Some things can get by with being just ‘okay,’ like menial and easy tasks that offer no feeling of accomplishment or a plain baloney sandwich for lunch. But if you feel that your IT service is just ‘okay,’ you may have another think coming. To many CEOs and administrators, IT is a mysterious necessity that they’d rather not think about – until they have to, and the reason they suddenly have to think about it is because it stopped working.
Ideally, your IT person or team should be invisible to you as you concentrate on the core nature of your business and the goals you have set. Your network is just like your automobile - every time you start either one up, you want and expect a permanent ‘Yes’ response, and you don’t know something’s wrong until you do not get that response.
It Broke - Now What?
A car is one thing, a network is quite another. It’s always better to turn your car key and have nothing happen then to have a failure when you’re driving, like your power steering going out on a winding mountain road. Whatever the situation, it will usually require roadside assistance and possibly time in the shop.
When your network goes down, your business grinds to halt until IT fixes it. In the Charlotte IT Community, there is a range of service models available, from the hourly rate, garden variety ‘IT Guys’ (called ‘Break/Fix’ or B&F in the industry) to all-encompassing Managed Services Provider (MSP).
If It Ain’t Broke… Break It!
We frequently speak with CEOs and administrators who thought everything was okay… until it wasn’t. Maybe they thought they were getting off cheaply by paying a B&F IT ‘Guy’ by the hour and only calling when the network or a workstation was down. Typically, each office visit is billed and paid separately, so it’s not until they reconcile all those bills that they really see how much it’s costing them – usually a lot more than they thought.
What is a break-fix issue?
Break/Fix presents many issues, most of which drain your wallet.
1) To start with, there’s that word ‘Break’. Breaking is not a good thing. With an MSP, things can still break, but it’s not a basis for the service model. Proactive, predictive maintenance keeps most things from breaking. Hourly rate B&F people are just there to fix broken things. An MSP saves time and money for both themselves and their clients by preventing breakdowns – they are not difficult6 for experienced professionals to foresee.
2) When a network dies, an emergency is born, and it takes time before you can resume normal operations. When something breaks down and you call your Break/Fix guy, probably have to leave a message, and you wait. You wait for a call back, you wait for them to show up, you wait while they troubleshoot and figure out the problem and you wait for them to fix it.
The IT HelpDesk at an MSP will answer the call with a live person, and depending on the nature of the issue, will typically have it fixed within 20 – 30 minutes.
3) A B&F guy gets paid by the hour, so there is NO incentive to get things done quickly, and NO incentive to fix it right the first time – we call this kind of work the ‘Band Aid’ approach – more downtime for you.
4) Break/Fix is Reactive, not Proactive. Preventive (Predictive) maintenance means less downtime.
5) Inadequate security. Hopefully, your security patches and updates have been set to be performed automatically, but do you know if they are even being done at all? Do you know if you have secure, reliable backups in the event of the disaster that’s waiting to happen?
We have been called in by companies whose ‘IT Guy’ didn’t know what to do when they suffered a Ransomware attack – only to find that there were no backups at all, so no way to wipe the infected computers and reinstall the data, effectively forcing the company into paying the ransom.
8) With invoices coming in irregularly, you are typically unaware of the true cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are examples of IT services?
IT offerings can vary to a wide degree, but TechKnowledgey provides an excellent breakdown of the palate of services offered within the IT industry HERE.
What does remote monitoring do?
It saves time and money, not to mention gasoline. Special software is installed in each workstation and server on the client’s network, allowing offsite access to the network to both monitor and make repairs with speed and accuracy. Over 85% of all issues on a network can be easily handled remotely.
What is a Managed IT Service company?
It's a full-time, 24/7 company that keeps you up and running. The key points are a fixed monthly subscription/retainer price, remote monitoring and repair and predictive maintenance. Through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) the complete scope of all services for which the MSP takes responsibility are well defined for the client, as well as any ‘out-of-scope’ work.
Who needs Managed IT Services?
Regardless of the size, every business needs some kind of IT. A ‘garage startup’ may do things themselves, but with any success, it won’t be long before they will need to look at some form of outsourced IT. Typically, once a business has a minimum of 10 users, they will need to outsource, both financially and productivity-wise, although a small business can benefit greatly, depending on the nature of their business and the complexity of their network setup.
What are the key concepts underlying IT Services Management?
At its core, an MSP takes a proactively holistic approach to network infrastructure – looking after the whole rather than dealing only with individual components. They do this with 24/7 remote monitoring and predictive maintenance. As issues arise in components, we not only address them, but examine why the issue occurred and how it matters in relation to the overall infrastructure. This is extremely important for small business.
How much should Managed IT Services cost?
With a wide array of service offerings, the pricing will vary. The services covered will be laid out in the SLA (Service Level Agreement), and the cost consists of a monthly subscription or retainer fee arrangement with the MSP, and those costs depend on the range of services.
The range can go from a ‘bare bones’ arrangement at around $75+/per user/per month, to the all-inclusive level of service pricing, which generally falls between $100 to $175 per user/per month. Especially for small business IT, one should look suspiciously at anything higher than $175. According to Thumbtack, the overall average price for a minimal MSP offering runs $80 to $100 per user per month.
How secure is your network?
As a longstanding, reputable member of the Charlotte IT Support community, ITFIRM.COM offers a FREE, no-risk network and security assessment. We perform a non-intrusive scan that allows us to deliver a comprehensive report of the state of your system and its vulnerabilities that is yours to keep. There are no strings attached, and you are under no obligation to ever to use our Managed IT services.
The two best defenses are next-generation network security to protect your data from theft, and a top-notch Managed Services Provider (MSP) to ensure continued reliability and defenses against newly emerging threats.
We put our 100% Money Back Guarantee in writing, so there is no risk in trying us out. Because we do not require a ‘hard’ contract, our clients can fire us at any time with 30 days’ notice. We have to be good.
Among the Managed IT services we provide:
IT HelpDesk Service
Onsite IT Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud migration and management
Email migration services
Backup and disaster recovery
VoIP phone systems
IT disposition and recycling
Office moves
White label services (IT to IT)
Planning an Office Move?
Contact ITFIRM.COM today! We have the experience to ensure a seamless transition. After the move, your employees will arrive at the new location to find their IT infrastructure ready and open for business!
For more information on moving, or to receive your FREE no-risk network and security assessment, just fill out the form on this page or call us at:
704-565-9705
