OfficeSolutions: Top notch tech support: On Staff Or Outsource?

Your company made a move into new quarters over the weekend, and Monday morning you're ready to get down to business again. But when you try to boot up, nothing happens. Every PC in the place appears brain-dead. Panic sets in. The situation is a genuine business code blue--you need an IT specialist, fast. But where's a good geek when you need one?

This nightmare scenario recently happened to a North Carolina branch of a nationwide entity. According to Greg Miller, systems analyst at Charlotte-based Data Syst, which was summoned to perform tech triage for the downed office, the problem is not so unusual. But not to worry, We had everything up and running within 24 hours," he reports.

Data Syst is some miracle worker, right? Not really, Miller admits, explaining that the problem was rooted in the way servers work. "They run constantly, often for years at a time. So when you shut down older servers, the parts don't want to start moving again."

The case of the sluggish servers illustrates the real crisis small to midsize companies face on the hightech front: When all systems fail, who you gonna call? Chances are you don't employ an IT person in-house, which means you have to outsource--an option many office managers consider the equivalent of playing digital Russian roulette.

A recent survey by the Yankee Group reported that 53 percent of networked businesses with up to 19 employees have no full-time tech staff. Only 32 percent of companies with 20 to 99 employees have fulltime IT staff. Yet, every office out there continues to grow more dependent on the digital way of doing business. The bottom line: a gaping hole in the tech support system.

The primary barrier is cost. "Many companies recognize technology is important, but they're not at the stage where they need or can afford a full-time MIS manager," observes Joshua Feinberg, editor of small biztechtalk.com, a Web-based tech support training service.

In his experience, even firms with 10 to 50 employees require a good deal of tech support to ensure that backups run smoothly and to ensure power and virus protection, Internet access, and e-mail and custom applications. "There's a tremendous amount to do, but a real MIS manager would be done by lunchtime and bored with [his] job." Tom Gillis, CEO of 911mycomputer.com, agrees: "At what point can you afford to have an IT guy hanging around for $50,000 to $75,000? Not too many companies can."

Avoiding the biggest tech support mistake

Many small companies only turn to computer consultants in a crisis. Frantic to get someone ASAP, they let their fingers do the walking, a precarious process that often carries a big price tag in terms of quality of support.

Although in the beginning, any geek could hang out a support shingle, as the business world has come up the cyber learning curve, we've begun to separate the dweebs from the serious support warriors. Today, experienced business tech support companies with customers who are happy to provide references are available in every city and on the Internet.

Instead of waiting until your system needs CPR, treat tech support as you would your health--on a preventative basis. Investigate several providers and establish an ongoing relationship with one, just as you would a family doctor. If familiar with your system and needs, the provider will be in a much better position to maintain your equipment to avoid crashes and, should your system go down, get it backup and running in a nanosecond.

1 Local tech support providers. The numero uno reason companies today contact local business tech support specialists is networking. In the past few years, even small offices have gotten into networking, which can have considerable downsides.

For starters, networking involves many different technologies. "Everybody wants to be on the Net, so you're trying to merge Internet access, DSL, T-1 lines, [and] frame relay with your existing local area network, or whatever," says Miller. 'You've got phone people and others telling you different things, so it's very difficult to configure things right."

Another downside is communicable diseases, aka viruses. Prior to networking, if Jennifer opened that email joke from her boyfriend, only her PG got sick. But with networking, the entire system is infected.

For this reason, Data Syst now has two divisions. The first focuses on hardware, performing repairs on equipment that people bring into Data Syst's office. The second division deals solely with networking issues. "We do setup, repairs, upgrades, anything to do with a network," says Miller. "We deal a lot with Internet access and Website hosting as well."

Miller notes that most of their calls come from office managers and often involve finishing a job someone else started. All too often, businesses retain a friend or relative who promises to set up a network, only to cause major problems because everything he knows he learned on the Internet.

Miller claims most firms turn to Data Syst because it's a certified solutions provider for Microsoft, the tech equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. "I definitely recommend you look for someone with this qualification to do any type of networking," nods Miller. "[These providers have] taken courses from Microsoft and passed six rigorous tests."

Paul Frye, sales manager for Computerworks, another Charlotte-based support company, says the bulk of his company's business has also shifted to networking. Most of the time, the company's solution providers are called in after the fact. Although they perform network rescue, Frye says they prefer to meet with a customer in advance to explain different networking software options.

One of the biggest pitfalls he sees is people buying equipment and software they don't need. "They're experts in their businesses, so they rely on people who say they're experts in our business. But we often find computer salespeople are not computer experts."

Computerworks operates on the KISS method: "We tell customers, We'll do it whatever way you want. But if we do it the easiest way for you to manage, it will be less expensive down the road. You'll also like it better because you won't need a computer expert every time you make a change, like adding a password."'

Fry recommends that when you meet with a support company, you provide a list of everything you do--letters. spreadsheets, whatever type of data you need to manage. Shopping around is also a good idea. "We want people to shop because we want them to be comfortable with us. We want a return customer instead of a one-time shot, and 99 percent of our customers come back over and over again."

Miller says that Data Syst is expanding its scope, getting more into small business programming, such as setting up inventory control Websites or preparing contact lists. "Development is catching on with small businesses, which are looking for solutions."

2 Web-based support services. We're not talking mega hardware and software customer service lines that keep you on hold listening to Barry Manilow for 30 minutes. We're talking professional, for profit, online sites run by experienced tech support heads who can diagnose and treat many of your problems via phone or dial-up.

For example: Last August, an executive whose business relies on his ability to synchronize his Palm with his desktop, couldn't get his Palm software to respond. He called Palm's support desk only to be told it was a Microsoft problem. Frustrated, he called 911mycomputer.com, and within three hours, one of its gurus had resolved the glitch. "My company would have suffered without my ability to use my Palm application," the grateful executive wrote in thanks. "I will definitely use 911's services in the future and would not hesitate to refer anyone to you.

Tom Gillis, CEO of 911mycomputer.com, says the 24/7 Internet-based company has 20 on-call specialists on the eastern seaboard. "We provide tech support for any office or professional, including road warriors, who need assistance with a PC problem." A general specialist, 911mycomputer.com deals with problems like viruses, documents you can't open, or a PC that won't work properly. Maybe the network in your office has bugged out and your local provider can't get to you for several days.

If you go to 911's Website and send an e-mail, a specialist calls you back within an hour. Most problems only take a few hours to solve. They charge by the hour, depending on the diagnosis; a level one problem costs $35 per hour. "Until we tell you we can fix your problem, we don't take your credit card information," declares Gillis. Once you contract, though, specialists will work with you as long as it takes.

Earlier this year, the specialists helped a business complete a mail merge. "They'd received a large file of names and addresses they were putting into a system to create mailing labels, but couldn't open the document. They'd talked to the tech people at the file provider, but still couldn't open it. In two hours, we took care of it. They were very pleased."

Gillis says the problems the specialists solve aren't brain surgery. But if you need your whole system reconfigured, you need someone on site. 911mycomputer.com will refer a local provider they've evaluated who can come to your office that day or the next.

One of the consistently top-rated sites is Expertcity.com, a Web-based, 24/7 tech support service favored by small businesses and home users. "We support Microsoft Office, hardware, networking, and peripherals like PDAs and MP3 players," reports Beth Sipula, general marketplace manager. "We get questions about hot syncing and graphics and multimedia applications like Pagemaker and Adobe Photoshop. For example, someone working on an Excel spreadsheet wants to know how to copy a formula."

Two innovative features of Expertcity.com attract repeat customers: The first is their bid system. You describe your problem, and within two minutes, you'll receive four bids from experts, along with the estimated time to fix it and the experts' bios. The average session bid is anywhere from $8 to $10 to handle a problem. "If it runs over what they say, we don't charge more, explains Sipula. "You're accepting that whole bid and they stay with you until it is resolved." The low price is a reflection of the simplicity of most problems (for the experts, that is).

The second and most customer-beloved feature at Expertcity.com is their desktop streaming software, a proprietary product that enables the expert to hookup with you and, if necessary, control your screen as you work to resolve the problem. "It's got a big wow factor," Sipula insists. "The customer always has the ability to end screen sharing if he's not comfortable, but our positive feedback is 96 percent to 97 percent. Most people leave, saying, Wow, that was great! I've never seen it before, I wish I'd found you guys sooner.'"

On the business side, Expertcity.com supports utility and virus protection software from Norton and McAffee, and periodically runs specials centered on a particular virus. They also offer small businesses a credit card payment option. You can establish an account and give everyone the password and login name, so if they have a problem they can charge it to the company account.

3 Your own in-house guru.

Every office has one-a person you turn to because he knows more about PCs than anyone else. So why not nurture this individual? That's the idea behind smallbiztechtalk.com, a new training Website launched by Joshua Feinberg, a tech head who has worked with small businesses for years. "We call this person the internal guru," he explains. "It could be the office manager, bookkeeper, or whomever. [He] wears the hat of informal PC person even though that's not [his] real job. Everyone goes to [him] when the laser printer jams or their PC gets a virus."

Feinberg found this guru the ideal candidate for more tech responsibility. "The key is training them in bite-size chunks. Their full-time jobs aren't developing databases, so they can't go to a five-day class on Access, but if every time, as a consultant, I show them something new, over the course of six months to a year, it s amazing how far along they can get."

Smallbiztechtalk.com offers a free biweekly e-mail newsletter and 10 articles a week with helpful tips on basic tech support issues. They also sell companion products-workbooks, CD ROMs, audiotapes--and offer phone coaching for people seeking specific assistance.

Feinberg believes that training your own guru is preferable to a common small-business "extreme cost-saving measure" -- relying on moonlighters or volunteers. "We've found the best combination is to invest time and energy in getting [the company's] internal person up to speed, while still having a relationship with a local consulting firm or individual who's available to bail [him] out and help with high-risk projects."

Feinberg cautions that training your own guru is critical as good tech heads seek more challenging work. "Many welcome giving this type of training because they don't want to schlep PCs and unpack printers, which they consider grunt work."

The biggest reason to train your own guru, though, is economic. "You can save 50 to 200 hours of consulting time a year, and at around $100 an hour, that adds up to big bucks," he emphasizes.

A former VP of marketing on Wall Street, Nan Bauroth (nbauroth@mindspring.com) splits her time between freelance journalism and marketing consulting.