Understanding the IT market and having to liaise with various suppliers can be costly and in some cases have a negative impact on your business. Companies must evolve or risk becoming extinct, meaning it’s essential to embrace technology to remain competitive. Fortunately, more and more vendors are entering the market, meaning there are various options for acquiring a range of managed IT services and phone solutions.
But as more vendors emerge the landscape is becoming increasingly confusing. Electing who to purchase from is a tough decision, especially with so many options at your disposal. Another critical decision is whether you choose to buy from multiple suppliers or a single one.
Having to integrate various procurement processes is a big ask, especially when you consider the difficulties of liaising with various suppliers. This requires a deeper understanding of the IT market than is necessary, which can sometimes result in a costly and inconsistent impact on company resources.
So why put unnecessary strain on your business? The procurement process should be a smooth and effortless one, simplified, cost-effective and most of all smart. Phones are IP based now, so fit perfectly alongside your IT network, therefore it makes sense for them to be managed by an IT company.
Developing a strategic partnership with a single supplier is critical for success, but why exactly should you use a single supplier for your managed IT services and phone systems?
Here are some of the top benefits of doing so:
You’ll Save Money
Typically organizations will spend a considerable chunk of their budget on procurement, often more than is necessary. Working with a single supplier will help you spend less, especially if it’s one with large buying power.
You’ll receive reduced prices via their economies of scale, plus an opportunity to leverage their expertise. A collaborative relationship with your supplier will extend beyond buying, to an offering of useful tips on how to improve product effectiveness, or even re-engineer services so they’re more cost-effective.
Once you’ve established a cost-effective relationship with your supplier, there will be scope to spend more. This will open doors to benefit from spend visibility, planning in advance and developing more efficient processes across the board. This will collectively lower costs for both parties, a win-win situation.
Time-Saving
The requirement to purchase multiple software solutions from multiple buyers can dramatically eat into your time and resources. Balancing different quotes from different suppliers can be a juggling act, one which can detract from your core competencies.
This not only demands time but comes with severe cost implications too. And this is only considering pre-order, imagine the time spent managing multiple suppliers post-order, especially when you’ve got a complex project on your hands.
And what about accountability in the event of something going wrong? Who of your multiple suppliers will be held responsible? Vendors tend to pass blame among each other, which can lead to you quickly running into problems. A single supplier avoids the problem of blame-shifting, referred to as ‘one throat to choke’, where your phone provider blames the IT and IT blame the phone provider.
When all of your staff are trained in both IT and VoIP phone systems, it makes it much easier and less time consuming to deal with pressing issues. VoIP systems enable phones to function just like computers with IP addresses, permitting remote connection and so on. They can also make and receive calls through the internet, requiring firewall configuration for it to work properly.
Modern VoIP phone systems require a provisioned server to run phone software, which must ultimately be supported by IT. Once coordinated effectively, your company will save significant time throughout its daily endeavours.
Reduced Risk
With a single, financially stable supplier, it’s much easier to manage risk. Badly managed risk can seriously influence your bottom line, which is why it’s important to be risk-averse. Many small businesses don’t exactly have the resources to manage risk exposure across a diverse supply chain, but by working with a single, financially-sound supplier, risk management will be attended to.
Your vendor should have the mechanisms in place to manage risk, ensuring you won’t have to manage it yourself. Additionally, faults are resolved much quicker when the same helpdesk manages IT and phone issues, reducing the risk of things going wrong.
More Effective Campaigns
Working closely with a single supplier can reap numerous benefits. They’ll be positioned to suggest improvements to your online campaigns, those which drive up ROI and response rates. What’s great is your vendor will gain a clear understanding of your situation, from which they can fine-tune the process to your advantage.
But this can only be achieved if you’re able to strike up a close relationship with your supplier, providing they have a broad understanding of the industry you’re operating in.
What’s great about having a single supplier is how much easier onboarding campaigns become, where laptop, email, and phone extensions are provided by the same company, so less can go wrong. Most phone systems are moving away from hard phones, instead choosing software on computers to take and make calls.
Brand Compliance
A single-source supplier will put more emphasis into protecting your reputation, ensuring guidelines are adhered to across your IT and phone functions. By helping with brand compliance, your single supplier can suggest sustainable business methods, resulting in a combination of direct and indirect benefits.
What’s great is you can promote environmentally sustainable methods as part of your business philosophy, something which will have a positive impact on your brand image.