How we like to work with clients

Background

We are looking for a particular type of client- those that will best benefit from what we have to offer. Our vision is to be able to empower your business to better serve your customers by effective use of computer and network technology. We want to work closely with you to develop or enhance your technology plan, and then make it a reality.

Typically, we will sit down with you and develop or clarify a set of values by which you implement technology, and with that, develop a technology plan, which is reviewed regularly –once or twice a year, depending on how quickly your company is changing. Any plans we develop with you are not binding – they are just a suggested plan of action. We are interested in preventing problems through good design and implementation.

Our goal is to provide an “outsourced” IT department for you. We provide services to design and implement new system capabilities, and are on call to deal with any problems you may have. (Hopefully a more and more rare occurrence as we work with you.) If needed, we can provide people on site for as much time as you need to provide support and services to your staff. We also can maintain a schedule of activities to do on your behalf to help prevent problems, and provide training for your staff if it’s appropriate.

Initially, our job is to establish trust by demonstrating tangible benefits on your investment in our services. Over time, we hope you will come to place greater trust in our recommendations. To best benefit from what we have to offer, we hope you will involve us more and more (as you feel comfortable) in your decision making and planning processes where computers and networking are involved. This could involve setting standards for hardware and software, creating procedures for backups, virus updates, etc., and providing input into your planning and budgeting process for technology. What we want to prevent is being called in because someone in your company bought or changed something which had implications of which they were unaware. Also, as we get to know the way you do business, we have more opportunities to add value.

We can work with you in 2 ways -

1. You can call us when you have a problem, and we will work with you to resolve it.

2. You can become a "preferred customer" by committing to work with us over time. This gives you preferential treatment for responding to emergencies, reduced rates, and additional attention to planning and preventative maintenance.

Level of service

We do our best to respond quickly to your problems, setting priorities based on the severity of the problem and our prior commitments. We all try to plan our schedules so that there is always extra time to deal with emergencies. The time we each set aside for self directed training each week serves this dual purpose. We will not change appointments with you or other clients without your agreement, so we cannot guarantee that someone is always available, unless it is planned in advance (being on call).

Since we know response time is important to you, we are continually working to find ways to improve the speed with which we can resolve your problems. As much as possible, we try to give you direct access to the person you are used to working with by providing you with their cell number. The trade off for this is that we may receive calls from other clients while working with you. If for some reason you cannot immediately talk to your tech, you can leave voicemail, and they will return your call as soon as possible. You will also have another number to call where a live person will always be available during work hours (9-12,1-5).  Typically we expect to be able to respond to business critical emergencies within about 4 hours, and less critical problems within a day. If you need a definite (guaranteed) response time to certain types of problems, we can provide a written service level agreement. We can also provide for someone to be on site during certain regular hours if needed.

We try to make sure that there are always at least 2 of our staff who are familiar with your network and your business. Sometimes this could mean some additional billable time to maintain this communication, and to keep good documentation.

Hardware

We are not in the hardware business. We make our money on consulting services rather than hardware or software resale. We are very interested in helping determine what you need, and often assist with preparing bid solicitations, or shopping for the best value for you. This makes us vendor-neutral when providing advice. If we can provide the best value for some reason, we will typically charge you what the equipment costs us. Because of this, we may ask for a deposit or advance if we are ordering a large amount of hardware on your behalf. Any equipment we provide is covered only by the manufacturer’s warranty. We do not warranty or guarantee hardware.

How we charge for services

Each of our staff bills at a rate established by their skill level and experience, and the work that needs to be done. We attempt to match the skills needed for the task to the person who can perform them most cost effectively for you. Travel time is billed at the same hourly rate as work performed- the philosophy is that it takes time that we could use to be doing other billable work. Our minimum billing is for one hour on site. We normally bill monthly at the end of the month, based on work performed at an hourly rate for each person involved.

We charge extra for working after hours, weekends, or in some cases for being on call during a critical phase of a project. We may also charge extra if you have an emergency which we respond to if we need to change an appointment with another client (if they are willing to reschedule).

We bill for telephone time if it is significant, and if we take calls while on site, we will bill you only for time worked on site – not for time talking to other clients. We may also bill for time we spend doing work performed for you while not on site such as research, planning, preparing equipment, or remote troubleshooting.

Occasionally, with your prior agreement, we hire subcontractors or use vendor tech support services to assist with meeting your needs. We have established relationships with key vendors which in many cases gives us higher priority and/or lower cost access to support for their products. We pass this on to you as part of our services.  We  continually seek out local vendors and consultants who have successfully worked with us or our clients in areas we don’t specialize in. We can also bring in extra help to expedite a time critical project.

We are continually working to improve the quality of service we provide. We may ask you to fill out questionnaires or answer questions about the service you receive. Our staff is paid based on the quality of service you receive, as determined by your feedback.