There are literally tens of thousands of Independent Computer Consultants out there now helping small businesses with their computer support needs by racing over whenever a problem occurs and then charging an hourly rate for however long the service call takes.
But with the development of inexpensive server monitoring and remote support utilities, the support model of on-site, hourly support is headed for extinction and is being replaced by flat-fee, managed services. Small businesses are quickly adjusting to getting higher performance from their systems, much fewer unexpected problems and downtime and much faster level of response from their support provider when an issue does occur.
Independent computer consultants will need to either adapt to the new model of managed support, or watch their client base slowly dissapear.
Fortunately, transitioning from hourly support to a managed service model is neither difficult or expensive.
1. Implement 24x7 Network Monitoring
Using a web-based utility, you can keep tabs on your client's servers and all workstations around the clock. There are plenty of these utilities available, and many are very affordable. The one I use personally is called GFI Max and costs about $13 per month per server monitored. Utilities like these provide a dashboard that lets you and your client see at a glance the current health status of all components of the network such as:
backup status
AntiVirus updates
Patch management
Hack alerts
Low drive space alerts
system Event Log warnings and errors
Windows Service failures
and more
If an error occurs, you can instantly and automatically be notified via an email or SMS alert
2. Implement Remote Computer Support
There are plenty of low cost or even free utilities that will let you setup every server and workstation you support to allow you to instantly log in to the machine remotely and address almost any issue, just as if you were sitting in front of the computer. By providing remote computer support, you can essentially be in two or even three places at once, and provide support instantly, rather than making your clients wait for you to travel to their office.
3. Convert your clients to your new MSP model
This might seem like a challenge at first, especially if your customers have become well accustomed to paying hourly rates. But there are many ways to show clients how proactive monitoring is far more cost-effective than simply waiting for problems to arise before reacting to them. You can give them a cost analysis of the actually cost of downtime, you can identify underperforming systems that would receive productivity gains thanks to monitoring, or you can even setup a 30-day tria to your new monitoring dashboard to let your clients see where dangerous, potential problems might already exist and have gone undetected because proactive monitoring isn't in place.
