Business IT Support. Hourly v Flat Rate

The concept that business computer support can be effectively marketed and supported on a flat rate model rather than an hourly fee model is something of a new idea. For many years now, large businesses have relied on in house experts while small businesses have been forced to settle for high priced hourly support. In this article we will compare the pros and cons of both of the hourly model and the flat rate model. At the end of this article you will be able to determine which business IT support solution fits your company.

Hourly support has been around since the beginning of the PC. While rates have skyrocketed in recent years, especially in the Seattle area, the concept has remained the same. A small business establishes a relationship with an IT professional and then contacts that individual when an IT system requires support.

Pros:

• A business pay only for the support it requires. If the businesses computers run great one month they will not pay anything.
• A business establishes a relationship with one technician who knows their systems.

Cons:

• A business pays 3-6 times the rate for an hour of support as if the business were employing the person for that hour as an employee. ($36 an hour for an employee compared with $100-$200 an hour for a consultant)
  
• Most hourly IT support businesses are one man shows. If the owner goes on vacation, is busy, or falls ill clients are forced to look for a new technician.
• When a businesses IT systems really have a bad day (Think network outage, virus, server failure), the business can pay thousands of dollars in IT support costs. Risk rests with the business.
• Hourly providers only make money fixing computers or installing new technology. They do not share a common vision of problem free systems and a controlled IT budget.
  

Flat rate business computer support is a much newer concept. The idea behind flat rate support is that by standardizing and hosting high risk components (backups, e-mail, virus and spyware scans) reliability can be improved and support costs can be reduced. This provides small businesses with comprehensive outsourced IT at a very reasonable rate.

Pros:

• IT costs are low and predictable. Cost for an hour of support is similar to what a large company would pay for an hour of its IT techs time.
  
• Flat rate support providers generally have multiple employees. This ensures that clients always have support and expertise in the area they require.
• When a business's IT systems fail catastrophically there are no surprise support costs for the additional work required.
• Flate rate service providers want business systems to be stable and predictable. They do not get paid to fix failed experiments on critical systems.
• Risk lies with the support provider.
  

Cons:

• Flat rate support providers charge a flat rate each month. If a business experiences computer difficulties less than once a year, flat rate support is basically a break-even proposition when compared with hourly support.

FULCRA Technology is built on the flat rate support model. We provide businesses with unlimited support for a flat fee. This model saves our clients money each year and provides peace of mind and predictability. When a business knows exactly how much to budget for IT support each month, it is then free to focus on investing in its core competency. IT needs support to operate; flat rate support gives business that support without the high price tag. For a free consultation and to see how much we can save your business give us a call today.