In today’s world, it’s simply impossible to keep pace with the speed of technological change. Most organizations have a limited IT staff that falls under increasing pressure to undertake more and more responsibility for the vetting, deploying, managing, monitoring and upgrading a seemingly endless stream of critical technologies.
There is no shortage of systems integrators in today’s market, so finding one is not difficult. The real challenge is identifying the right systems integrator partner for you. This quick quiz will guide you through doing just that: selecting a technology partner that will best align with your needs and accomplish your goals. Designed to help you think about providers in a deeper, more insightful way, the quiz could be the difference between going with a systems integrator that is unable to meet your needs and experiencing a natural extension of your IT team.
Are they peddling a specific vendor?
You need solutions that help you accomplish your business objectives. Your systems integrator should be most interested in selecting technologies that meet your needs, not earning a commission on their vendor partners’ technologies. Ask systems integrators which technologies they install and service. Find out if they work with a variety of technology vendors or just one or two. If they seem to be dedicated to a few technologies only, you may want to consider another integrator.
Who are their clients and do they keep them?
Most systems integrators have an impressive roster of clients they have helped. While this is important, what’s more important is understanding if those clients were happy with the work that was done. When presented with a customer list, ask how many of those are current customers. Ask how long they have been serving these customers? Are they brand new or years old? Ask the company if they have results from customer surveys that indicate customer satisfaction. Lots of turnover on the client list could indicate a problem. You can find out by digging deeper with just a few extra questions.
Can they handle the level of complexity?
As with any company, different integrators have different strengths and weaknesses. Not all integrators can handle complex, multi-site deployments over vast geographies. Take time to ask about the size and scope of projects that the integrator has handled to understand their capabilities.
Are they truly IT experts?
You can evaluate technology expertise by first looking at the resumes of the team. How long have they worked in technology and are they true technology experts? But perhaps the best way to evaluate technology expertise is to have their IT people sit down with your IT people. Your IT team can ask questions and quickly assess the depth and breadth of technology expertise. Don’t miss this step!
Do they have a history of delivering on time and on budget?
Ask for statistics – not examples. What percentage of their projects are on time? What is average budget variance? Dig deep to get beyond the marketing claims. Give the integrator an opportunity to describe their process and explain the variances and then assess the legitimacy of reasons that projects went late or over budget.
Do they share similar core values?
You’ll be working closely with your systems integrator, so make sure your core values align or it’s likely that one or both companies will not be happy. If your value is to "do the right thing," and their value is to “win at all costs,” this may not be a good value alignment.
By asking some more probing questions, you can gain a much better understanding of the systems integrator and truly evaluate the best fit for your organization. And selecting the right systems integrator can make you the hero of your IT team.
