Maintenance Agreements

Larger companies will invariably have an IT department that takes care of all their day to day requirements but for smaller companies this is not normally possible or practical due to the overheads associated with this.  A company that does not have the luxury of its own dedicated IT department will normally fall into one of the following categories:-

• A business with a dedicated member of staff to deal with IT who's sole function is to look after the day to day running of the computer systems.

• A business with a member of staff that has a keen interest in IT and is thus able to deal with many of the daily IT problems that arise but it is not their main job function

• A business where the MD or other senior member of staff has through necessity muddled through and managed to install a system but they don't really have any IT knowledge and end up wasting valuable time on trying to resolve IT problems rather than doing the job they are paid for

• A business with no internal IT resource that will rely on assistance from a Friend or family member or subcontract the work out 100% to an IT company that provides support services.

Hands-On Computers are able to assist with any company that fits into the above categories through either a Labour Only or a Fully Managed support agreement which you can get full details of by clicking the relevant link.  For a better understanding of how we are able to work with each of the above types of company please read on.

Business's with a dedicated IT manger

On a day to day basis our service is not going to be required with this sort of company as the day to day tasks are dealt with by the IT manager.  Where we are able to help with this type of company is in assisting the IT manager directly either with specific projects that are outside of his/her skill set, when the job requires more than one set of hands or as temporary cover when the IT manager is on holiday or sick. 

In most cases companies that fit this category will take a labour only support agreement and we will often not see or hear from them for months but we are there as and when the need arises.

Business's that use member of staff who's main job is not looking after IT

As with companies that have a dedicated IT manager we will often act as a backup to the person dealing with the IT but the need for outside assistance is much greater as understandably if IT is not that persons main job then they will not have the experience and depth of knowledge to handle every situation that arises. 

This sort of scenario is very common to us and proves very successful for the customer as they are happy in the knowledge that they have someone onsite that can deal with the simple immediate issues that regularly crop up but also know should their person be on holiday or off sick they already have backup cover in place. 

Another plus of this scenario is that when project work comes up we will be happy to assist on these jobs thus making sure that the project is carried out as it should be and with the least amount of disruption, which (from experience) is unlikely to be the case if someone is learning how to do something for the first time on your live network.

Companies that fit this category will normally go for a labour only agreement but we are actively trying to encourage these types of business to add elements of a managed service as most non dedicated IT staff will deal with the daily issues that arise but they wont normally do any form of proactive maintenance such as patch management, auditing, general system maintenance etc.  The end result of this is that over a period of time problems start to build up in the network that could have been prevented and these problems will eventually lead to a major failure and downtime which is annoying for all within the company and generally expensive in terms of lost revenue and damage to credibility with customers.

With this sort of business an ideal scenario would be to have a labour only agreement plus the maintenance and auditing elements of our managed service.

Business's where the MD or another non IT staff member deals with IT problems

This sort of model is OK when you only have one or two PC's but beyond that it becomes increasingly difficult to balance IT and your day to day job.  The point when we normally meet with this sort of company is when the work load of the person that is dealing with the IT is too great for them to be able handle the IT issues or when they have simply had enough and don't want the hassle and responsibility of the IT any more.

For this sort of company the main barrier for taking the plunge and signing up with a support company is the perceived cost but when you look at how much time you waste on IT that could be used elsewhere in your business you quickly realise that getting someone in that will sort the problem within an hour rather than spending 5 hours yourself and achieving nothing but a few more grey hairs is better for your business.

The ideal scenario for this type of company is a fully managed service as with this everything that is required to keep your IT fully functional and running efficiently is covered under a fixed monthly cost thus avoiding the possibility of a big IT bill arriving on your desk at the same time as the VAT being due!

Business's with no internal IT resource

If you don't have anyone in house who can (or wants to) deal with your IT issues then you have no choice but to rely upon outside resources.  In the early stages of a company in this category the outside resource will generally be a friend who either works in IT or who has a keen interest and who is thus happy to help out because they enjoy it.

The above situation is OK for a time but will nearly always end up in one or more of the following situations:-

• The friend looses interest or no longer has the time to help you out

• Your business grows and thus the IT requirement grows but your friend has a full time job and as much as they would like to get onsite within the next few hours it simply isn't possible.

• Your friend goes on holiday and you have a major IT disaster... enough said

• Your business grows but your friends technical knowledge is not good enough to plan and implement the appropriate technology so your business starts to suffer

• You fall out with your friend (often because of the above situations and the pressures this will put on a relationship) and no longer want to have a beer with them let alone call them for IT support!

Some of the above situations also apply when you have subcontracted your IT support out to a one man band with the main complaint being that you can never get hold of them as they are too busy with another customers problems and can only be in one place at a time.

The ideal scenario for this category of company is to take up a fully managed service however there are times when simply taking the IT away from your friend or the one man band that has done their best for you over the years may not be appropriate.  Under these circumstances we would recommend taking a labour only agreement and initially working in a similar fashion to companies in category 2 by providing assistance and backup to your current IT supplier.  In some instances we have found that this situation has carried on for many years but generally there will be a natural decrease of the work done by the original provider which is often in line with further growth in your company and an understanding that the IT function has moved beyond what they can provide.