Re: Migrating SBS servers

Hi kj:

To date, I have not passed on the cost of a MS or any other support call. I
think the customer pays me for a solution to the problem. If they wanted to
pay MS, they could have called MS themselves. IMHO, not good form to
represent that "I can help you", then bill for both my service and the cost
of the call to MS.

However, a one off engagement, where there is little likelyhood of repeat
business might cause me to explain the options to the business owner. The
option would be for them to continue to engage me at my very modest rate,
AND pay for the support call, or for them to pay me for the diagnoses,
allowing me to go off and do something else, and for them to call MS and pay
for the call themselves. This would be motivated by the apparent lack of a
relationship and the uncertainty of how this particular business owner would
like to deal with his issue. Not a lot of sense in billing one hour and
paying out the equvilent of four. (or X)

I used to view the MS call as a learning opportunity. Lately, however, it
has not been as much a learning opportunity as a chance to drink coffee and
watch the mouse move. With their reliance on remote connections they do all
the work, and usually without explanation. I normally try to get them to
explain the problem and its solution, but even in their follow up emails it
is sometimes difficult to figure out what they did and why.

re: shop materials or consumables: I recognize that idea as rags and
solvents and such from an auto repair shop. Don't know how that applies to
us. I once ran into a competitor in the IT business who added a "delivery
charge" to every invoice, even if the customer came to his shop to pickup
whatever it was. Don't like that much either.

All of this is not really relevant to the op's issue. Any business person
is free to make any arrangement he or she chooses with any other business
person. No one holds a sharp pointed or potentially explosive instrument
near your head and forces you to agree. (assuming this is true) :-)

My contention is that the swing it kit, like your books, magazines, log me
in subscription, etc is a cost of being in the business, and not a direct
cost to the end user. If the op's customer wanted a swing it kit, he should
purchase it. But that means that the op would not have it, and unless the
eu agreed to let him use it (a violation of the break the seal agreement),
the op would not be privileged to some very useful information.

One could argue, I supose, that IF this ONE case is the ONE and ONLY time,
and IF the customer agreed, and if it would really save the customer money
in total, (less down time, no visiting the workstations, etc), that the
billing of the cost to the customer might be justified. In the same way
that I might ask for plane fair if I was hired to travel to another state to
perform some IT magic. But by special agreement, and in this case the work
could not be done any other way. But if one is honest with oneself and
ones customers, would you refund half the cost if one ever got another
engagement to migrate an AD? And for how many iterations?

One of the things about IT support that is very interesting is the lack of
regulation. There is no organization, even a voluntary one that I know
about, that establishes any rules or even standards for who can be in the IT
Support business. When I consider that a "hairdresser" has to go to
school and be licensed by the state to cut my hair, but that anyone willing
to stroke the keyboard can deal with the potential loss of millions of
dollars of company info, I wonder why we don't have some self policing
industry group to establish standards for IT support.

On the other hand, the lack of such regulation is in part some of the
attraction. :-)

--
Regards:

Anna Clark
Please do post the conclusion or solution
to your issue so that others may benefit.


"kj" <kj@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23KOX5CfZHHA.4692@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SuperGumby [SBS MVP] wrote:
<snip>
I s'pose the difference is in the why. I'm purchasing insurance but
know the process, another person may not know the process.

Nor does the medical doc charge each patient for his insurance. A
proportional amount, built into his fee, of course!
<snip>

I guess I'm asking the patient to buy extraordinary insurance for this
particular operation, their standard medical cover doesn't cover some
of the possible outcomes.

Not to mention the "support" part of Jeff's products.

In the US it is not unusual to bill for "shop materials" or "consumables".

Would you pass a Microsoft Support Call charge if needed, or include that
as part of your overhead?

--
/kj



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