Band-Aids,The Difference between Response Time and Fix Time

You want your IT administrator/Managed Service Provider (MSP) to respond immediately to your problem, and you want it fixed as soon as possible. Unfortunately you need to figure out if they are actually fixing the problem or giving you Band-Aids.

Recently I read an article from an IT company discussing incredibly fast response times, throwing around phrases like “Industry Leading” and “no jargon”. This was interesting to me, on average our technicians respond within an hour to issues, often times it can be within 10 minutes, but we don’t advertise “10 Minute Response Time” simply because picking up the phone and calling you back doesn’t mean your problem is fixed. We like to respond to our clients quickly, we want them to know that we do care about them and their business, and we want resolve their challenges. We do not however have a receptionist that simply calls you up and asks you about your problem, then tells you that we will get back to you. We don’t have technicians that mutter under their breath and speak in acronyms the entire time.

When you call in with an issue, you will talk to an experienced technician first, and they will immediately begin reviewing the situation and work towards a full solution. Sometimes the solution takes five minutes, and sometimes it can take hours to days depending on the severity of the issue. What you need to know is whether or not your Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a Band-Aid company or whether they come up with true solutions. Here are a few things to consider:

Band-Aids: You have to call up every week with the same issue and your network administrator/MSP has no recommendations to fix the problem. They simply continue to “fix” your machine on a daily to weekly basis. This is a Band-Aid cycle, and you are paying money for a temporary solution over and over.

– Check to see if they are actually fixing the issue or making recommendations for improvement.

Response Time Smoke Screen: You get a response immediately from your IT provider, then the problem never gets fixed. They sounded happy on the phone, they made you happy, they hung up, and you continued to happily live with being unable to work because the issue was never fixed.

– A good experienced technician will respond immediately, and if the issue cannot be fixed quickly, will update you as they work towards the solution.

To Jargon or Not to Jargon: This is a serious issue. Your technician continues to throw big words at you, never explains themselves, and tells you nothing can be done. The exact opposite is that they never say anything about what is going on, and treat you like you don’t know what you’re doing.

– You should be searching for a happy medium, where they try to educate you on what they are doing without confusing you by speaking “techie” the entire time.

Finally, you need to avoid the fastball. If a company’s biggest claim to fame is how “fast” they are to respond, that doesn’t say a lot about how productive they are with fixing the problem. I can immediately appear next to you and hold your hand as we walk off a cliff, or I can respond to you, figure out the issue, and build you a bridge. This is how my team and I operate with all of our clients, no matter the size of the business or how complex your network. As a business, wouldn’t you prefer to work with an IT provider that is balanced, client oriented, and dedicated? Less Band-Aids will mean faster solutions, and less issues in your network.

Article contributed by Nick McCourt, IT Consultant, Tier One Technology Partners

About Tier One Technology Partners: MKS&H’s technology consulting group, Tier One Technology Partners provides your growing organization with IT strategy and effective IT services solutions to keep you one step ahead. Tier One was founded in 2000 in the response to listening to the needs of our clients and the business challenges that they were facing in such a rapidly changing IT environment. Thus, Tier One was developed with the simple goal of being an IT consultant, partner, and support firm.

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