Advice on IT Support Contract

[maxine]

Up until now our little business has survived in terms of IT support through favours and goodwill and casual ad-hoc payments here and there to friends and family when I get stuck. Or, I spend oodles of time reading manuals and in phone queues :(

I want to get some decent support in place and the main requirement is to help support our remote workers who are all local to me. This generally means getting new starters up and running on voip fones with appropriate headsets or handsets, making sure internet connection is ok and they can online applications OK etc. There is also an element of ongoing support unfortunately if things get tampered with :)

There is also a need to help me as "head office" to cover some of my tasks ie; if I am too busy, too stupid, or not around, with things such as uploading docs or making changes to my website, resetting passwords, fiddling with email accounts and generally fixing stuff if things aren't working.

I want to keep costs on a variable basis if possible ie; cost per user set up or pay-as-you-go and happy to do this with a company or with a retained employee through payroll.

Can anyone give me some advice on the type of things I should consider?

Thanks everyone
:)

[extremedistro]

What area would you need covering?

[Comspec]

Maxine, I would not be going getting yourself stuck into any support contractds, I'd look around for a decent well-established local IT repair firm, preferably only a couple of employees, who would service your needs and charge you on an ad hoc basis.

If they set you up properly, there will not be too much support regularly, only when something is broken, so maybe a contract would be overkill.

[maxine]

Thanks Comspec

I am not too sure about a contract either and certainly dont want to get stuck with one but can see the merits in having something in place to agree turnaround times, prices, what needs to be done, whats included for remote workers and what isn't.

The people that I have spoken to locally have both said about putting something down in writing in terms of what my requirements are so they can put a proper support contract in place.

Not sure if it is overkill or not. Am just looking to get advice on what would make things easier for me and for them (IT people)

I was kind of imagining there would be a bit of a one-off phase to get things set up properly after some consultancy etc and thereafter maintaining and fixing and improving.

The service levels from my part are all quite relaxed so I don't want to get into too much red tape either but not having been down this road before I'm not sure where to start :)

[maxine]

What area would you need covering?

Not sure if you meant geographical or technical areas...

Geographical areas are all in Cambs but an Irish branch opening in a couple of weeks and there will be a about 4 other regions over time throughout UK but don't know where or when yet.

Technical areas are voip, web applications for data, crm, mailshots, help with reseller hosting for my clients who want domains, hosting, email accounts, websites & blog (small scale), plus our own website, then hardware such as pc's, laptops, headsets, printers etc.

[Comspec]

Out of interest, where is the 'Irish' branch likely to be, I might be able to recommend someone locally to it.

I would just talk to the local companies, tell them what your needs are, and tell them they'll get the call if you need them, providing they provide the level of service you require. This kind of informal setup tends to be a little easier, because of a few reasons:
1) You ain't paying for something you need ;)
2) The company will be well aware that you have demands that need to be satisfied, or you'll go to their competitor.
3) The competition between the local companies, if they give a stuff, will mean they will want to retain you, so should put the effort in.

Make it plain what you want, and what you'll not accept, and just pay for the service as you need it. If they are serious about their business, they'll fall in with your demands.

Disclaimer: If any of my customers are listening, the above advice is absolutely terrible, so don't even think about it ;) :D

[Offshore]

Hi Maxine,

We are a local IT support and solutions company based just between Cambridge and Huntingdon we have been going for over 28 years and deal with our clients on a arrangement that suits them. We have a excellent team renowned for technical ability and customer service to which our clients would testify. As we are both in Cambridge area, it might be worth at least a chat about what we are able to offer you and your business. I more than happy to give you a call if you were able to PM your contact details or likewise I can PM you my contact details.
Best Regards
Matt

[maxine]

It's in a lovely little place called Clonmel, South Tipperary which I think is a bit far from you depending on what you charge for milleage :) Delighted if you can recommend someone though :) The first challenge I seem to have there is lack of broadband!

Thanks for the advice Compsec :) I honestly thought it would be easier and more efficient for support types if they had more access and control and say in things upfront rather than running around like reactive things after the event but I completely take your points about competitiveness :) Thanks again.

ps - love the disclaimer! :)

[Leo-InstallingIT]

Hi

Personally I agree that having a contract in place may be beneficial - but I would say that :).
My main reason for saying this, is that having a contract in place with our clients enables us to do a lot more ongoing work, such as providing detailed information on all their hardware & software - so in the event of a problem we know exactly how things are set up. Even to the point where we sometimes have pictures of peoples office's so that we can guide them in to things over the phone, i.e where the router is located etc.

However I do understand that you don't really want to be paying for things that you aren't using, but I don't know about others but we don't charge a fortune for this.

I hope this helps,
Many Thanks

Leo

[maxine]

Thanks Leo :)

[FireFleur]

It sounds to me like you need an assistant who has a bit of technical nous, and a few phone numbers of people you could both lean on from time to time.

Pay by the hour for that, and have your gal / lad Friday for other parts of the business as well.

[pcservicenetwork]

Hi Maxine

How much have you had to spend on IT support in the last 12 months? Iman actal support, not just setting up new users or new installations. If the answer is not a lot then do you need a support contract? Probably not.

On the other hand, how much are your IT support needs likely to grow in the next 12 months? How many new users/installations are you going to require?

I have a customer who has only got 3 computers/users in their office but were adamant that they wanted support contracted. To them the timescale of repairs is the crucial thing, but as you have already said, time is not that big a deal for you.

I would suggest that if you don't have a lot of support issues currently, then dont bother with cotracts. If you have a server though, then I would definitely look at a remote support package for this, as it will ensure that this is correctly maintained with critical updates, etc.

Dave

[Pensar IT Management]

Hi Maxine

I wouldn't get too hung up about 'contracts' - you just need to decide what works best for you/your business and an IT Support company should tailor their support to meet your business requirements.

Any good IT support company should be able to provide you with either ad-hoc support (where you pay for the time you use - usually in 15 minute or 30 minute intervals) or a full support contract.


What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Contract: Key advantages:
Before you sign a contract with an IT provider you should get a full IT audit whereby the IT support company audits your current IT systems to cut wastage and ensure you are using the best technology to get maximum productivity in your business.

They should also make recommendations to make your systems easier and cheaper to manage as well as identify any issues, reduce business risk by improving security and check warranties etc. This IT audit should be free - any good IT provider should be happy to do this to demonstrate their professionalism and skill set.

You normally commit to a certain number of support hours each day/week/month depending on the size of your business. Again - this should work for you - such as being able to carry over support hours that you didn't use the previous month.

You should also ensure you have the response times (as part of an Service Level Agreement) that work for your business - ie if you place a support call how quickly do you want someone to respond/give remote support/visit your site.

You should have one named engineer mapped onto your business who acts as your IT support engineer - so you dont have to deal with lots of different people and explain your setup/IT issues every time you call for support. Most good IT support companies will do this anyway but a contract can lock this down for you.

One last point - the hourly rate for IT support should be less than for ad-hoc hours.

Disadvantage: The main disadvantage for a contract is that you have to give notice - again you shoudl ensure this works for you - perhaps 1 months notice is all you would need?


Ad-hoc: key advantages:
The obvious advantage that you only pay for the support hours you use.

If you are not happy with the IT support you get from your provider than you can simply switch to another without having to give notice or being tied into a contract.

Disadvantages:
The response times may not be as fast depending on the company you use and the hourly rates are usually higher for ad-hoc support.



My advice would be to get recommendations from business associates, shortlist 3 IT support companies, draw up a list of your requirements (including the need for remote support for all employees wherever they are based).

Ask those shortlisted IT support companies if they will carry out a free IT audit, check what they identify on the audit, ensure you meet personally with all 3 and decide who you feel you could best work with. Then propose ad-hoc support for the first 2 months if that is what you are most comfortable with and if you are happy with the support after that sign a contract to reduce your hourly costs and get lock down response times and service levels.


I haven't covered everything here - just trying to get the key points in!

Hope this helps!

[maxine]

It sounds to me like you need an assistant who has a bit of technical nous, and a few phone numbers of people you could both lean on from time to time.

Pay by the hour for that, and have your gal / lad Friday for other parts of the business as well.

Yes you might be right and I hadn't thought of that! There is an opportunity with our clients who want web sites, blogs, domains, hosting and email accounts which we pass on to other suppliers at the moment which is very low scale but potential to grow. I am just about to enter a reseller agreement with someone so having a bit of a techy-type assistant could mean that we bring some of the work in house and grow that area a bit more. Thanks for getting my brain moving on this as something to think about! :)

Hi Maxine

How much have you had to spend on IT support in the last 12 months? Iman actal support, not just setting up new users or new installations. If the answer is not a lot then do you need a support contract? Probably not.

On the other hand, how much are your IT support needs likely to grow in the next 12 months? How many new users/installations are you going to require?

I would suggest that if you don't have a lot of support issues currently, then dont bother with cotracts. If you have a server though, then I would definitely look at a remote support package for this, as it will ensure that this is correctly maintained with critical updates, etc.

Dave

Thanks Dave. It hasn't actually cost me much at the moment, just a few quid here and there along with beer, chocolate cake and pizza! But the thing is I feel guilty about asking friends and family for help even though quite often they insist on not taking money from me but there is more that I want doing and I want to get on a more proactive footing than reactive trouble shooting. What it has cost me though is lost opportunity cost in terms of my time as I might waste time scrabbling about under desks or on hold for ages to suppliers or reading manuals to do stuff (or posting dim questions on here) when there is money per hour that I should be earning :)

Hi Maxine

I wouldn't get too hung up about 'contracts' - you just need to decide what works best for you/your business and an IT Support company should tailor their support to meet your business requirements.

Any good IT support company should be able to provide you with either ad-hoc support (where you pay for the time you use - usually in 15 minute or 30 minute intervals) or a full support contract.


What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Contract: Key advantages:
Before you sign a contract with an IT provider you should get a full IT audit whereby the IT support company audits your current IT systems to cut wastage and ensure you are using the best technology to get maximum productivity in your business.

They should also make recommendations to make your systems easier and cheaper to manage as well as identify any issues, reduce business risk by improving security and check warranties etc. This IT audit should be free - any good IT provider should be happy to do this to demonstrate their professionalism and skill set.

You normally commit to a certain number of support hours each day/week/month depending on the size of your business. Again - this should work for you - such as being able to carry over support hours that you didn't use the previous month.

You should also ensure you have the response times (as part of an Service Level Agreement) that work for your business - ie if you place a support call how quickly do you want someone to respond/give remote support/visit your site.

You should have one named engineer mapped onto your business who acts as your IT support engineer - so you dont have to deal with lots of different people and explain your setup/IT issues every time you call for support. Most good IT support companies will do this anyway but a contract can lock this down for you.

One last point - the hourly rate for IT support should be less than for ad-hoc hours.

Disadvantage: The main disadvantage for a contract is that you have to give notice - again you shoudl ensure this works for you - perhaps 1 months notice is all you would need?


Ad-hoc: key advantages:
The obvious advantage that you only pay for the support hours you use.

If you are not happy with the IT support you get from your provider than you can simply switch to another without having to give notice or being tied into a contract.

Disadvantages:
The response times may not be as fast depending on the company you use and the hourly rates are usually higher for ad-hoc support.



My advice would be to get recommendations from business associates, shortlist 3 IT support companies, draw up a list of your requirements (including the need for remote support for all employees wherever they are based).

Ask those shortlisted IT support companies if they will carry out a free IT audit, check what they identify on the audit, ensure you meet personally with all 3 and decide who you feel you could best work with. Then propose ad-hoc support for the first 2 months if that is what you are most comfortable with and if you are happy with the support after that sign a contract to reduce your hourly costs and get lock down response times and service levels.


I haven't covered everything here - just trying to get the key points in!

Hope this helps!

Thanks for brilliant advice and for taking the time to reply! :) I would be quite happy to pay for the audit as don't feel it is fair to ask people to do this for free after all they are giving their skills and knowledge away without the committment of an order and I hate it when that happens to me. Perhaps though they could refund some/all of this if I go with them as that might be a bit nicer than feeling I am just going to take their ideas and audit info and pass to someone else to support and might encourage the audit to be more generous and considered.

I suppose the only difficult points are

a) How do I know if they are actually any good? How do I as a business owner try to reduce the risk of them messing things up or making things to complicated for me to manage on a day to day? Should I just rely on testimonials?

b) How do I know whether the things recommended in the audit are right for my business as there can be a risk of blinding me with science?

Thanks so much for advice so far everyone :) Really appreciate it

[Pensar IT Management]

Hi Maxine

Re your two specific questions:


a) How do I know if they are actually any good? How do I as a business owner try to reduce the risk of them messing things up or making things to complicated for me to manage on a day to day? Should I just rely on testimonials?

I wouldn't rely on testimonials - I would ask for references from two or three of their existing clients (ideally businesses of a similar set up to yours) and then call those references. Ask them about the service they are getting, any downsides etc.



b) How do I know whether the things recommended in the audit are right for my business as there can be a risk of blinding me with science?

They should present the audit to you in English - not tech speak! A good audit will also identify and prioritise - ie urgent issues to be addresssed immediatel, medium term issues that can wait but will need to be addressed (ie such as a server that may be on it's way out etc) and longer term issues such as looking to upgrade systems in a years time.

I think the most important point for your own peace of mind is to speak to other businesses who can really recommend their IT support service and get references.

[Shropshire Bogtrotter]

Hi Maxine,There is already some sound advice in the thread which I would echo. Talk to several providers, invite them to meet you and go through your requirements, then see what they can offer. I also totally agree with Pensar's comment of then calling existing clients of your prefered choice to get a reasonable idea of how good they are.We are an IT support team based in Cambridge and would certainly be happy to discuss how we could support you. We offer support contracts and ad-hoc support. The main advantage of a support contract is that we agree a fixed monthly price based on your requirements, so you know exactly what your cost is each month. You also get guarenteed response times, and a more proactive service. If you have less frequent requirements then pay-as-you-go pricing is the way to go, so you only pay for what you use.As for blinding you with science, I promise we won't do that. We want you to understand what we propose so that you then see the value of it to your business.I'll PM across our details for reference.Jon StantonPEM IT Services

[computer storm]

Also another good place to find good IT support company's that support Small Businesses is on the Microsoft site, that is if you use any of the Microsoft software.

You could start there, and if it is anything to do with small busness server, server 2003 or 2008 then at least you know they have passed Microsofts guides and tests