TechPulse: Blog
The IT Revolution: Flat-Rate IT Support
There’s a revolution taking place in the information technology sector, and it has everything to do with the way flat-rate IT support subscriptions are redefining business operations and making IT more affordable and effective for businesses. Here, we’re going to take a closer look at the benefits of this flat-rate-style for both IT companies and businesses alike, and also explain how this can help TechPulse clients and what they can expect with this type of service.
Part One: Eradicating IT Problems Once and For All
Owners of small-to-medium-sized businesses need to understand one thing when it comes to the interference of profits and customer service: Contrary to popular belief, it is not major network issues or even server crashes that cause the big problems, but rather the day-to-day glitches and slowdown of elements in a system that negatively impact a business. What’s more, keeping a dedicated IT staff on the payroll that can address these concerns is often difficult for small-to-medium-sized businesses—whether these “concerns” revolve around business applications, mobile devices or data security.
Rather, looking for a solution that minimizes these daily technological roadblocks while continuously and consistently assessing a system to block future “bugs”—such as flat-rate IT support—is the way to go; in other words, start looking to eradicate IT problems once and for all.
Part Two: Examining How Flat-Rate IT Support Eliminates Day-In/Day-Out Problems
Business people who have worked with an IT service understand this scenario very well: A problem occurs, a call is made to an IT service department and then comes the wait period as the problem is addressed over the course of a day, week or worse.
TechPulse fun fact: The national average response time for IT companies is one day, three hours and seven minutes.
The fact of the matter is that even the most responsive “break-fix” companies still come along with a delay, and every delay eats into a business’ bottom line—and customer satisfaction.
In response, flat-rate IT support is built on a foundation of proactive monitoring and maintenance of a system, with many models reducing daily IT issues by a reported 60 percent or more. Forward-thinking IT companies such as TechPulse assess clients’ networks and devices for issues that can slowly build toward slowdowns and crashes, addressing them before they become out-of-control problems. Businesses do not have time to wait for IT problems to be solved, especially when more and more elements of service—from setting appointments to invoicing and tracking documentation—rely on consistent and smoothly-running networks. That’s where flat-rate IT support comes in!
So, let’s recap for a moment—how exactly does flat-rate IT support eliminate day-to-day IT problems?
- Flat-rate IT support is built on a foundation of proactive monitoring and maintenance of a system
- Flat-rate IT support breaks the “waiting for solutions” cycle
Part Three: How Managed Services Like IT are Revolutionizing Businesses
What do we mean by “managed services?” Put simply, managed services change the way that companies deal with technology on a day-in, day-out basis, with managed service companies charging clients a monthly flat fee to take over IT-related operations. By offering a flat monthly fee, the managed service provider assumes both financial and technical risk, with the scope of their involvement dependent on what a company wants from them—and believe us when we say the sky’s the limit here. The bottom line is that a company is outsourcing its IT to a group of professionals who are experts at what they do.
Being that we mentioned “proactive monitoring” above, let’s spend a moment talking about the benefits of “proactive IT.” Unfortunately, many modern companies today function using what’s known as a “break-fix” or “break/fix” mentality – that is, technology is basically out of sight, out of mind, until something disastrous occurs. Once there’s a break in a system, employees are disrupted and business is disturbed, while morale decreases each time a company experiences such an IT-related crisis. By delegating an IT infrastructure to an outside entity, a company no longer needs to deal with such a crisis; beyond damage control, managed service providers are constantly upgrading and updating, offering proactive maintenance. This means business owners will experience a decrease in the amount of downtime, and less downtime equals less stress and increased production.
Now, how exactly are businesses transforming their budgets with flat-rate IT? By taking advantage of a managed service provider, a business is putting itself first – and budgeting will be transformed with a predictable monthly IT expense. This will allow redistributed resources as a business grows exponentially by eliminating in-house IT emergencies and increasing employee production.
Perhaps most important of all, managed service providers become extensions of businesses, embracing their unique company needs and working in alignment with goals and aspirations. In short, services such as flat-rate IT subscriptions are redefining business operations and making IT more affordable and effective for businesses by:
- Improving efficiency
- Reducing costs
- Increasing profits
- Realizing goals
Part Four: How This IT Revolution Helps Our Clients and What They Can Expect
Flat-rate IT support from TechPulse presents our clients with a single fixed-rate for a set of services they need, rather than charging hourly and potentially incurring overtime. There are a myriad of businesses out there for which paying for full-time IT staff just doesn’t make sense, and this is where partnering with an IT provider boasting a variety of abilities will benefit greatly.
Flat-rate IT support:
- Provides a business access to the services it needs at a set price that won’t fluctuate unpredictably or change unexpectedly.
- Is more cost-effective than in-house staff, while providing a company and its employees peace of mind.
- Ensures it’s in the best interest of a company’s IT provider to make sure a computer system and business applications are always functioning properly.
What clients can expect with TechPulse flat-rate IT support:
- Guaranteed 24/7 access to vital maintenance and repair services, regardless of overtime or the scope of the project
- Server and PC troubleshooting
- Network management
- Tech support on a 24-hour basis
- Backup solutions
- Network monitoring 24/7
- Software update and patch installation
- Network security
- Malware and spyware protection/removal
- Hardware installation and support
Essentially, TechPulse’s managed IT services function as an extension of your company’s IT department but with a vital difference: We’re at a much lower cost than an in-house staff. Contact us today to learn more.
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