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Paying for IT support on an hourly basis can sometimes be compared to a bad gambling
habit. Businesses keep dumping more and more money on the table, waiting for their
luck to turn. The reality is that this method is self defeating, and sooner or later,
both sides lose.
When billing labor hourly, IT companies choose, and are often forced, to do only
what is necessary to resolve the immediate issue, rather than looking at the big
picture. This allows the root causes of many issues to go unnoticed until they become
so large and unmanageable, that resolution is possible only through a costly and
intrusive overhaul.
Having dealt with hundreds of little annoyances while problems persisted, paying
for every minute spent to address them, only to be presented with a lengthy and
expensive proposal for resolution - Businesses often choose to sever the relationship
with their IT support provider on matters of principle. While this is understandable,
it is rarely of any benefit, as a new relationship is often formed with another
IT provider which also bills on an hourly basis; The cycle continues.
VirtuWorks provides Outsourced Managed IT Support on a flat-rate, monthly basis.
This method places the full responsibility of maintaining stable and well documented
client networks firmly in our hands. Because we charge the same amount monthly,
regardless of how long we spend maintaining your network, we cannot afford to only
partially resolve issues, as they will resurface, costing US money.
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To illustrate just how revolutionary our model is in contrast to the IT support
services you are accustomed to, we've listed a few points from the perspective of
the common "Tech Guy" Hourly IT firm and compared them to those of VirtuWorks below:
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It is beneficial for us to seek out the root causes of issues and resolve them completely,
rather than to apply "band-aids" that will require us to revisit the same issue
in the future. |
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Ignore the larger issue and address the immediate problem. The customer is not likely
to approve an expensive overhaul, and I will make more money in the long-run, fixing
the same problem over and over again, until they are forced to approve the larger
project anyway. "Cha-Ching!" |
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It is beneficial for us to centrally document pertinent network information, such
as router configurations and machine components, so that our technicians spend their
time resolving issues, rather than familiarizing themselves with the equipment and
settings involved. |
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There is little need to document pertinent network information. If the customer
didn't feel it necessary to document it themselves when I gave it to them the first
time, they have no basis to complain when I charge for the time it takes to figure
it out again. "Cha-Ching!" |
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It is beneficial for us to monitor the performance of your network, in order for
us to detect the early warning signs of impending system failures. It is much simpler
and less time consuming to deal with issues proactively, as opposed to reactively. |
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No need to monitor network health. It takes more time to repair issues, such as
failed hard drives then it does to prevent them. I can't be blamed for hardware
going bad, so it just means more money for me. "Cha-Ching!" |
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It is beneficial for US to resolve issues remotely, whenever possible. The time
saved traveling is time that can be better spent ensuring the issue has been thoroughly
assessed, resolved and tested. |
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I'm not going to try to resolve issues remotely. If it's an emergency, they can
pay for my travel time. "Cha-Ching!" |
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With each new client network VirtuWorks takes on, it is possible for us to operate
at a loss for months, depending on the severity of existing issues, complexity of
the infrastructure and ability of the client to quickly approve projects and assimilate
changes. However, once the network has been stabilized, we are confident that the
solutions and services we provide will retain our relationship well into "the black."
Further, we largely depend on customer referrals for new business at VirtuWorks.
We understand that when a client refers us to a colleague, they are staking their
name and reputation. We value this greatly and do not take it lightly. |
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I'm going to make as much money as possible from this client, as fast as possible.
Who knows how long it will take for them to figure out that I'm ripping them off
before they fire me? |
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As you can see, the tables have turned in the realm of IT support. Are you ready
to stop feeding the meter?
Click Here to contact VirtuWorks. |
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Budgeting of IT Expenses; Simplified
Due to the large dependence on IT, businesses often find it impossible to budget
expenses when dealing with an IT firm that bills labor hourly. It’s impossible to
say “I’m not going to spend more than $X on my network this month” if a failure
occurs that prevents your business from functioning. It will take time to resolve
these issues, and in the hourly model, time is money.
Because VirtuWorks charges a flat-rate, starting at $75 per user and $200 per server,
it is now possible for our clients to effectively budget IT expenses, as they would
a utility. This enables them to stop worrying about how much money their network
is going to cost them, and start projecting how much money it will save them.
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True Network Maintenance
Reacting to problems as they occur, no matter how quickly, IS NOT maintenance. It
is ALWAYS more expensive to be Reactive when the opportunity to be Proactive was
available. To crystallize this point, we’ll use an analogy everyone can relate to:
Your automobile.
Proper maintenance of your automobile includes regular checking of fluids, inspecting
and replacing brakes and tires, replacing worn belts and wiper blades, adjusting
valves and so on. Failing to maintain your vehicle properly will eventually cause
a failure. Let’s compare the cost of proactive verses reactive for a few auto-care
practices on a moderately priced family sedan. You will notice that with each example
below, you will still have to pay the cost of what it would have taken to prevent
the issue in the first place.
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$40 to $60 |
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$2,000 to $10,000 for engine repair or replacement |
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$40 to $60 for Oil
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$500 to $2,000 for head gasket replacement |
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$10 to $25 for Cooling fluid |
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$40 to $60 for Oil
Increase: Between $500 and $12,000+ |
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$10 to $25 |
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$500 to $2,000 for head gasket replacement |
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$10 to $25 for Cooling fluid |
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$40 to $60 for Oil
Increase: Between $500 and $2,000+
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$25 to $200 |
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$500 to $2,000 for head gasket replacement |
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$10 to $25 for Cooling fluid |
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$40 to $60 for Oil |
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$25 to $200 for Fan Belt
Increase: Between $500 and $2,000+
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$100 to $300 each |
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$100 to $200 for Towing
$200 to $800 for Damaged rim
$100 to $300 each for Tire replacement
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$100 each
$100 to $300 each for Tire replacement
Increase: Between $100 and $900+ |
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$30 to $100 each |
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$200 to $300 each
$30 to $100 each for brake pads
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$??,???
Increase: Between $200 and $??,??? |
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At VirtuWorks, maintenance is the key to our success. Below are a few steps we take
in maintaining your network:
- Online asset and case reporting
- Online license management
- Desktop optimization and management
- Anti-virus software management and update
- Virus definitions and prevention
- Software patch management
- Log file maintenance
- MS Exchange maintenance and administration
- Backup administration
- User account administration
- File sharing permissions administration
- Security administration
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Network Monitoring
By monitoring your network’s health and performance remotely, Virtuworks is often
able to detect issues before our customers. This helps us respond quickly, minimize
the effects of a failure on your business’ productivity, and in some cases, circumvent
failure entirely. Below are a few aspects of customer networks which we monitor.
- Data Backups
- Event logs
- Drive space
- Network and internet connectivity
- Virus Alerts
- Hardware
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Keeping Ahead of the Curve
Beyond simply maintaining their networks, VirtuWorks makes it a point to expose
or customers to new technology that can make a positive difference in the way they
do business. Our knowledgeable account representatives take the time to understand
your business, seek out deficiencies in workflow and propose solutions that make
financial sense. You can think of VirtuWorks as your personal technology advisor.
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Reactive Issue Resolution
Though we do our very best to maintain our customer’s networks to perfection, there
are issues which are simply unavoidable. Hardware damage due to power fluctuations
and data loss due to user error and are a few examples of these issues. In such
instances, the VirtuWorks staff springs into action with all the tools and skills
necessary to ensure the issue is resolved and you’re back to work as soon as possible.
Requesting Service
Never before has it been as easy to get help with your IT issues. Requesting service
from VirtuWorks can be done over the phone, via fax or email. In all cases, a service
ticket will be created immediately, and status fed to you automatically as the ticket
progresses towards resolution. You can choose to be alerted as much or as little
as you like. As a Managed Services customer, your tickets will be given the highest
priority and one of 3 technicians, permanently assigned to your account, will contact
you shortly thereafter.
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