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6 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting an IT Service Provider

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When you hit the market to find a good IT Service Provider, you will immediately realize two things. One, there is no shortage of IT Providers. There are countless options worldwide, many of which are appealing for one reason or another. You will also realize that there are so many aspects to consider when making IT decisions for your business that it quickly becomes a very complex and involved decision. There is a lot that can go wrong in the evaluation process, so I have described 6 of the most common mistakes you should avoid making as you go through the process of selecting your next IT Service Provider.

 

Failing to Involve the Right People in the Decision 

IT affects every area of your operations, so choosing an IT Service Provider is a significant business decision. Naturally, you want your top decision-makers in your team to be involved in evaluating your options. But it is essential to look beyond just the top level of your organizational chart because your choice of IT Provider will impact all levels of the organization. Consider whether certain areas of the business will be affected more than others or whether there are mission-critical processes that depend on IT. I would encourage you to include employees from those departments in the evaluation process. 

Another option is to get the input of people in your organization who struggle most with technology because a provider who works well for them will work well for everyone else. You could even randomly select employees at all levels of the organization to give their input to ensure general appeal. It may be more time-consuming when more people are involved in the process. Still, a decision as significant as selecting an IT Provider deserves the extra time. 

 

Not Checking Referrals 

One of the simplest yet most overlooked aspects of due diligence in vetting IT Providers is checking out reviews and referrals. There is much value to be gained from hearing from an IT Provider’s other clients to learn about their experiences. Just like when you buy something online and read the customer reviews, you should seek out customer reviews of all the IT Providers you are considering. Some providers may provide referrals of their own. You should undoubtedly check these and go deeper and try to find contacts of your own (most companies will share referrals they know will be positive). Through LinkedIn, Google Reviews, or other online resources, you should be able to find other customers you can contact to ask about their experiences. Maybe you can even find a former customer and hear their story. Of course, just like when reading customer reviews while shopping online, take care not to be soured by one bad experience if the overall reviews are positive. The point is to gather enough information to become fully informed and make the best decision possible. 

 

Ignoring Core Values 

Many people think core values are only meaningful when hiring your own team members. However, your providers and vendors are an extension of your organization, so finding a provider that aligns with your company’s core values is vital. After all, your team members will undoubtedly be working closely with your IT provider’s employees, so shouldn’t you ensure they will be like-minded and able to work well together? A great way to get a feel for the kind of people you will encounter at any business is to hear about the company’s core values. Suppose one of your most important business core values is treating people well, but the provider you’re evaluating doesn’t have a core value that speaks to how you treat people. In this case, this provider is probably not a good fit. As someone who takes pride in your business, you want to make sure you surround yourself with other business professionals who care about the same things you value. 

 

Measuring Price Without Measuring Value 

One of the first questions that will come up in your search for an IT Provider is how much money you will spend. Like in any big purchase, price is an essential factor, and I would not deny that fact. However, it is vital to consider the value of the offerings from each IT Provider because you are not always comparing apples to apples. If one provider seems less expensive, they may have excluded certain services you need or price their offerings differently. Make sure the total price you are quoted includes everything you need. There may also be a difference in the service level expectation, so make sure that you understand exactly how and how quickly your people get help when they need it. A provider with prompt and excellent service may cost more, but perhaps that is worth the extra spend, especially if you know your business will experience higher productivity because your people will get the help they need when they need it. Do not just perform a cost analysis – perform a cost/value analysis and consider all important aspects of the offerings to ensure a fully informed decision. 

 

Not Performing a Comprehensive Network Assessment 

The single biggest mistake that leads to missed expectations is going “full steam ahead” without first performing a comprehensive audit and analysis of your existing IT environment. Earlier I wrote about making sure you fully understand the value of the offerings from the different IT Providers; this assessment is a vital part of doing that analysis because to understand the value of the offering fully, you first need to understand your gaps and your needs. In tangible terms, a comprehensive network assessment involves looking into all of your computer systems, network equipment, peripherals, software vendors, storage solutions, disaster recovery processes, cloud platforms, security measures, and any other area that is directly or indirectly relevant to the IT landscape. This assessment can either be conducted internally if you have a qualified IT resource or externally either with a third party or else by the IT Providers you are vetting. I will mention that this step should also be crucial to the provider as well because they need to know what they are getting into. Having a clear understanding of your company’s current IT infrastructure enables them to develop a service offering that best meets your business’ needs and objectives. I would be wary of any IT Provider that agrees to partner with you without first taking the time to evaluate your IT environment and ensure a good fit.

 

Only Considering Local Companies

In the early years of IT, most tasks were done in-person. With immense growth in technology over the past couple of decades,, IT Service Providers have been able to drastically enhance their speed of delivery by doing almost all their services remotely via the Internet. This opens up your search nationwide or even worldwide depending on your needs, so you are no longer limited to the providers based in your geographic region. Now you may be thinking, “If almost all services are done remotely, what about the rare times when I do need someone onsite?” Excellent IT Providers should have an answer for this challenge. For example, your remote provider may form relationships on your behalf with companies local to you who can serve as subcontractors and fill in those gaps when needed. It is also worth considering whether someone on staff at your company can fill these gaps; lots of companies with one or more IT staff of their own use co-managed IT services from a provider to supplement the services that their in-house team provides. 

While it is true that IT sometimes requires physical setup or other in-person tasks, you should not limit yourself to those providers local to you, because the right provider for you may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away. A provider with expertise in your industry (insurance agencies, nonprofits, etc) or that otherwise fits your company well is more likely to do an excellent job for you than one you choose just because they are in the same town.

 

Conclusion 

Selecting the right IT Service Provider is no easy task. Before you start comparing providers, you should first understand the most critical aspects you need to consider in your decision. My biggest piece of advice for you is to make sure and take the time to do your homework. Rushing through the decision may get it over faster but can have brutal consequences for your operations. Selecting the wrong IT provider can cause your business loss of productivity, added stress, and wasted money and resources. Take the time to get the complete picture by considering the pitfalls I’ve discussed here. 

If you are interested in learning more about Kite Technology’s IT and Consulting Services, please get in touch with us to schedule a conversation. We would welcome the opportunity to learn more about your business and how we might be able to help. 

Daniel Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert

Chief Operating Officer
Kite Technology Group

Four Gaps You Can Fill with Partner IT

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Equipping your company with the right IT solution is critical to your success. For some companies, this may mean outsourcing their IT needs entirely, while others may choose an in-house approach and hire one or more employees to manage their technology needs. Like so many other aspects of business, IT strategy can be more art than science. There is no one right answer, and in fact, we have often found that there can be tremendous value in considering the best of both worlds – supplementing an internal IT team with services from a Managed IT Service Provider.

What is Partner IT?

Partner IT is what we at KiteTech call the approach to IT management that involves a combination of in-house staff and external service provider(s). This can also be referred to as Supplemental IT or Co-Managed IT. These offerings are designed to augment and support your existing internal IT staff member or team and create a partnership that drives the level and quality of technology services your business receives. Leveraging the co-managed IT approach enables your company to benefit immensely from the convenience and inside knowledge of an in-house IT team paired with the collective expertise and extensive resources available in a Managed IT Services team. 

The beauty of these offerings is that services can be customized to fit your unique business needs. Leveraging Partner IT can help you scale your business, expand your internal IT teams’ capabilities, and fill in specific gaps you currently have without the hassle of adding additional employees. In this blog post, we review four types of gaps that we have found can be filled effectively by utilizing Partner IT services in your business.

Four Gaps You Can Fill With Partner IT

1. The Time Gap

Time is the most valuable resource any of us have. Even with all the money in the world, you still could never buy a 25-hour day. With only so many waking hours each day and even fewer hours dedicated to work, it is vital to focus your energy on your most important priorities. If you are a member of an internal IT team or the sole IT director in your organization, you can probably relate to the pressure that comes with being pulled in multiple directions with competing priorities and feeling like there is never enough time to do it all. Maybe you find yourself working all day to fix broken computers and printers when you should be focusing on building systems and processes to make your team more efficient. Or maybe you are dying to interact face-to-face with your team members, fixing their issues directly, but instead, you need to spend your day alone in your office writing policies and procedures. Ask yourself – What is the value of the work you find yourself doing?

If you are constantly getting stuck putting out fires or working on items on the bottom of your priority list, you may never find the time to work on more strategic tasks and projects. That’s where leveraging Partner IT can help. Partner IT can handle tasks like end-user support, back-end monitoring, maintenance, and updates giving you the bandwidth to focus on more important things. Rather than keep trying to outrun the treadmill, leverage the extra resources that come with Partner IT to offload the work distracting you from your most valuable priorities.

2. The IT Tools Gap

Like a skilled construction worker, you are only as powerful as the tools you bring to the job. You may have decades of experience building houses; you may even be world-renowned for your work, but if you left your power tools at home and only brought a screwdriver, all the experience and talent in the world won’t save you from wasting your whole day not getting much done.

As you probably already know, the right tools for IT management can get expensive quickly. However, partnering with a Managed IT Service Provider gives you access to best-in-class tools and resources bundled right in with the services provided. For instance, management tools like remote control and ticketing to endpoint software like anti-virus and automation can all be included in your services. You will not only save on the cost but also on the time you would spend maintaining the tools as your IT Partner does the maintenance for you. What’s more, you won’t need to deal with several different vendors, managing separate contracts and paying separate bills. You only manage the relationship with the Partner IT provider.

3. The IT Expertise Gap

Technology changes so rapidly that no one person can claim to know it all. With enough direct experience and enough appetite for learning, you can certainly become an expert on your company’s technology stack, but keeping up with all the new developments and emerging technologies is challenging.

There is profound power in numbers when it comes to learning and sharing knowledge. With Partner IT, you are backed by an entire team of IT professionals with a vast array of roles, skills, and specialties. For example, our KiteTech team members stay tuned to current IT and security trends and best practices and consistently share information across and outside our organization. Having access to the collective knowledge and expertise that comes with partnering with an IT Service Provider can be a game-changer when planning strategic initiatives or deploying new technology in your business.

4. The Coverage Gap

We’ve seen it countless times. When you’re the only IT person in the business or a small IT team in a large company, your services and skills are heavily relied upon for every issue that comes up day after day. When you are absent, or a team member takes off, your company suffers, and you feel responsible. The result is a crushing sense of personal pressure that is overwhelming and, in our opinion, unfair.

With Partner IT, you can have an entire team backing you up and filling in for you when needed. Having an IT partner you can rely on creates a solid layer of redundancy that allows you to take a step back and completely relieve the stress associated with taking time off. With the right partnership, you can do your job every day while preparing your partner team to fill in for you when and how you need it. You deserve to take a vacation too, and you shouldn’t have to suffer from the guilt of the void you leave behind.

We haven’t even mentioned sick days, which can have the same effect, and are obviously much less in your control. The last thing you want is to be stressed about work when you are trying to recover.

Is Partner IT Right for your Business?

Each business is unique, and your approach to IT should be tailored to meet your organization’s specific current and future needs. Partner IT is a powerful strategy that can position a team of experts behind your internal team to understand your challenges, provide valuable guidance, and fill gaps like the ones we’ve discussed here. If your internal IT team is overextended and could benefit from additional support, it consider whether it’s time to supplement your internal team with a Partner IT service. 

Kite Technology's Partner IT Services

Kite Technology’s Partner IT services give your organization the ability to decide which services to keep in-house and which would be better suited for outsourcing to us. The idea is to create a partnership where Kite Technology can support, empower, and supplement your existing IT team so they can be more successful. To learn more about Kite Technology’s Partner IT solution or any of our other services, please reach out to schedule a conversation. We would love the opportunity to learn more about your technology needs and see how we can help you meet your business objectives.

Daniel Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert

Chief Operating Officer
Kite Technology Group

8 Benefits of Outsourcing your IT Support

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Have you considered using outsourced IT support for your business?

There is no question that having high-quality IT support gives your business tremendous advantages. Technology touches almost every facet of your organization. As such, you should take every measure possible to ensure that your systems work smoothly, securely, and continually. The key to running superior IT systems is to employ a highly skilled team that is well-aligned with your company’s unique business objectives.  

But should you do this on your own, or should you rely on the help of an outside source? 

In any case, there are several advantages to partnering with an outside firm that specializes in IT strategy and support (commonly known as Managed Service Providers). If you don’t employ IT staff of your own, you can outsource it entirely. Still, if you do have your own IT, you can find a Managed Service Provider to partner with your in-house IT to give your team the best support possible. Whichever path you choose, you can reap the benefits of using outsourced IT.  

In this article, we’ll cover 8 of the main benefits your business can gain by outsourcing your IT support to a Managed IT Service Provider.  

8 Benefits of Outsourced IT Support

1. Increased Expertise and Resources

Probably the most immediate and valuable benefit of using outsourced IT is the sheer concentration of talent your business can access. IT firms continually recruit highly talented engineers to build teams who work well together to deliver excellence to their customers. When working with an IT provider, your organization will benefit from the expertise of an entire team of technology professionals. Not having the responsibility of hiring additional IT staff also frees up resources that you can now use for filling other positions in your company. 

2. Round-the-Clock Monitoring

A good Managed IT Service Provider deploys systems to their customers to constantly monitor for problems and automatically remediate any issues found. This automation can prevent many issues that would otherwise disrupt your employees and hinder productivity. You can think of these monitoring systems as an employee who works 24/7 at no extra cost! 

3. Faster Response Time

Some problems just can’t be avoided. When something goes wrong, or if one of your employees has a question and simply wants to talk to a person, it is crucial to have an excellent Help Desk at the ready. With only one or two technicians in-house, you may find that the demand for help quickly overgrows the size of your team. With a larger help desk support team in an outsourced firm, you can have more immediate access to the help you need. 

4. A More Focused In-House Technology Team

Maybe you want your in-house IT team to focus more on another area of your business, such as customer service systems or strategic planning. By supplementing your internal team with a Managed Service Provider, you can free up your team to spend time in other areas where they are more productive or providing more value to your company.  

5. Scalable IT Services with Predictable Costs

As you grow your company, your need for IT support grows with it. With an in-house IT team, how do you know when it is time to hire? When you do hire, are you prepared to perhaps double your IT expenditure overnight? With an outsourced firm, your provider does the hiring, so you should never have to worry about your company outgrowing your IT team. Furthermore, you won’t bear the entire cost of an additional employee all at once, allowing you to spend on resources elsewhere. While your IT costs may increase over time as your business grows, the increase is gradual and more predictable.

6. More Easily Leverage New Technology

Managed Service Providers typically stay tuned to the latest knowledge of modern technologies. This can enable you to adopt new technology quickly and confidently. If you want your team to be cutting-edge, using the most effective productivity and customer service tools and techniques out there, you can benefit from the help of an outsourced IT firm. They can help deploy the systems and train your employees to get the most value from them. 

7. Increased Security and Compliance

In a world where cybercrime is rising and compliance regulations are getting stricter, it is vital to enlist expert help in securing your company’s data. With the right IT partner, you can ensure that your team is well-equipped to keep your systems in compliance and as secure as possible. Additionally, you can respond quickly to new dangers by working with an accredited IT provider who knows the current threat landscape. One of the most respected accreditations of security is the CompTIA Security Trustmark+.

8. Focus on Core Business

Finally, offloading some or all of your IT support to an outside firm allows you and your team to focus more on your core business. Spending less time worrying about technology issues means that you have more time to focus on doing what you love – providing your customers with excellent service and growing your business. 

Choosing the Right Technology Partner for Outsourcing your IT Support

If the idea of outsourcing all or part of your IT support intrigues you, your next step is to find the provider who is right for you. Look for an expert with proven success in your industry and whose values align with yours. At KiteTech, we strive to be the Premier Trusted Technology Partner for independent insurance agencies, nonprofits, legal and medical practices, and other professional organizations. If you’d like to learn more about our services, please reach out to us to schedule a conversation. We are here to help!

Daniel Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert

Chief Operating Officer
Kite Technology Group

Maximize your IT Services Value with Microsoft 365

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If you’ve been a business executive for any length of time, then you’ve probably traveled this familiar journey when it comes to technology and your IT services.  You heard the appeals to move to “the cloud”, so you started taking some steps.  Perhaps, you moved your email to hosted Exchange.  You may have also adopted a hosted line of business application.  For example, if you are an insurance agency, a new agency management system like Applied Epic or AMS 360.

The problem is that as you added new functionality and responded to new requirements, very little went away in your local environment.  You are still supporting and paying for a local network and servers. In fact, you were forced to invest further in the local environment to respond to rapid growth in security threats and the associated compliance requirements. Consequently, you are stuck in the middle. You have found yourself with feet firmly planted in both the old local environment and a new cloud environment. Your technology landscape got more complex, harder to secure, and more expensive to maintain. 

I am here to tell you that good news has arrived for those businesses who have the foresight to take the next natural step.  It is time to abandon your local IT infrastructure!  Thanks to rapid improvements in the Microsoft 365 suite, the tools have matured to the point that you can trust your entire operation to the cloud. 

The recent introduction of Microsoft 365 Business Premium (M365) brings together the Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel) with advanced security, collaboration tools (SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive) and PC management.   M365 seamlessly integrates security features including user access and mobile device access (phones, tablets, laptops).  It can even replace your phone system.  In short, Microsoft 365 paired with your cloud-based agency-specific applications means you can say goodbye to all your local infrastructure. Your employees just need a workstation or laptop and a connection to the Internet and they can be fully productive from anywhere.

Why Microsoft 365 Should be Integral to your IT Services Stack

The benefits of “cutting the cord” on local IT infrastructure and going “all in” on Microsoft 365 are substantial.  These benefits fall in three categories: security and compliance, collaboration/mobility, and cost.

Security and Compliance

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is built with a “security-first” mindset.  It starts with identity management.  M365 provides “state-of-the art” features that simplify the authentication of your users while taking extra precautions to ensure the user is who they say they are.  With features such as “multi-factor authentication”, Microsoft has made it very difficult for thieves to steal credentials that allow them to access private systems and data.  M365 also becomes the focal point of “single sign-on”, the place where your users sign in one time to access all their applications that they need to do their job.  The result of MFA and single sign-on is a secure and convenient user authentication process. 

But M365 security doesn’t end with identify management. M365 also manages the security of the end-user devices and the user activity once the user is logged in.  InTune is an included device management platform that manages workstations as well as various mobile devices such as tablets and phones. M365 also includes antivirus, spam filtering and advanced threat protection to safeguard your business from cyber-threats including phishing, and ransomware. Finally, M365 can help you maintain regulatory compliance with policies to enforce data loss prevention (DLP) and email archiving.

Perhaps the most profound security impact of a full scale M365 deployment is the “addition by subtraction” that results from eliminating your local infrastructure. Your threat landscape, that is the various ways that your business can be attacked by unscrupulous individuals, gets a lot smaller once your data and applications are no longer kept in your building.  There is no longer a need for sophisticated firewalls, network monitoring, physical security of servers, and local data backups once your technology is entirely maintained in the cloud.

Collaboration and Mobility

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is built with the modern business in mind. It has tools that facilitate the “work from anywhere” mentality that was thrust upon us all when the pandemic caused many of us to work from home.  In fact, M365 flourishes when it comes to overcoming the challenges agencies are faced with when their team members are in various locations.  It includes tools such as SharePoint and OneDrive that allow employees to share documents and collaborate on creating and editing written materials.  These tools also effectively manage permissions to ensure those who are authorized have access while restricting access from others. M365 also includes Microsoft Teams allowing groups of employees to chat one-to-one, hold video meetings, and communicate seamlessly with others that have similar roles and interests.

Since all of the attributes of the user and user devices are managed from the cloud (i.e. M365), the user experience follows the user to wherever they go – from the office, to their home, to the local coffee shop.  Once M365 is fully adopted, your users will quickly discover that they have access to all their technology applications and date from wherever they choose to work.

IT-Services Cost Effectiveness

Microsoft 365 Business Premium saves businesses money on their IT Services in three ways.  First, it bundles all the necessary tools (Microsoft applications, security, device management) into a single license.  Second, it provides a portal to allow technology professionals the ability to manage the deployment, maintenance, and troubleshooting of these tools from a single pane of glass.  And finally, it eliminates the need to maintain and support unnecessary local IT infrastructure.

With the benefits of a full scale M365 implementation clear, let’s move on to the question of how to deploy Microsoft 365.

How to Adopt Microsoft 365 Effectively in your Business

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a sophisticated and comprehensive suite of tools designed to work together to provide an outstanding user experience while maintaining the security of your data. While anyone can buy the M365 license, it takes an IT professional to configure M365 to ensure you actually achieve the intended benefits. From the security perspective, the fact that features such as MFA, single sign on, and advanced threat protection are included, doesn’t necessarily mean they are configured correctly. Or even turned on. You are going to want to make sure you are working with an IT service provider who has experience with the Microsoft 365 toolset and understands the needs of your business.  That way, the compliance needs of your industry will be accounted for in the security configuration.

Similarly, an IT services provider familiar with your industry can ensure that the collaboration and mobility aspects of Microsoft 365 are designed to work in tandem with your other applications such as your line of business application or agency management system.

In summary, don’t get left behind.  If your IT services provider is not talking to you about a plan to move your technology entirely to the cloud, then talk to us.  We can get you there! Kite Technology provides Managed IT Services and Microsoft 365 Consulting to businesses in the Baltimore area and across the country.  We specialize in serving independent insurance agencies, nonprofits, and many other professional organizations.  Give us a call or schedule a complimentary consultation to get the conversation started.

Greg DiDio, CEO, Kite Technology Group

Greg DiDio is the CEO of Kite Technology Group.  KiteTech provides Managed IT Services and Consulting to professional organizations and independent insurance agencies across the country.  KiteTech is proud to be one of only two IT companies in MD to earn the CompTIA Security Trustmark, certifying that KiteTech meets or exceeds security best practices. 

What Your Agency Should Expect from your IT Service Provider

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Many insurance agencies across the country are still dealing with remote work challenges. Agencies are struggling to hold virtual meetings, collaborate effectively and share documents. Worse yet, agency leaders are realizing that these issues aren’t a temporary circumstance resulting from the pandemic. This is the new reality. To be successful going forward, agencies need to embrace tools and processes that accommodate a remote and mobile workforce. Unfortunately, many learned the hard way that their current IT provider was ill-prepared to advise and support them when the crisis began. Consequently, they’ve suffered considerable drops in productivity and customer service.

In candid conversations, agency principals we talk to have shared that they’re paying a premium on IT and getting mediocre results. They are frustrated by ineffective support and a lack of strategic oversight. It isn’t surprising. Often, their IT provider is using old solutions unsuited for the new problems. The provider has no idea of the industry-specific needs of independent insurance agencies. Best practices DO exist for technology solutions for agencies. But the typical local IT provider is unaware of them. They don’t understand that the technology and security needs of agencies differ from those of typical law firms, medical practices, or construction companies.

You Deserve a Strategic IT Partner Who Really Understands You

These chaotic times present the perfect opportunity to reassess your technology needs and reevaluate your current IT provider. Changing technology and security requirements are cause for raising your expectations of your IT provider. The good news is that forward-thinking agencies who choose their partner wisely can expect:

  • Greater ROI from their IT spend
  • More bandwidth to focus on their core strengths, such as sales and client service
  • A strategic direction that keeps them ahead of their competitor

What You Should Look for in a Technology Partner

Whether you are satisfied with your current provider, considering outsourcing IT for the first time, or looking to replace an IT provider, it helps to know how to evaluate their performance. We have prepared 8 questions that you can use to help answer how your current IT provider is doing and what you might expect from another provider. Below are these questions and some considerations for each that will help you distinguish the contenders from the pretenders.

1. Why do they do what they do?

How do they start the discussion? Are they focused on you or themselves? Ask the hard questions and find out what the provider’s passion is. Is it just the money, or do they really care about you and the people they serve? Ensure that your IT partner shares your agency’s values. What usually sets a provider apart is the type of people they use to deliver their services. At KiteTech, we understand that how we treat you is every bit as important as how quickly and effectively we solve your computer problems.

2. Are they implementing a cloud-first, mobile-first strategy?

Many agencies found out how integral cloud solutions were when they quickly had to transition to a remote work environment. Access to the cloud ultimately allowed agencies to remotely access their files and complete their projects as easily as they did from the office. Your IT partner should be able to map out your cloud journey and have a plan for sunsetting legacy technology. At KiteTech, we offer fully managed cloud services and collaboration software that is available 24×7. Our experts will work with you to develop a realistic plan for adopting and migrating to the cloud solutions you need to drive your agency forward.

3. Do they understand your business?

Does your IT provider understand the unique challenges related to operating an insurance agency? You will be able to more confidently make IT investment decisions if you have an IT partner who knows your industry and understands your systems and processes. At KiteTech, we pride ourselves on the fact that many of our consultants started their careers as licensed insurance agents and now advise insurance agencies on how to  take their performance to new levels. Our team regularly participates in and presents at local and national Applied Client Network and NetVU conferences. We also maintain strong relationships with the vendors most agencies work with, resulting in more effective collaboration and problem-solving when technology issues arise.

4. Are security and compliance top of mind?

Insurance agencies are a major target for cybercriminals because of the client information they possess. This year you’ve also had to deal with the uptick in cybersecurity attacks due to increased remote work environments. Was your IT provider adequately prepared? Agencies today can’t just depend on the basics like antivirus and spam filtering to stay secure. Many states’ cybersecurity compliance regulations like NYDFS’ 23 NYCRR 500 expect agencies to have much more robust security practices and policies in place. Thankfully, with KiteTech, you don’t have to manage compliance and security alone. We carefully monitor new regulations affecting your industry and update security protocols as regulations change. Our security offerings are designed specifically for insurance agencies, and we ensure your compliance requirements are the starting point for our conversation. 

5. Is their help desk support top-notch? 

Way back in the “old days”, like February, when their PC broke, your employees might head over to another cubicle or ask the unofficial office tech expert for help. When COVID-19 forced everyone to head home in March, things changed. We, like most IT providers, saw a tremendous uptick in support requests as employees needed help with their home setup. And, of course, when things break at home, there probably isn’t another cubicle with a spare PC or an office tech expert to get you back up and running. So, prompt and competent help desk support is more critical than ever.

Here are some questions to help you differentiate the quality of help desk service you can expect to receive from a current or potential IT Partner:

  • Do they hold themselves to clearly defined response time metrics?
  • Can their technicians help you with your agency management system or the company website?
  • Are they familiar with the other applications you use, or do they pass the buck when an issue is related to another vendor?

Our team takes an active role on your behalf as a vendor liaison for technologies we don’t directly support, but you require to reach your agency’s goals.  At KiteTech, we aim to consistently provide amazing help desk support and customer service and are proud of our best-In-class Client Satisfaction Scores. 

6. Do they have a proven process?

Do you find that your IT partner seems to operate by the seat of their pants? Were they prepared for the challenges brought on by the uncertainty of this past year? Immature IT Providers have their head down running so hard that they forget to look up and see the forest for the trees. While it is not always the case, maturity often correlates with size. Larger IT providers, like larger agencies, allow different people to play different roles. The smaller provider doesn’t often have the time to investigate better ways to do things because they are too busy wearing too many hats.

Ask your provider to provide their process for getting to know you and preparing to serve you as a client. Some providers will rush right in and sign you up without truly understanding your needs or your current technology. They have no process. At KiteTech, we have a documented  proven process that precisely outlines how we will work with you. The process includes key steps to ensure your success. It starts with really listening to your needs. It continues with deploying solutions that solve your most pressing problems. Finally, we provide ongoing support and recommendations to help your agency grow. It sounds simple. And it might even feel simple going through the process. But it is the result of a well-documented, proven process for delivering client success.

7. Do you see a commitment to strong client relationships?

Beyond help desk support, your partner should offer an ongoing conversation that helps your agency look forward. You never want to feel like you are just a number to your IT provider. At KiteTech, we assign each agency we work with a Client Experience Manager dedicated to serving your agency’s needs and helping you accomplish your goals. This takes place through scheduled conversations that focus on lingering issues and jointly plan for security and technology improvements. We strive to develop strong client relationships that build trust and make you feel like your KiteTech team is an extension of your agency. 

8. Did they create a strategic technology plan?

Does your IT partner understand everything about your technology? Do they have an in-depth understanding of the latest insurance trends? A strong IT provider will help your agency create a strategic plan by:

  • Listening first to understand your business strategy and goals
  • Assessing Your technology and its suitability to meet your goals
  • Together with you, building an affordable plan for incrementally keeping your technology aligned with your goals

To do this well, your IT provider must understand the insurance industry, the market forces, compliance regulations, and economic realities you are dealing with. KiteTech’s familiarity with agencies position us perfectly to do this.

We have spent the last 28 years helping agencies across the country succeed through insurance consulting. Just recently, at Applied Net, we heard from agency executives about the issues around collaborating remotely, the frustrating help desk queues, and downtime that has stalled agency productivity. That’s why it is our mission as a trusted technology partner to provide best-in-class IT services that help agencies operate more effectively and experience greater business success.

Want more information about choosing a provider?  Contact us for a free consultation. We will talk through your needs and what services are best for your agency. You can also visit  our website to learn more about our managed IT and consulting services.

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adam atwell

Adam Atwell

Cloud solutions architect

Adam is passionate about consulting with organizations across the country to help them develop and execute a cloud adoption strategy that meets their business needs and future objectives. Adam oversees and manages our company strategy for Microsoft 365 adoption and is responsible for future growth and development inside Microsoft 365 and other cloud technologies. 

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