Office / Business Computer Service – Which Plan is Best for your Office?

Need computer service for your office?  Not sure what kind of plan you need.  No worries, I’m here to walk you through the different business computer service options available to you.  If the computer service provider does not offer the service you are looking for, move on to find another one who does.  Ultimately, you and your company has to be comfortable with the service provider and its computer service plans.  So, choose what you want.  Don’t settle.

Here are different office computer service plans that you may receive or ask for:

• As-needed computer repair – Call if and when you need help.  This per diem service allows you to minimize your IT expenditures.  Pay when you need to.
• Periodic IT maintenance – Have a tech come on a scheduled basis.  This may be daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly.  This usually gives you a discounted rate and your staff is assured a hands-on tech come on a day they know.
• Bulk blocks – Usually prepaid, you can buy a block of hours, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and beyond that will give you a steep discount.  Obviously, make sure the computer service provider has been around awhile and is not going anywhere to make sure they don’t run away with your money.
• Managed IT service – This plan is for the IT budget-friendly types that just want to pay one amount every month no matter how many computer issues there are.  This is generally for an office that has at least 10-20 computers or has about 1 issue per 2-3 days.  The IT provider bills monthly  for a flat fee and takes care of issues remotely and onsite.  Keep in mind the provider will attempt to do everything remotely to keep its own costs down.
• Full-time desktop support – This is when you have a full office, 20 and up where you need an on-demand IT guy or gal to help right away.  It may behoove you to outsource this.  That way, you don’t have to pay for the health insurance, days off, etc.  It would just be corp-to-corp and you don’t have to worry about the extra costs that come along with a full-timer.

Most importantly, you dictate the plan you want.  Chances are the IT provider will be flexible to meet your needs if they care enough.