your company is looking for more than break / fix, you can shorten your list right now by eliminating the break / fix providers. (Many of those break / fix companies will be easy to spot by the fact that they lack a website or even a logo.)
- Managed service providers (MSPs) perform preventative IT maintenance, fix things when they break, and manage everything related to your IT so you can re-focus your attention on your business.
These companies provide proactive care to prevent IT issues and cyberattacks across every aspect of your IT setup. They also fix your IT devices, networks, servers, and other network infrastructure components if they break.
Here are the basic services that every good MSP provides:
- Proactively monitor your company’s full IT setup 24/7, so they can identify and help stop potential cyberattacks
- Prevent IT issues and attacks by applying security patches and software updates quickly and unobtrusively
- Report on your company’s overall IT activity over a specified timeframe, so you understand trends and can make informed technology decisions
It is important to know that each MSP in New Jersey will provide different services from their peers. Some only deliver basic care, whereas others offer additional, tailored services to address different client needs.
Additional, tailored MSP services can include:
- Business continuity / disaster recovery (BCDR) – reduces downtime and gets your business operating again more quickly after a cyberattack or natural disaster
- Software license & vendor management – places Microsoft 365 price negotiation and paperwork into someone else’s expert hands, saving you time and potentially money
- Onsite repair & optimization – helps you avoid troubleshooting IT issues yourself that include crawling around under your desk and untangling dusty cords in your server room
- Helpdesk support after hours and on weekends – provides expert help, on-demand, when you or a staff member is working overtime to finish a big project
- User account management – ensures that all user permissions and roles are set up perfectly, without any effort on your part
- Research and procurement of hardware and licenses – eliminates the time you would spend deciphering “tech speak,” but still results in you having the IT you need
- Business technology reviews (BTRs) – delivers proactive IT strategy and planning, so you are prepared for upcoming technology needs and can avoid costly surprises
- Asset and documentation management – frees up your hours previously wasted on tracking assets and work performed on them, so you can just use your tech worry-free and traceback issues when you actually need to
- Advanced EDR support – secures employee devices and privately monitors them for anomalous activity, so you can prevent or halt cyberattacks trying to slip through unguarded cracks
If your company is looking for an MSP in NJ, we recommend that you print out this article and use the bullet points above to identify which services would make life easier at your company. Place a checkmark next to those items and then shorten your research list to only the companies that provide those services.
Also, although it is not a service, you may want to limit your list of providers for IT support in NJ to MSPs that have experience in your industry.
This matters if your industry is burdened with high-stakes IT mandates (e.g., healthcare or finance), or if you would rather not repeatedly explain the workings of your highly specialized industry (e.g., pipeline maintenance) to your IT support providers.
2. Find Customer References
How can you narrow down your list to the best providers for IT support in NJ? Ask your friends and colleagues whether they have experience with any of the MSPs or break / fix companies on your list.
If no one you ask has heard of the companies you are considering, remember that:
- Break / fix companies often rely on word-of-mouth advertising. If you are looking for this type of company, keep asking around. Ask friends, family, business networking contacts, your dentist, your kid’s guitar instructor – everyone.
- Only businesses of a certain size need MSPs, so the best way to get feedback on these providers is to read local testimonials. You can often find these testimonials on the providers’ websites. You can also request an emailed list of their local testimonials.
As you look over local testimonials, search for indicators that the company is responsive, committed, supportive, has expertise, and works steadily until issues are solved.
The following real-life New Jersey testimonials from SWK Technologies show how you can use testimonials to identify important qualities in the NJ MSPs you are researching:
- Responsive – “SWK has been very easy to reach out to and their services are very fast. I usually lose drive access since I work from different places, but SWK has always helped me map the drive promptly, in less than 10 minutes.”
(Nishita Desai – Torrent Pharma, Inc.)
- Committed – “SWK Technologies has been very reliable for me. I needed help with my thermal printer and they called me right away to fix the problem. They have always managed to find a way to fix an issue in time for me.”
(Jerry Ramirez – Beth Ward Studios)
- Supportive – “I was working from home and could not get my laptop to connect to my computer at the office. With contractors in my home in the background replacing a window and running into their own issues, SWK walked me patiently through the process of getting and staying connected even with the interruptions. I had to call back a second time with another question and they were just as patient with the issue I had.”
(Donna Dileo – Giuliano, Miller & Company LLC)
- Expertise – “When we got infected with a virus, SWK worked immediately to restore all of our networks. The response and recovery time was superb. Most of our IT issues are answered and resolved as soon as possible with very little time lost.”
(Gina Bidaisee-Santo – WatsonRice Accountants & Advisors)
- Works steadily – “SWK always goes above and beyond. Earlier this year we had an email issue with an outside vendor, and they got involved – even contacted the outside vendor – and made sure to stay on top of the situation. When I put it on the back burner, SWK still was working on it and even though it was not a quick fix, SWK helped resolve it!”
(Anthony D’Agostino – Pee Jay’s Fresh Fruit)
Warning: If an NJ MSP has zero local testimonials, you may want to cross them off your list. A lack of local testimonials indicates one of three issues: (1) They have not been in business long, (2) They do not actually serve local businesses or provide bad / indifferent service, or (3) They do not have enough in-house resources to collect and organize testimonials, which means they may not have enough in-house resources to help you in an emergency.
3. Read the SLA to Understand Pricing
Now that you have a very short list of potential providers for IT support in NJ, it is time to embark on the lengthiest stage of your research process: reading the SLA.
An SLA, or Service Level Agreement, is a critical document that specifies the precise details of what the MSP or break / fix company is responsible for, what your company is responsible for, and what the penalties would be if either party (especially the MSP) does not meet its requirements.
Yes. Reading this is a lot of work.
However, it is an important part of performing due diligence because:
When you understand the precise services that are included for each MSP or break / fix company, you can compare prices easily using an apples-to-apples approach and find the best value.
Remember to ask questions when you reach parts of the SLA that you do not understand. Asking questions will also help you get a feel for how the company will respond to the many IT questions you and your staff are sure to pepper them with in the years to come.
Which brings us to our final, bonus tip…
Bonus Tip: Resolve Tie-Breakers by Getting a Feel for the Company
When this article began, you had a potential 1,800+ IT support companies to research. By following steps 1-3, you should have narrowed down your search to the single best IT support company in New Jersey.
But perhaps you still have 2 or 3 companies on your list.
And you cannot decide between them.
Break that tie by calling up the IT provider and talking to them. See if you “click” with them.
You will talk to your IT support company regularly over the years to come so, in your conversation, you will want to ensure that the provider you choose is:
- Friendly
- Supportive
- Sympathetic
- A good listener
- Knowledgeable
- A creative problem solver
- Easy to understand (no “tech speak”)
If you feel that the company meets all these criteria and aligns with your business’s values, you can rest assured that you have found the absolute best IT support in NJ.
Start Here to Find the Best IT Support in NJ
Ready to begin? If you decided you need an MSP, we can help you practice your skills so you can become a star researcher.
Using SWK Technologies’ website (that’s us), you can identify which services we provide, analyze our local testimonials, and read our SLA. We even encourage you to call us up for a chat, so you can get a feel for our company.
Who knows? You might just be able to find your best IT support provider on the first try.