Do you think you are getting a deal and then end up paying premium prices for crap?
Let me start with an example.
Last weekend, I took a break from solving computer problems and decided to take a short trip to the Smokey Mountains. The leaves were starting to change, making it the perfect time to appreciate the beautiful countryside.
I decided to book a room at a hotel I was familiar with—somewhere I felt had a good reputation. When I booked my room, I found a room at a reasonably inexpensive price. The great value was going to make the weekend even better!
When I got to the hotel, I realized what my bargain find was really worth. Nothing had been updated (or even well-maintained) since the 1970’s when it was first built. The first things I noticed when walking into the room: extension cords strewn around the room connecting brass lamps and a blinking alarm clock (time was not set) all to one outlet. There was only one free outlet for me to plug in a device—knowing that I am glued to a computer, tablet and phone, one plug was completely insufficient. In the bathroom, the toilet ran all night, one of the two towels was stained and the sink was leaking.
I had spent just over $190 a night at this 4-star hotel thinking that I was getting a deal. Leaving the Smokies, I felt like I had overpaid for a dated room, “okay” service and no luxury perks—no fluffy robe, no coffee or breakfast included, an old room with a tube television.
What the heck has this to do with computer support?
Value is something you’re constantly thinking about when it comes to choosing the right managed services company for your business.
When you think about value for your IT support, what does it really mean?
What comes to mind is cost savings, right? But I’m sure you can appreciate cost savings may get the dirty room package: unresponsive service, little communication, inconsistent maintenance and plenty of downtime.
What you might not realize ahead of time is that IT support at rock bottom prices often costs you more money long term. I’ve had customers turn our services down because we were more expensive, later realizing that they were nickeled and dimed to death because nothing ever worked with a budget-saving IT service.
And these costs aren’t trivial. Here are just 3 points many of them have given when coming back to get our help after having nightmares working with companies they thought would save them money.
User downtime—unresponsive service brings your users less productive work time. I’ve had customers that consistently experienced nearly 24 hour wait for problems to even get touched! Let’s say 5% of your tickets are problems that lead to work stoppage (i.e., employees twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to get fixed) and let’s assume that on average you pay employees $30 an hour. On average, a 20-user business is forfeiting over $1000 a month in unproductive staff working hours.
“Not Covered”—most times when you notice discrepancy in IT pricing among vendors, there are differences in the level of service provided. That’s to say, all the things you expect to be covered by your IT team—including real time support—end up not being covered at all. And many of these “Not Covered” items are equivalents that you would expect to have in even the most basic of hotel rooms—servers, workstations backed up, networks protected, data kept safe and your business compliant. Often, your “value” vendors will raise your blood pressure by charging you extra fees for onsite visits, surcharges for immediate responsive service or after hours support.
“Manage the manager”— you may need someone on your team to constantly follow up with your value support to get problems resolved. The downtime that frustrates your users may also send you crawling up the walls. You should expect to put your support team’s help desk number on speed dial because you (or someone on your team) will likely be the person constantly following up to make sure that things are getting done as promised. You effectively will get an additional role of IT manager (even if you have no training whatsoever in IT!).
Your business depends on consistent support that is up front, reliable and supporting your team when they need it (not when is convenient to them). If you’re tired of getting nickeled and dimed, tired of unresponsive support staff, or need an IT solution that can consistently keep your business compliant, contact us today for a FREE network assessment.
