IT Support Wanted
Discussion
How do you go about procuring an IT support contract?
We have a single hp server with tape backup and UPS / 3 laptops / 2 windows mobiles with push email / 2 IP phones / 1 desktop, 1 printer. Not much of a system, but absolutely critical to the business.
How do I go about writing a support tender? Regular maintenance and problem solving as and when are really all that is required. Plus possible upgrades as we take on more staff / locations.
I know the system can be remotely managed, but would I be best off going with local companies? Big company or small?
Mike
We have a single hp server with tape backup and UPS / 3 laptops / 2 windows mobiles with push email / 2 IP phones / 1 desktop, 1 printer. Not much of a system, but absolutely critical to the business.
How do I go about writing a support tender? Regular maintenance and problem solving as and when are really all that is required. Plus possible upgrades as we take on more staff / locations.
I know the system can be remotely managed, but would I be best off going with local companies? Big company or small?
Mike
A fair few people here run companies that do this. I work for one.
As I'm in the game, I would choose someone who is relatively close to you. Its not as essential now, as all work can be done remotely, but ime, if you have to go to site to rebuild a machine etc then its pap if other end of country.
We are moving to having an image of each PC type on a NAS in each site. PXE boot, flatten, start again
As I'm in the game, I would choose someone who is relatively close to you. Its not as essential now, as all work can be done remotely, but ime, if you have to go to site to rebuild a machine etc then its pap if other end of country.
We are moving to having an image of each PC type on a NAS in each site. PXE boot, flatten, start again
I'm afraid we can't help you in the north east, but have a look at what we offer for local companies in a similar situation to yourselves.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
HRG. said:
I'm afraid we can't help you in the north east, but have a look at what we offer for local companies in a similar situation to yourselves.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
We do exactly the same, primarily North West but stretch to London / Bristol.. Focus is on customer retention.What ^^^ they said. Another one in IT Support.
If your business is extremely sensitive to downtime (think about what you absoutely could not do business without, could you cope without your email? Do you have data compliance requirements etc) then you should also ask about some form of disaster recovery/business continuity solution too.
I think someone else aready mentioned a local image backup to a NAS box - add on offsite replication for DR and you could be up and running in hours, if not less, should anything happen to your infrastructure.
In general consider what you need provided/looking after - helpdesk services for user support, remote support for issue resolution, hardware and infrastructure maintenance, security, communications (internet, exchange, telephony, blackberry, website).
Most companies should be able to offer you a mixture of the above on a fixed monthly cost, or often called "a managed service".
Where abouts in the North East are you? I might be able to make a recommendation.
If your business is extremely sensitive to downtime (think about what you absoutely could not do business without, could you cope without your email? Do you have data compliance requirements etc) then you should also ask about some form of disaster recovery/business continuity solution too.
I think someone else aready mentioned a local image backup to a NAS box - add on offsite replication for DR and you could be up and running in hours, if not less, should anything happen to your infrastructure.
In general consider what you need provided/looking after - helpdesk services for user support, remote support for issue resolution, hardware and infrastructure maintenance, security, communications (internet, exchange, telephony, blackberry, website).
Most companies should be able to offer you a mixture of the above on a fixed monthly cost, or often called "a managed service".
Where abouts in the North East are you? I might be able to make a recommendation.
rich1231 said:
F355gtb2009 said:
pm me i do it for the MOD and government also do it for myself local businesses in the northwest,im regularry up NE way aswell
So you are not very good then? Or do offsites include the free distribution of sensitive data on unencrypted laptops.
I was hoping the MK in your username referred to Milton Keynes!
If did I would have been able to help you out as this is what we do. Look for a company that provides proactive monitoring of servers.
I would look for a proactive service over a break/fix one but you will pay slightly more.
If did I would have been able to help you out as this is what we do. Look for a company that provides proactive monitoring of servers.
I would look for a proactive service over a break/fix one but you will pay slightly more.
Hi, one of my roles is IT manager for a small, 10 user business, where IT is totally critical.
Firstly, its not just the hardware you want to be aware of its the software and OS use can be more important, as in my experience thast what you need support on most! Make sure you choose a company that can support and is familiar with both hardware and software you use.
I've dealt with loads of IT support companies, the best in reguards to actuall support are usually medium 40-100 staff sized companies, as they have a large breadth of staff, which usually equals a good range of experience.
I've worked with some companies local to me and to be honest a lot of them tended to be 1 man bands, or 1-5 men bands! This is fine, but I simply found they did't have the large range of experience in dealing with the wide range of problems out there and they made sloppy mistakes. Obviously this isnt always the case.
But on the other hand, if you get a problem local companues can come out to your premises quickly and more cost effectively than a remote company which is reassureing. Some of the companies that do "remote support" are very good. BUT no matter what they tell you there is only so much that can be done remotely and if you need someone on the premises often they can only make the next day. Not only this they often subcontract the work out to other companies which are not up to the same standard as the company the end user deals with.
Its a bit of a mindfield, but there are some good companies out there
Firstly, its not just the hardware you want to be aware of its the software and OS use can be more important, as in my experience thast what you need support on most! Make sure you choose a company that can support and is familiar with both hardware and software you use.
I've dealt with loads of IT support companies, the best in reguards to actuall support are usually medium 40-100 staff sized companies, as they have a large breadth of staff, which usually equals a good range of experience.
I've worked with some companies local to me and to be honest a lot of them tended to be 1 man bands, or 1-5 men bands! This is fine, but I simply found they did't have the large range of experience in dealing with the wide range of problems out there and they made sloppy mistakes. Obviously this isnt always the case.
But on the other hand, if you get a problem local companues can come out to your premises quickly and more cost effectively than a remote company which is reassureing. Some of the companies that do "remote support" are very good. BUT no matter what they tell you there is only so much that can be done remotely and if you need someone on the premises often they can only make the next day. Not only this they often subcontract the work out to other companies which are not up to the same standard as the company the end user deals with.
Its a bit of a mindfield, but there are some good companies out there
pmanson said:
I would look for a proactive service over a break/fix one but you will pay slightly more.
This is true, but he is right. You want a contract with a company who will carry out the preventative maintenance and proactive monitoring on your systems to prevent issues developing in the first place or to cut them off before they become big expensive problems. You will save money in the long term, believe me. Anything else is really just putting sticky plasters on wounds.
jamieboy said:
What do you guys include in your proactive or preventive services?
An interesting question as each company will be different...In our case ( Aztech IT Solutions)...
Through our 24/7 server monitoring we are checking the following:
- Backups have been completed
- Anti-Virus and Patch Management is upto date (both server and desktop side)
- Disk space and memory utalisation
- Monitoring trends and issues as quite often you can spot a failure before it happens.
In other words we act as your internal IT Manager but without the overhead of employing someone.
We're in the process of implementing a very expensive monitoring system at the moment that will allow us to extend the functionality of our proactive service even further. For example if a company has a laptop stolen we will be able to see the next time it is switched on and added to a network. We can supply that IP address to the police.
As part of our pre-sales process we can install a small agent on your network and after a couple of days we can have a full picture of the health of your network and where there are areas for improvement. Then FOC we will work for the following week to improve the "health" score.
We also provide our clients with daily/weekly reporting and hold either monthly/quarterly review meetings depending on their requirements.
To the OP - With a company of your size I wouldn't worry about producing a tender. Work out what services you require (eg. If something goes wrong I really need someone onsite to fix it within two hours), have a chat with a couple of local companies that outsource. Find out who they work with and what their thoughts are.
Look for a Microsoft Gold Partner (not essential but can be helpful). Above all if you get on with the Salesman/Engineers that counts for a lot!
pmanson said:
jamieboy said:
What do you guys include in your proactive or preventive services?
We're in the process of implementing a very expensive monitoring system at the moment that will allow us to extend the functionality of our proactive service even further. For example if a company has a laptop stolen we will be able to see the next time it is switched on and added to a network. We can supply that IP address to the police. 
Herbie58 said:
pmanson said:
jamieboy said:
What do you guys include in your proactive or preventive services?
We're in the process of implementing a very expensive monitoring system at the moment that will allow us to extend the functionality of our proactive service even further. For example if a company has a laptop stolen we will be able to see the next time it is switched on and added to a network. We can supply that IP address to the police. pmanson said:
Herbie58 said:
pmanson said:
jamieboy said:
What do you guys include in your proactive or preventive services?
We're in the process of implementing a very expensive monitoring system at the moment that will allow us to extend the functionality of our proactive service even further. For example if a company has a laptop stolen we will be able to see the next time it is switched on and added to a network. We can supply that IP address to the police. Have a look at PSA systems (Connectwise, Autotask)if you're thinking of taking the business down that track - they integrate fairly closely with Kaseya and you get a seamless process from monitoring to billing.
Herbie58 said:
pmanson said:
jamieboy said:
What do you guys include in your proactive or preventive services?
We're in the process of implementing a very expensive monitoring system at the moment that will allow us to extend the functionality of our proactive service even further. For example if a company has a laptop stolen we will be able to see the next time it is switched on and added to a network. We can supply that IP address to the police. Taita said:
HRG. said:
I'm afraid we can't help you in the north east, but have a look at what we offer for local companies in a similar situation to yourselves.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
Fixed monthly fees.
No contract.
preventative maintenance visits.
Remote, telephone and on site support all included.
www.nsupport.co.uk
I'm sure there will be someone offering something similar in your area.
We do exactly the same, primarily North West but stretch to London / Bristol.. Focus is on customer retention.Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff