Most small businesses collect technology vendors the way a junk drawer collects keys. The phones came from one company and the internet from another. The computers are handled by a contractor someone recommended years ago, and the website was built by a designer who no longer answers email. Each choice made sense at the time. Together, they can turn every problem into a phone tree.
I should be upfront: I’m Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, which provides business phone systems, managed IT, websites and digital marketing under one roof. So I have a point of view. But I have also spent more than 20 years leading operations and delivery teams in technology, and putting everything with one vendor is not right for every business. Here is how I would weigh it.
First, where one vendor helps.
One number to call when something breaks. When your calls sound choppy, is it the phone system, the internet, the network or a computer? With separate vendors, each one can reasonably say it’s someone else’s problem, and you end up as the go-between. With one provider responsible for all of it, finding the cause is their job, not yours.
One bill you can actually read. Several invoices with different renewal dates, line items and fees make it hard to know what technology really costs you. A single bill makes the total visible. That makes it easier to budget and easier to spot what you are still paying for but no longer use.
Things get planned together. Your phones depend on your network. Your website’s contact form has to reach the right inbox. A new employee needs a phone extension, a computer and an email account on the same day. When one team handles all of it, those connections get planned instead of discovered.
Someone sees the whole picture. A provider who manages everything knows what you have, how old it is and what is coming due. That makes it easier to plan upgrades ahead of time instead of reacting when something fails.
Now, where one vendor can hurt.
Everything rides on one relationship. If the provider is slow to respond, goes out of business or simply isn’t a good fit, everything is affected at once. Leaving is harder too, because you are moving several services instead of one.
Not every provider is good at everything. Some companies are excellent at one service and offer the others as an add-on. Ask who actually does each piece of the work. If the website or the IT is handed off to someone else, you may not be getting the single point of responsibility you’re paying for.
You can lose some visibility on price. Bundles can save money, but they can also make it harder to compare each piece against the market. Ask for the bundle broken out by service so you can see what each part costs.
Your contracts may not line up. If your current phone contract runs another two years and your website is month to month, switching everything at once may cost you early termination fees. Sometimes the right move is to consolidate in stages as each agreement ends.
So how do you decide? Ask yourself a few questions. How many hours a month do you or your staff spend coordinating vendors? The last time something broke, how long did it take to figure out whose problem it was? Do you know, today, every technology bill your business pays and when each contract renews?
If those answers make you wince, consolidation is worth a serious look. If your current vendors are responsive, your systems work and someone in-house keeps track of it all, you may be fine as you are.
Either way, before you sign with a single provider, get clear answers in writing. Who does the work for each service? How are support requests handled, and what response times are promised? Who owns your phone numbers, your domain name and your website files? What happens if you decide to leave? A good provider will answer all of that without hesitation. My piece on reading a technology contract covers what to look for in the fine print.
The goal is not fewer vendors for its own sake. The goal is fewer problems that fall through the cracks.
Danielle Lemons is Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, a Nashville provider of business phone systems, managed IT services, websites and digital marketing. More about Danielle.
Read more of Danielle’s writing, or see her profile at DirecTech Connect.
