Computer network consulting is not as straight forward black-and-white as it appears to be to most small business owners. There are multiple ways to accomplish the same tasks. Some are more elegant. Some are more expensive. Some require a great deal of setup. Others require a great deal of ongoing support. Some are just different from others without being either better or worse. As long as this continues to be true (and it will for some time to come), it is every bit as important for a business owner to find a network support company that operates with a similar style.
Style, as you know, is a difficult thing to define. There are those whom most would agree are stylish, and there are those whom most would agree are not. Just about everyone falls somewhere in between, meaning a lot of emotion goes into a discussion of style. Take Halle Berry. I love her style: chic, modern, confident. Some of you are right now thinking, "Yeah, Halle is the essence of style." Others are thinking, "This guy wouldn't know style if it bit him on the ass."

Which proves my point. Before you make a computer outsourcing decision, have a style discussion with your candidate providers. I know it sounds strange, but your small business cannot be happy with a provider whose style is considerably different than yours. A good fit means you and the prospective support company's owner have similar philosophies about business. You feel comfortable when you talk to him about things other than computers.

When company styles get in the way, communication breaks down and before long, everyone is unhappy. The time to avoid a bad fit is right at the beginning. If you don't find out until later, separation becomes more difficult. Now you don't have to believe that Halle Berry is a stylish woman to work with us, but a conversation that starts there will tell you a lot about me, and how well we fit.