One of the most common questions prospects ask is “what do you guys charge?”. What we hear is “will you be over charging me?”
The fact is, most businesses are not really sure what they should be paying for IT services and support and because the pricing is tailored to the needs, it can be very difficult to ascertain what MSPs charge without going through a discovery process which can be lengthy. The key is to find an IT services company that provides the services you need best. Yet, there are some indicators that you may be paying more than you should.
#1 - You pay only when it’s broken
On its face this makes sense. Why pay for something when it’s not even a problem. Yet, you’re not only paying the price of the technician to come and resolve the issue, you’re also paying for your employees to sit and wait for this to happen, successfully. Whether it’s just an hour or more than a few, the cost of your staff sitting around until it’s resolved is a cost you’re paying. Additionally, a break/fix technician will usually take a few hours to even start to look at the issue. All this adds up. In contrast, with a managed service agreement, the constant maintenance creates an environment of systems that performs reliably and predictably.
#2 - You rarely see a technician on site
While your IT services company may support you remotely, you should still seem them fairly regularly for routine maintenance. Maintenance is not just patches, and it all can’t be done remotely. Some things require the physical presence of your technician. And your technician should also be very familiar with your physical location in order to provide the best remote support. If your staff doesn’t know your technician’s name, or your technician can’t tell you where the switches are, you may be paying more than you should.
#3 - You’re not sure what the next bill will be
An IT services company should be able to give you not just a fixed monthly price but a budget for the coming year. The budget should be aligned with specific organizational goals, both operational and business, and mapped out ahead of time. In this way, each bill is predictable and never a surprise. If the invoices from your IT company still hold the mystery of a Chinese fortune cookie, then you may be over-paying for extra work that could have been anticipated and planned for rather than sprung on your accounts payable.
It’s not so much the price of the service as the details of the services included. As you can see, if what you pay for does not have a lot of forethought included in the service, you will likely over-pay. Taking into account the costs that can be avoided with regular maintenance, visits and planning, getting the best value comes from ensuring that your getting all the services you need included in the price you pay.
