When someone mentions contracts and money in the same sentence most people panic, many don’t want to be tied into any type of contract for any length of time. However businesses are trying to regulate their spending, with stricter budgets and tighter purse strings. So when it comes to IT support which is the best option for your business?
Both Pay as You Use and Contract have good points, in this article we will discuss what we consider the key points of each. We can help you implement either option successfully but ultimately the choice is yours.
Save Money?
Pay as You Use does what it says on the tin; whatever support calls you make, time we spend on fixing problems or advising, you are billed only when it happens. This is great if you are not very IT reliant and don’t envisage that you will use many hours. You can make sure you get what you pay for and only pay for what you get.
Contract may suit you if you know your company relies more heavily on IT or you think that you will need more than just a couple of hours a month, maybe your not even sure how many hours you will use. A good way to budget for this is one fixed monthly amount. Included in your contract we also spend at least 6 hours a month per server, behind the scenes inspecting your infrastructure. So reducing the number of support calls you should need to make by proactively resolving issues that we find.
Services and Products?
Any of our services and products can be purchased outside of your contract, added to your contract and sometimes included in your contract, or they can be purchased separately if you are a Pay as You Use customer. Regardless of which option you choose all our clients receive the same great treatment, the fast response times and have access to all the same services and products.
We also provide, advice, installations and project work, when you are signed up to a contract you get great prices on these services which as a Pay as You Use customer you would be charged in full. Another example is that we offer online backups and data recovery which when used together are exceptionally effective. E-mail services such as spam filtering, anti-virus, mail archiving complement each other like many of our other services.
You see, all of our services are built around flexibility, not obligation. Having said that, some services are better used in conjunction with others and we’ll steer you in the right direction. If we think a product or service meets the needs of your business then we will suggest it and explain all the options.
Peace of Mind
It’s almost impossible to predict when disaster will strike but you can be sure it’s never convenient, in-fact there never is a right time! However we can help you plan for the times when it does happen. One way we do this is to offer both Contract and Pay as You Use clients our out of hour’s service which you can access by calling the office after hours and following instructions. As a small business ourselves we understand the importance of your IT and also your time. If you have a problem with a 3rd party regarding anything technical, phone, internet, website ect then we can handle the problem for you. We can call of your behalf and get the results and answers you need without you spending all your time to get them.
That’s the biggest advantage of a contract, whatever problems you have, phone calls, advice, 3rd party calls, tickets through our support suite are all included in your monthly fee. On the other hand, if you are a Pay as You Use client the costs can quickly add up.
Summary
Overall, the question of if a support contract or a Pay as You Use would be the right decision for your business really depends on what your business needs are, how reliant on IT your are and how protected you want your business to be. The important thing is to get expert advice before you make a decision, so you have all of the options and some first-hand experience to help you meet the needs of your business in the most effective and cost conscious way possible.
