When your computer, network or hard drive is broken, running slow or otherwise not working correctly in Milwaukee, or you need someone to provide support service for you on an ongoing basis then there are a number factors to consider. Finding the best data recovery service in Milwaukee or the best computer service in Milwaukee or Waukesha will ensure your businesses productivity and mean that you will have a qualified, certified partner in your companies success. Computer service companies can be started for a relatively low investment and there are no licensing requirements or permits required to call oneself an expert and begin selling computer services. For this reason computer repair businesses in the Milwaukee metropolitan area are literally being started and closed down all the time. The lack of success that most of these small companies experience is due to the very poor customer experience that most of them provide. Finding the best IT support service provider in Milwaukee involves a number of considerations:
- Industry Certifications: Although not required by law, industry certifications prove that a computer service technician meets the minimum requirements when it comes to their level of knowledge in certain key areas. A computer service technician should at the minimum possess certifications from CompTIA for both A+ and Network+ and anyone supporting servers, networks and network infrastructure should have a certification from Microsoft for MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Expert). In short there is only one reason why a computer service or network technician would not possess these certifications—because they can’t pass the test. While it is possible to succeed in a corporate job with no certifications, an IT services consultant will be faced with a much wider variety of issues on a daily basis and will be ill suited to provide quality IT support without MCSE certification. Certifications can be easily verified through Microsoft by clicking on this link.
- Size: If the company that will be servicing your computer and network systems is too small that may not be a good thing. Many small IT firms consist of a single owner/operator who will inevitably need to take off from work for vacations, sick time, bereavement, or other life issues. If there is a computer or network emergency that occurs at a time when this person is not available then what will your business do? Likewise IT firms that are very large often lose touch with their customer base and/or have a large amount of overhead they need to cover that will be reflected in their fees.
- Length of time in business: How long the company has been in business is a good indication of how well they interact with their customers. A computer services company that is not able to maintain good relationships with their customers does not usually manage to stay in business for long.
- Reputation/Customer Reviews: Stories from current and past customers are a great indication of what type of customer experience a computer network, service, repair or data-recovery business provides. Every business is going to have a few dissatisfied customers at some point, and reading these reviews to see how the company has responded to them can be a great indication of how far they are willing to go to make sure their customers are happy.
- Speed: When your computer or network is down then that is an immediate problem. You aren’t going to want to wait two weeks to get your computer back or to have your network brought back online. If you call during business hours and get voicemail or are told that someone will get back to you then that is a good indication that you may end up waiting for a long time to have your problem solved.
- Cost: How much does the company charge for diagnostics? Beware of any computer service company that doesn’t charge a fee for diagnostics. Performing proper hard drive diagnostics can take anywhere from one to three hours and includes testing hardware first to rule out the possibility that software problems are being caused by failing hardware. Just because a hard drive is running and successfully loads up the operating system doesn’t mean it will pass diagnostic tests. Look for a company that charges a low flat rate for diagnostics. Computer repair companies that don’t charge for diagnostics aren’t charge for it because they don’t do it. They may be able to get a computer running again by performing a software repair but if the original problem was caused by an underlying hardware problem that went undetected then the problem will reoccur in the future for the same reason it occurred the first time; often right after the service providers labor warranty expires.
Who you should trust to with your valuable data is something that many people do not consider until it’s too late. Once your data is lost or you’ve paid money for a computer repair only to have it happen again then it’s usually too late to go back and fix it. By following these key principles you can make sure that your computer or network is serviced correctly and efficiently and that your data is safely and securely preserved so you can remain productive when it comes to satisfying your own customers.
By Jason Roskopf