Salient IT Support › IT Services Sacramento
It would be nice to think that all your IT infrastructure would just run smoothly all of the time. Sadly, however, the chances are that you’re always going to need someone to do a bit of break/fix work. On a more positive note, you’re also going to need someone to do (or at least help with) your project work whenever you need to make changes, like upgrades. That means you need a good IT services partner in Sacramento on your team. Here’s what you need to know about finding one.
It’s a good idea to check early if an IT services company really is in Sacramento
This may seem like a surprising point to mention, but it’s actually very important. If you just search on “it services in Sacramento”, then your results will probably contain both IT services partners in Sacramento (or at least near Sacramento) and IT services partners that offer services in Sacramento, but are based elsewhere.
It’s entirely up to you how rigidly you want to interpret the term “IT services in Sacramento”, but there are a couple of good reasons for being at least fairly firm about it. The first is that working with an IT services partner in Sacramento facilitates on-site services. You may not need this often (in fact you may never need it), but it could be very reassuring to know that it’s available if you do.
The second is that working with an IT services partner in Sacramento means that both you and the vendor are on the same legal page. The contract between you will be under your local law and any disputes will be settled by your local courts. In other words, you will be in a strong position to exercise your legal rights if the need arises. This can be particularly relevant if the IT services partner will need to handle sensitive data, especially (but not exclusively) if you’re in a regulated industry.
Make sure you understand their pricing models and payment terms
Price is unlikely to be everything but in the real world it probably will be a consideration as will the payment terms. There are very likely to be different pricing models and possibly payment terms for project work and break/fix work. This is because project work is proactive and hence can often be scheduled in advance break/fix work is generally reactive and needs to be dealt with whenever it happens.
As a rule of thumb, you can expect there to be an ad hoc pricing schedule which will be applied by default unless there is another agreement in place. This may be all that’s on offer for break/fix work. Ad hoc pricing is generally billed in arrears and it can be helpful to know how long you have to pay. The usual terms are 15 days or 30 days, sometimes with a discount for prompt payment. It may also be worth checking if an IT services partner in Sacramento offers insurance and/or works with insurance companies.
You may be able to buy bundles of credits/hours for use on scheduled project work (and sometimes even for unscheduled break/fix work). This can be a very cost-effective option but remember you pay in advance and credits/hours usually have an expiration date and are sold on a “use them or lose them” basis, so you need to be careful not to overspend.
As a final point, some IT services providers in Sacramento can actually undertake managed services for a fixed monthly fee. These may be slightly limited compared to what you’d get from “proper” Managed IT Service Providers in Sacramento, but depending on your needs, wants and budget, this option may be worth investigating.
Be clear on the process for resolving break/fix issues
You want the details of how you get in touch with your IT services partner in Sacramento and what happens from initial contact to resolution. Specifically, you want to know the guaranteed times for first response and for resolution. You also want to know what happens if the IT services partner is unable to make good on their guarantee, even if that’s due to circumstances that are beyond their control.
For the sake of completeness, it’s advisable to think carefully about going with an IT services partner in Sacramento which insists that all communication takes place online. In theory, that might sound like a reasonable cost-saving measure. In practice, it may not seem so attractive if your internet goes down and you’re stuck using mobile data or being charged extra to make a phone call.
If you’d like to talk to an experienced IT services partner in Sacramento, please click here now to contact Salient.IT.
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