XRBS Blog

Complaints about poor service are leading to new sales inquiries for us.  I want to explain why your service stinking today, will have a long term impact on your business.

As the layoffs continue, http://www.employmentspectator.com/2010/07/lilly-to-cut-340-info-tech-positions/; capital expenditures slow, and new jobs are not being added; services companies find themselves utilizing current staff fully. Service companies are running lean and are without extra staff to complete special projects or handle unexpected emergencies.  Companies are not keeping resources on payroll that are not generating revenue.  I talk daily with business owners on how this high utilization service model is creating a problem for them, and their service partners. The shortage of skilled and trained employees to deliver on increased demand for those services is real and will cause problems. Short term affect is servcie complaints will increase as delays happen. Long term more serious issues will arise.

I will speak from experience on why this is a costly problem for your business.

Deferred Maintenance
Get an IT Assessment now, ahead of when you will start new IT investments or business changes. What will  happen when demand rebounds is service companies called to do this new project work will find the current state of the business information technology is not up to date due to deferred maintenance.  Systems maintenance has been deferred or not completed due to budget and time constraints.  There will be service companies that will fail to address these issues up front and you will get project price adjustments to address these issues while the project is in process and you have no choice but to pay.   Get the IT Assessment done first, correct maintenance issues, then build on top of the solid foundation.

Contract Workers
Service companies, especially in IT, use sub-contract workers to "fill in" when they need an extra hand. Serious issues for the business arise from this business model.  Continuity is important to the business in the area of IT.  This can be mitigated through knowledge transfer, usually through strong documentation.  When a sub-contractor is used I see the companies losing continuity and knowledge when they leave, project complete. If there is a problem with the technology you access to the engineer who did the work to support their work, warrantee it.  With an IT sub-contractor it is common for them to NOT be available, and you have no leverage to hold them accountable.  Avoid using service companies that use sub-contractors, your IT is a 4-6 year investment and the pain of poor craftsmanship last longer than the pleasure of low price.

To avoid these Issues
Do an IT Assessment ahead of your need for new projects to start.  Understand where you are, before you start building on a unstable foundation.
Bring your service providers to the management table.  Discuss your upcoming plans and what increased services you will need from them.  Get an understanding of their ability to meet your needs and if necessary what ramp up period they will need to meet the additional service levels. 

There will be a lot of rush to deliver, and haste makes waste.  If you don't have the time and money do the work right the first time; when will you find the time and money to redo it?

Questions, drop me a line scott.cunningham@xrbs.com