April 26, 2021
You are aware your Cloud is not as good as it should be or the cost of your Public Cloud is higher than expected (whilst changing every month) and it’s time to consider alternative service providers.
So you ask for referrals from friends and colleagues or invite a number of providers to pitch solutions that might resolve your challenges. You listen to all the presentations, hear what can be done and understand how switching provider will make all the difference to your business.
But then when you assess all the options, the solutions are all slightly different and the costs are similar, what do you do? How do you decide what is right for your business?
When the choice is complex it’s tempting to stick with the current service, suffer decision inertia and do nothing. Or worse, follow the herd and make the wrong decision entirely.
It’s a big decision and not just in terms of cost. You will sign a contract to work with this service provider as your partner for years, possibly decades. So how do you decide when there is little to choose between the solutions and you are under pressure to resolve this challenge?
You could delay the decision of course, but if you wait another year, the problem will have just compounded and you’ve lost a year’s benefits delivered by the new, improved solution.
There’s also a lot of due diligence to be undertaken too. You’re going trust this Cloud provider with your data, the very lifeblood of your business and possibly hold its success in their hands; well their servers at least.
Now your instinct becomes more important and trust is a significant factor. Out of all the people who can support your business into the next phase, who do you trust the most? Who are you already trusting to supply business critical services to you?
Still not sure? Fortunately there is an equation that helps define trust:
Trust = Credibility + reliability + intimacy
Self-orientation
Credibility – Do they know their stuff? Do they understand the challenges you face? Are their references appropriate and high quality? Are they experienced working in the IT sector?
Reliability – Do they deliver on their promises? Have they been around long enough? Are they stable as a business? Is their team settled?
Intimacy – Do I like them as a business? Do I find their people approachable and engaging?
Self-orientation – Possibly the most important consideration. Is the suggested solution addressing my interests or theirs? Is the solution right for my business or easiest for them to deliver? Is the offering truly client-centric?
You can see from the equation that the less the service provider is self-orientated the higher they score for trust. Which is what you’d expect. If they care more about delivering the right solution than what is easiest for them, the chances are you should trust them.
If you already have a relationship with a service provider like us here at CCE Channel Partner and we add new services to our offering, then the questions posed by the trust equation are answered. Our decisions are clearly based on what clients like you need, not what is easiest for us to sell.
Our ongoing relationship, whether you are buying managed print services, helpdesk support or the occasional laptops, means you already trust us to do a good job – we are not going to jeopardise this relationship with a poor service; we have too much to lose.
You may have concerns around Cloud, either looking for a new service provider, or wanting to migrate away from expensive Public Cloud, but whatever happens, do something, pick up the phone or meet on Teams and get your Cloud conversation started. We’re listening.
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