Getting Reliable IT Support
Discussion
Is it too much to ask for?
Relatively small firm; about ten bits of kit all linked into a server and yer basic Microsoft stuff. A VPN for the four of us the work remotely. Is it reliable?
if it's not one thing it's another and it's starting to get that we can't rely on the one man band that has been looking after it all now. Even the Boss has started to lose patience - he can see our productivity suffering.
So what's the secret to getting a good support company to look after us? Any good tips of what to look out for welcome. I want to convince boss that it's worthwhile looking for a potential replacement.
Relatively small firm; about ten bits of kit all linked into a server and yer basic Microsoft stuff. A VPN for the four of us the work remotely. Is it reliable?
if it's not one thing it's another and it's starting to get that we can't rely on the one man band that has been looking after it all now. Even the Boss has started to lose patience - he can see our productivity suffering. So what's the secret to getting a good support company to look after us? Any good tips of what to look out for welcome. I want to convince boss that it's worthwhile looking for a potential replacement.
One-man bands or small companies tend to cater to your needs on a greater basis… so often worth looking for those. See if anyone locally (other businesses) have any recommendations. IT support is either good or bad… it's rarely "OK". Larger companies may claim better service, but they will tend to juggle clients to suit them… smaller outfits NEED your business to survive so will look after you better.
Depending on the systems you have, make sure the personel are qualified to look after that sort of kit… the basics for MS products is somethig like the MCSE… if you're using specialist equipment, make sure they can support it properly.
Often worth getting prospective support around… feed them some duff information about the system (knowing it's wrong) and make sure they correct you... if they bullsh*t you, then don't consider them.
Depending on the systems you have, make sure the personel are qualified to look after that sort of kit… the basics for MS products is somethig like the MCSE… if you're using specialist equipment, make sure they can support it properly.
Often worth getting prospective support around… feed them some duff information about the system (knowing it's wrong) and make sure they correct you... if they bullsh*t you, then don't consider them.
beano500 said:The secret is not to outsource a mission critical support role! If your productivity is so dependent on a third party, wouldn't it make sense to actually EMPLOY someone?
Is it too much to ask for?
Relatively small firm; about ten bits of kit all linked into a server and yer basic Microsoft stuff. A VPN for the four of us the work remotely. Is it reliable?
So what's the secret to getting a good support company to look after us? Any good tips of what to look out for welcome. I want to convince boss that it's worthwhile looking for a potential replacement.
victormeldrew said:
Is it too much to ask for?
Relatively small firm; about ten bits of kit all linked into a server and yer basic Microsoft stuff. A VPN for the four of us the work remotely. Is it reliable?
So what's the secret to getting a good support company to look after us? Any good tips of what to look out for welcome. I want to convince boss that it's worthwhile looking for a potential replacement.
The secret is not to outsource a mission critical support role! If your productivity is so dependent on a third party, wouldn't it make sense to actually EMPLOY someone?
Some basic IT training for all users may help them overcome problems on their own.
How old is the kit you are using? Are the faults you are getting hardware or software related?
How many times does equipment fail? Is it the same peice of equipment or software each time?
Has the Server been spec'd correctly for what you are using it for?
If its connectivity issues from external users it could be the comms link being used not the hardware.
You need to find the root cause of any issues before you think about out sourcing! I wouldn't recommend it as it is worse for the users in the long fun
This is a waffly extension of Plotloss's suggestion...
Not the first company to be in this position. First up, I expect you realise that your IT requirements are actually fairly complex. You may be lucky and be able to find a local bloke who is a good all-rounder and can look after all of your needs cheaply. They do exist, but there aren't many of them and there are many more bullshitters. Best to find them by recommendation.
If you can't find such a person and will need to rely on small outsourcing firms whose judgement and quality you are not in a good position to assess, or if you want a reliable second opinion, you might well benefit from getting in a consultant who can analyse (and document and explain):
(1) the current state of your systems
(2) analyse your requirements based on what you think they are, and what he can suggest would be good for your business
(3) design the systems you need
(4) provide you with a map of how you need to proceed (e.g. set out how you can pick an outsource firm to implement the design, suggest the level of in-house knowledge you need to acquire)
I would expect this to take around a week and probably cost you something like £4k.
It may seem like a lot "just to get some paperwork", but given the amount of time and money that it is easy to waste paying for support you don't need, buying equipment that is unsuitable, having systems unavailable due to entirely avoidable cock up or failure, then I would say it is money well spent. (An example of the type of sitution you want to avoid: You require a server. Your out-sourcer, who will be providing same-day support, recommends a box. It is in their interest to get you to buy the most robust server on the market, regardless of the cost/benefit to you. I once got a recommendation to buy a £15k server when two £3k ones would provide equal performace and better protection to me given what we wanted to achieve. Support was cheaper and slightly more likely to be used with the two 3k boxes. The two-box solution was clearly much better for us and in the first year was £9k cheaper than the system our otherwise quite professional outsourcers had recommended.)
I can recommend a consultant who could do this for you if you are interested.
Not the first company to be in this position. First up, I expect you realise that your IT requirements are actually fairly complex. You may be lucky and be able to find a local bloke who is a good all-rounder and can look after all of your needs cheaply. They do exist, but there aren't many of them and there are many more bullshitters. Best to find them by recommendation.
If you can't find such a person and will need to rely on small outsourcing firms whose judgement and quality you are not in a good position to assess, or if you want a reliable second opinion, you might well benefit from getting in a consultant who can analyse (and document and explain):
(1) the current state of your systems
(2) analyse your requirements based on what you think they are, and what he can suggest would be good for your business
(3) design the systems you need
(4) provide you with a map of how you need to proceed (e.g. set out how you can pick an outsource firm to implement the design, suggest the level of in-house knowledge you need to acquire)
I would expect this to take around a week and probably cost you something like £4k.
It may seem like a lot "just to get some paperwork", but given the amount of time and money that it is easy to waste paying for support you don't need, buying equipment that is unsuitable, having systems unavailable due to entirely avoidable cock up or failure, then I would say it is money well spent. (An example of the type of sitution you want to avoid: You require a server. Your out-sourcer, who will be providing same-day support, recommends a box. It is in their interest to get you to buy the most robust server on the market, regardless of the cost/benefit to you. I once got a recommendation to buy a £15k server when two £3k ones would provide equal performace and better protection to me given what we wanted to achieve. Support was cheaper and slightly more likely to be used with the two 3k boxes. The two-box solution was clearly much better for us and in the first year was £9k cheaper than the system our otherwise quite professional outsourcers had recommended.)
I can recommend a consultant who could do this for you if you are interested.
I am a silent partner in an IT Support company. My two colleagues are excellent technicians with nearly 20 years experience between them. One of the biggest problems we face is that SME's just don't want to pay the money for decent support. It often ends up in a dutch auction when discussing prices/costs at which point I will walk away. You get what you pay for, most of our work comes from personal recomendation but lots of people just don't get it. We have even taken emergency jobs from potential customers, when they have had server failures. We were on site within an hour and had the server back online within a day and then the guy tried to stiff us on the price. We eventually got our money but it was a big lesson for us.
I do feel for companies who get ropey support because I always see it as a potential customer that we could have done a proper job for, but that proper support comes at a price.
I do feel for companies who get ropey support because I always see it as a potential customer that we could have done a proper job for, but that proper support comes at a price.
Well said rlk500 I am afraid you are so right. It has pertty much turned into a box shifting operation and everyone believes the hype. If only it were as easy as just buying a server or piece of software and everything is integrated at the press of a key........yeah right..(those Dell and IBM ads really get my goat, talk about smoke and mirrors.....)
Can second what most people are saying on here, and often an investment in sorting out the underlying problems you have can save you a fortune in the long run.
A support company who my last employer used in the early days has a great system based around units. You buy a certain number of units which stay banked until you need them - the more you have banked, the better your guarunteed response time is. When you call someone out, their time takes units off your total (depending on type of problem and seniority of the person needed to fix it - simple PC problems are cheap, complex server ones or emergency callouts are more expensive). You don't have to replenish units straight after they're spent (eg. if you have a tight month), and you can use the units for anything besides support - say if you want someone to come in and do a software audit, or upgrade a server, or install a new version of office on all the PCs.
I've heard of other support companies doing similar and it's worked really well for the small companies I know - if staff can become more self-reliant, it costs the company less and the support company doesn't consider every callout as draining from their profit for the year.
And look into getting spare kit if your time is that valuable - a spare laptop at a grand or so could pay for itself easily instead of a couple of days of unproductive time while people wait for a repair.
A support company who my last employer used in the early days has a great system based around units. You buy a certain number of units which stay banked until you need them - the more you have banked, the better your guarunteed response time is. When you call someone out, their time takes units off your total (depending on type of problem and seniority of the person needed to fix it - simple PC problems are cheap, complex server ones or emergency callouts are more expensive). You don't have to replenish units straight after they're spent (eg. if you have a tight month), and you can use the units for anything besides support - say if you want someone to come in and do a software audit, or upgrade a server, or install a new version of office on all the PCs.
I've heard of other support companies doing similar and it's worked really well for the small companies I know - if staff can become more self-reliant, it costs the company less and the support company doesn't consider every callout as draining from their profit for the year.
And look into getting spare kit if your time is that valuable - a spare laptop at a grand or so could pay for itself easily instead of a couple of days of unproductive time while people wait for a repair.
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