Choosing Your Next Technology Partner

Your technology isn’t cutting it for your business anymore, but you’re too busy to dedicate internal resources to find a solution. The customer always comes first. Sound familiar? We hear it all the time and understand how stressful finding the right technology partner can be.
You might think the people who are currently in your business know it the best – which is true to a certain extent. But, sometimes, we benefit from having a fresh opinion from someone outside of the organization. You need the right technology partner who can effectively read your situation and provide the best solutions available. So, where do you start?

Identify Your Need

Before finding a partner, you should be able to have a good general idea of what you’re looking for. Being too ambiguous is never a good strategy to start with. Know your budget, your frustrations, and any solutions you’ve thought about implementing. Understand your goal of wanting to optimize your technology and how it will propel your business forward. Doing so will ensure your future technology partner is equipped with the right information to find the best solution.

Previous Experience

Everyone wants to work with someone they can trust. Reach out to your network to see if they have any recommendations for partners or providers who specialize in what you’re looking for. Referrals create some of the best relationships!

Despite receiving referrals, you may want to venture out and shop around. Testimonials and case studies are a good indicator of what someone has previously worked on. If projects in the case studies sound similar to what you’re looking for, it’s worth a phone call.

Customer Experience

How do you want to be treated as a customer? Are you looking for a collaborative partnership or a more transactional vendor relationship? How involved are you looking to be with the project?

Deciding how much ownership and flexibility your service provider will have is a great way to narrow down your search. By discussing everything upfront of what you’re expecting, you should be able to rule out anyone who won’t be a fit based on their reactions. That’s okay! It gets you one step closer to the right partner.

Choosing the right technology provider is a big deal, especially if you’re going to be spending a pretty penny working with one. It’s worth it to thoroughly vet your options to ensure you’re choosing the right partner.

Looking for your next technology partner? Let’s talk.