When it comes to legacy service offerings, we’ve all heard the old joke, “You can have any color you want as long as it’s gray.” Though that may get a laugh out of some, more than likely it can bring out tears in others.
As technology continues evolving at a rapid rate, the need for internal processes and systems to connect and speak to one another is essential for modern business. So much so that marketers have coined the phrase digital transformation to explain and containerize the concept.
With all this connectivity happening, suddenly the “any color as long as it’s gray” approach not only becomes archaic, but also downright damaging to the whole business. After all, services now must adhere to a business process, either dovetailing perfectly or becoming a non-option.
There is a perfect example of this within our own industry: IT hardware maintenance services. The one-size-fits-all of OEM support has quickly become a non-starter for so many companies. In addition to the fact that most OEM support contracts are insanely overpriced, the worst part is that the pricing structure is set up to make buying brand new equipment the easiest option when something fails instead of fixing the issue.
Now, is new gear really cool? Absolutely! There is nothing quite like opening a box for the first time and pulling out the shiny new server, switch, etc. Who doesn’t love shiny? Am I right? Well, IT people aren’t necessarily happy with ‘shiny’ under many circumstances because when shiny shows up it means more time, money, and energy in everything from configuration to migration. With all of those things, there is the associated planning for potential downtime which presents an issue.
When we look back at the digital transformation trend and the complexity associated with migrations along with the inherent modern challenges of intertwined systems, suddenly everything from brand to the customer experience is impacted.
This is why custom service becomes imperative. In our case, our customers almost always need highly customized support based on their unique business model. For instance, perhaps it’s simply a matter of budget because the all-mighty dollar still rules. Therefore, the question becomes, “is your IT support solution tailored specifically to your needs and budget?” The best way to reduce your budget expenditure is to avoid buying new equipment. You can do that by maintaining your existing equipment, which is easy with the right IT support provider.
Maybe budget isn’t a concern; sometimes spending money where needed increases revenue fourfold on the other side of the equation. So maybe it’s more about having a highly tailored and responsive help desk, as well as onsite hardware maintenance agreements to cover all your technology needs due to the high availability nature of your business. In those situations, the need to choose coverage hours and response times, along with access to a network of experienced technical personnel, is what’s really needed to keep customers happy.
Whatever the nature of the service you’re looking for, find a provider who makes it possible to customize the service to your actual needs. The idea of ‘one-size-fits-all’ is long gone, and so should the service providers in any industry that push that idea. Your business is yours—your processes and service needs are yours. There are far more colors out there than just gray. Never let any service provider tell you differently.
