5 Red Flags to Watch Out for When Getting IT Consultation Quotes

Businesses throughout Massachusetts have a lot of options when it comes to working with professional IT solutions providers and technology consultants. However, not all of these options will be equally beneficial to you and your operations. Before you commit to any one provider, you need to carefully consider your options and—critically—keep an eye out for a few red flags to avoid.

Let’s review what these red flags may look like during your considerations.

Everything Feels Pretty Canned

Most IT professionals are going to have some predefined agreements and pricing that cover their baseline services. That is totally fine, provided that the price and quality of service are in line with what your business needs. That being said, no two businesses are exactly the same, and there should be flexibility in the contract that covers your specific needs.

If your prospective provider doesn’t speak with you about your options in-depth—critically, in terms of how they will uniquely address your business’ needs—they may not be the kind of provider that can bring your business the value that you would expect from this relationship.

For instance, an engineering firm won’t be very effective if their engineers are using the same basic workstations that a typical office can use. Most industries have different requirements when it comes to protecting their data, the software they run, and a lot of other factors. If the quote basically just says “you have this many computers, so your monthly cost is this,” then you might want to get a more thorough evaluation.

The Prices Seem Too Good to Be True

You get what you pay for.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest option is the worst, or that the most expensive option is the best, but you can’t make your decision based on the cost of a service without looking at the value that you get back.

If the promises that your candidates are making seem to be excessively positive to you (as we said, “too good to be true”), they very likely may be. Should this be the case, don’t hesitate to ask for more details that specifically outline what your agreement with the provider will cover and—just as importantly—what it will not. Ask them for documentation that outlines exactly what you would get for your money, and have them go through each line item with you.

A little trick I was taught by a mentor many years ago is this; if the cost of something seems better than what you expected, ask for more. Say, “Hey, that pricing seems really good, better than what I thought. What would it cost if I also got XYZ?” 

There’s some clever psychology in a phrase like that. It indicates you are on board, but it also indicates that you have expectations and might even want to get more value out of the relationship. Don’t just do this for IT-related conversations, it works in all kinds of situations!

Review everything and then make sure to clarify what you are getting, “Okay, so for this price, you’ll be doing X, Y, and Z for me, and I can expect that every month, and your turnaround time is…” and so forth. This puts a little additional pressure on the salesperson, but it clears up anything that is otherwise vague and overly sugar-coated.

If the math winds up not working out in a way that works for you, don’t hesitate to continue looking until you find someplace where it does.

They Want to Rip Out All of Your Existing Hardware Just to Replace it with Some Other Brand

While it is important to listen to your IT provider’s input, it is also important that they’re focused on making the most of what you already have in place, milking any element of your existing technology for as much productivity and value as possible.

If a prospective IT provider starts off pitching a scorched earth-style policy, getting rid of everything, and starting from scratch, it may be wise to pump the brakes a bit. While it is true that you get what you pay for—we just reviewed why that applies to your IT partner—the opposite extreme isn’t necessarily a benefit, either.

Granted, some providers may have certain brands that they prefer utilizing, and there are plenty of reasons why that may be. You just need to know what reason the provider you’re considering has. Maybe they’ve found that brand to have the best security options, or they’ve had the best experience in dealing with them when support needed to be escalated. That’s fine, and should introduce the conversation of a gradual and controlled transition to that brand’s hardware.

If, however, the reason seems to be primarily out of convenience or even a financial stake for your candidate, you need to then question how much your business’ success really factors into their equation. Don’t be afraid to ask for some transparency.

Cybersecurity Hasn’t Been a Major Part of the Conversation

Considering that our state has some of the most stringent data privacy laws in the country, you’d think that an IT company or consultant seeking to work with you would focus on your cybersecurity and its compliance with these laws to a considerable degree. Between 201 CMR 17 and Bill H.4806—the Massachusetts Data Protection Law, and the act that establishes what ANY company that does business in Massachusetts has to do after a breach, respectively—your business cannot afford not to focus on its cybersecurity.

Not only should any consultant you consider working with know this, they should prioritize your compliance with these laws as a result. If they don’t go into their process to ensure this compliance in detail (or worse, gloss over it), you need to push them to share more information… and likely start considering other options than that provider.

They Seem More Focused On Getting You to Sign Something Than Helping You

Technology, especially modern technology, is complicated. You have every right to understand what you are signing up for, what’s being covered, what’s not, and what is being implemented. If your prospective IT consultant isn’t putting what they have to offer into context, there should be a few alarm bells going off in your head. Make sure that each and every aspect of the agreement is outlined in terms of your business and its situation, prompting your candidate if necessary.

Even if you aren’t ready to sign an agreement, you should feel like you’ve at least gained some valuable insight from talking to a good IT consultant.

We’d Like to Be Your IT Provider, Complete with All the Green Flags You’re Looking For!

If your Massachusetts business is looking for comprehensive and transparent IT services that will help enhance and elevate your processes, we’d love to hear from you. Our track record of success is pretty lengthy, and we’d be more than happy to add your business to it.

So, what are you waiting for? Give us a call at (774) 213-9701 to find out what a quality relationship with your business’ IT consultant can do for your business and its operations!