Most large companies with lots of facilities recognize the economic benefits of outsourcing IT services to a third-party company rather than hiring a full-time IT person at every location.  But the process of finding the “right” IT services company is not so easy a decision.

Obviously your primary objective is to find a company who can install and service the technologies your company requires, meet your technical and business needs, and deliver exactly what you expect. Unfortunately there are lots of bad actors and false advertisers in every industry, including the world of IT Service Providers. So it is often difficult to compare pricing from one company to the next and get a true apples-to-apples comparison.

If your company is looking for an IT Service Provider, it’s important to learn what questions to ask them and which answers should prompt a red flag.  If you ask a prospective IT Service Provider a vague question like “What is your company’s pricing structure?”, then chances are their answer will also be vague -- leaving out various charges and fees that you won’t learn about until you receive your first invoice.

Most IT procurement personnel ask potential service providers how much they charge per hour, and then use that Hourly Rate as the key data point by which they choose an on-site services contractor.  The problem with this kind of evaluation is that an hourly rate is almost never a complete, consistent data point by which a true apples-to-apples comparison can be performed.

IT service providers recognize that most Buyers/Procurement Agents focus primarily on the Hourly Rate when evaluating potential partners.  So many reduce the basic Hourly Rate on quotes to prospective customers, and make up for that shortfall by adding fine print about when that rate is applicable and when other higher rates are charged -- not to mention the assortment of hidden fees that most clients won’t learn about until after a service call has been completed.

Let’s take a look at some of the more common pricing shell games that IT service providers play with Hourly Rates to attract new customers, and the questions you should ask prospective IT service providers to expose their higher rates and miscellaneous hidden fees before you sign them up as a vendor:

Please define ALL your Hourly Rates, including the times during which they are applicable

A Service provider quotes you a low hourly rate.  In many cases, that rate applies only to work performed during normal business hours, while much higher rates apply to any work performed during evenings (after-hours), weekends, and/or holidays.  For companies in the Retail, Restaurant, and Healthcare industries where most IT-related work must be performed after-hours, this can be a costly condition to overlook.  

Make sure you ask prospective Service Providers for detailed information about ALL Hourly Rates related to work during Normal Business Hours, and After-Hours/evenings, and Weekends, and Holidays.  You should also ask if they charge different hourly rates for specific geographic conditions (like when the distance from the work site to their closest technician or office is beyond a certain number of miles) or escalated Response Times (when emergency services are required to restore systems same-day).

Is your hourly rate the same for every type of service you offer?

This will help you identify Service Providers who utilize the old bait & switch tactic. They’ll give you a basic hourly rate, which may cover “IT Services” or some other vague description.  But you need to find out whether that same rate applies when you require a technician with a specialized skill-set.  For example, does that hourly rate cover the cost to have a certified fiber technician  install a new fiber optic backbone?  How about if you need a network engineer dispatched to perform emergency service on a router or server that has failed? Make sure you ask IT Service Providers to provide their Hourly Rates for every service type/skill set they offer.

Are there any Minimum charges for each service call?

This is an area where even some of the most conscientious procurement people get snookered by shifty IT Service Providers. After performing what they deem to be sufficient due diligence in choosing an on-site IT Services Company, they learn about a minimum charge for each order which results in significantly higher pricing for each work order.

Let's say you choose an IT services company whose hourly-rate is $25/hour less than any other company you evaluated.  But when you receive your first invoice, you discover that the service provider charged a minimum of 4-hours for each service call.  This is a critical factor to consider because many service providers stipulate (often in fine print) that the minimum charge for any service call is 3-hours or more.  Yet the average IT break/fix and troubleshooting service calls only take about one hour.

Do The Math:  If you’re paying $75/hr for a 1-hour service call from an IT Services Company who requires a 3-hour minimum charge, then you will actually pay 50% more than you would have paid a company who charges $150/hr and has a 1-hour minimum on all service calls.  So always ask an IT Service Provider to specify the minimum charge (or hours) for each service call.

Exactly when does your time-clock start and stop as it relates to your Hourly Charges?

This is a great way to identify service providers who will charge you a lot more than you deem reasonable for service calls.  Most IT Service Providers either charge travel fees to and from work locations, or their hourly rate clock starts the moment a technician gets dispatched, and ends when the Technician returns to their office/arrives home.  Since you have no idea how far a Service Provider’s technicians are from each of your remote office locations, you could be charged one or more hours just to cover travel -- each way -- for each service call.

But be weary of service providers who tell you that you are only charged their hourly rate for the time their technician(s) actually spends in your facility.  Ask them point blank to divulge any “Travel Charges” that get applied to work orders.

Explain all other fees that you charge, and when those fees are added to a work order invoice

If you have never looked at your phone bill or bank statement, then perhaps you don’t realize that almost every company clobbers you with hidden fees -- costs that are never part of the original price they quoted when they won your business in the first place.  You can’t do anything about taxes, but it’s important to ask every IT Service Provider for a list of all miscellaneous charges. Specifically, you are looking for Travel Fees and/or Fuel Surcharges, as well as Dispatch Fees (which some providers add to every work order to cover their cost to dispatch a technician) and Expedite Fees (often applied to emergency service requests).

Conclusion

If you are looking for an On-Site IT Service Provider to help you install and maintain the systems running in your offices anywhere in North America, be sure to call Tech Service Today for a quote.  Unlike so many other IT Service Providers, Tech Service Today believes in providing every customer with transparent and simple pricing that adheres to these general rules:

• You pay one hourly rate for every type of service you request from TST.
• You pay one hourly rate regardless of whether you need on-site technical assistance during normal business hours, of during the evenings. It’s the same rate you pay for work done on weekends and holidays too.
• You pay a minimum of 1-hour for each service call.  After the first hour, we charge you our standard hourly rate in half-hour increments until the work is completed.
• Our hourly rate starts at the moment our technician arrives at your facility, and the clock stops as soon as the technician leaves your facility.
• TST never charges customers for travel, or adds anything like fuel surcharges, or other hidden fees for dispatching or emergency orders.  You pay the hourly rate for the time our tech spends on-site and that’s it.
• Most importantly, if a customer is ever dissatisfied with the work a TST Technician performs for them, then we credit their invoice and they owe us nothing.

The next time you are in search of an IT Service Provider, are you going to choose one whose pricing is mysterious and complicated, or a company like Tech Service Today whose pricing is simple and transparent?

Need help installing, troubleshooting, testing, documenting, or replacing your network cabling?  Call Tech Service Today for on-site technical services anywhere in North America - often in 4-hours or less.

Just call (800) 973-2022 (option 1), or Email us at Service@TechServiceToday.com