Scenario:
Your company
is growing. You know you need help with the computers. Someone's
been taking care of you "in-house." But you're pretty sure you're not
being taken care of as well as you should be.
Your in-house help isn't trained, certified, or experienced enough to
handle any big problems. So when things go wrong, you still have to hire
someone to fix problems.
The more you call on one consultant or another, the more you realize
that your system isn't configured quite right. You don't know what's
wrong, exactly, but you know there's room for improvement.
You don't have any documentation.
You may or may not have a backup. When was it last tested? Is it
backing up everything it should? How do you know?
Do you have all the virus updates you need?
How about security patches?
Your company
is growing. Now your in-house person isn't really doing his job
any more because there's too much computer work.
You need help.
Do you hire a consultant
part-time? Or full-time? Sign a contract?
What do you do?
It's Not All About Money
Before we go too far, let's be very clear what this is about.
The issue is not money. The issue is the total security and continued
profitable operation of your computer systems. That means your business.
Not just a few pieces of hardware or software: your business is
on the line here.
Many people think they're saving money -- until a hard drive crashes.
Or there's a security break-in.
When your business is out of business for two days, you'll pay
any price to get back in business! That's not the time to call us.
You need professional technical support before you have
problems.
We specialize in preventive maintenance. We
design and maintain systems so that you don't have crises. We keep
systems UP so you don't have the expense of being out of business for a
day here and a day there.
If you haven't read our report on the The 5 Most Notorious (and
Expensive) Mistakes Small Business Owners Make with Their Computer
Network--and How to Avoid Them,
Click Here to get it now.
Now Let's Look At The Money
So, what does it really cost for good tech support? We'll start with
some scenarios where we're really just predicting your costs. You'll
need to adjust for your own situation.
Scenario One: Hiring a low-level amateur.
Let's be honest. A lot of people start out by hiring "Cousin Larry's
friend" who knows a lot about computers. Again, honestly, this person
will give you very poor technical support because he doesn't have the
education, certification, or experience needed to manage a network.
If you pay $15/hr, and assume zero overtime, this person will cost
$31,200 per year. After taxes, Social Security, workers comp, etc.
the total will be about $39,000. If you pay for health insurance,
401K, or other benefits, the cost goes up from there.
Note: You will still need to hire outside help for major projects and
to occasionally fix up big problems that mysteriously arise.
Run your own numbers and see what you come up with.
Scenario Two: Hiring a good, qualified
computer technician.
Now we're looking at someone who can really take care of 95% of your
computer needs. This person will give you good technical support for
most issues. She will not be an expert on email, or databases, or any
other specific program, but she'll do a very good job.
Expect to pay more in the range of $25/hr. Again, we'll assume zero
overtime, so the annual salary is about $52,000 per year. After taxes,
Social Security, workers comp, etc. the total will be about $65,000.
Plus health insurance, 401K, or other benefits.
Every once in a while, you'll need to hire an outside consultant. But
this will be a minor expense.
Reality check: A fulltime, qualified technician will probably be more
expensive than this.
We've
Been Asked . . .
Joe
Jane
Jack
Karl
