Dear Microsoft IT Support:

Your IT team has been talking to you about migrating your 50+ users to Microsoft 365, and although you can’t fault them on their IT technical support, you feel that a little bit more Microsoft support would be valuable.

But Googling Microsoft Support Number, won’t get you the right IT support services, quickly. Microsoft makes use of a partner network to not only sell, but also offer Cloud assistance on their behalf.

You should also keep in mind that IT’s rapid evolution, has led to the need for specialised business needs. In the past, you’d have one or two IT support jobs on your payroll. Or you can use a generalist outsourcing IT support service provider. The sheer volume of possibilities the Cloud offers. Make it impossible to know enough about all the solutions the Microsoft product stack can offer you. Microsoft therefore recommends to its partners that they specialise in one area. They’d partner with other service providers to give clients the best possible combined Microsoft Cloud solution.

Here’s a guide to choosing a Microsoft Certified Support service provider can give you the Microsoft product support you deserve.

Check their certification status

Get direct access to Microsoft specialist employees when the SP is certified Gold in Microsoft Productivity, and is also Microsoft Managed. This means they can escalate your support concerns directly with Microsoft tech experts. This would be without the involvement of client care consultants. Two of the criteria in obtaining Gold certification to highlight is:

  • the partner’s turnover, i.e. they have handled many migrations as per Microsoft’s standards;  and
  • the certification held by its support technicians, i.e. they are both proficient at handling many different types of migrations, as well as the continuous management thereof.

Do they offer IT support training

There is a difference in how end users experience Microsoft Office (the software you purchase every 3 years) and Microsoft 365 (the software you pay for monthly). User adoption, or the lack thereof, can make or break the transition to 365. IT is scary for most people. But when you use IT support as a service, people will love you and support you when it’s beneficial to their own productivity because using the 365 product suite easier. Your company can achieve this when the Microsoft CSP includes training as part of the migration of data to Microsoft 365.

Do they deliver

There is a difference between a 10 user and a 300 user migration. You need to be sure that their previous migrations went off without a hitch, that they didn’t lose any data and that the project was, and still is, a success.  It will also give you insight into how they handle their clients’ cloud journeys. Did they migrate email and it ended there? Or did they help users change their habits to get productivity value. This can be in the form of Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint.

They bring your IT spend down

Truly knowing Microsoft licensing is a skill is extremely beneficial to keep licensing costs to a minimum. Microsoft’s licensing types and plans are complicated. A great Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner will not only offer you advice initially. It will review and optimise continuously to ensure you bring down your IT spend to streamline your IT operations.

Crimson Line offers Microsoft Product IT Support

Having done our first migration to Microsoft Office 365 in 2017, then obtaining our Gold status for Microsoft Productivity soon after in 2018, and becoming a Managed Microsoft Partner in 2020, proves Crimson Line a credible Microsoft South Africa Support Partner who you can trust.

Providing progressive IT support as we work closely with CTO’s and other Managed IT Service providers, being as involved as they need us to be. It’s a journey to the cloud, not a race. Crimson Line can help your team avoid Googling ‘Microsoft Technical Support South Africa’.