Our managed services model works for most companies, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all. Howard Tech has worked with businesses on an hourly basis when it’s the best thing for them. We believe relationships are formed by earning trust and offering unbiased advice. If your business has needs that are best met on an hourly basis, we’ll say so. If our managed services model makes more sense, we’ll tell you that.
How To Decide
The big issues to be aware of when considering technical services are:
- You only pay for services when you need them. Good news – you may incur no fees for a long time. Bad news – a single issue might come with a big bill. The business assumes the risk for how long it takes to resolve the issue.
- Technical services tend to be engaged after something breaks. Unfortunately you can’t predict when that happens, and of course it’s usually at the worst possible time. Managed services are designed to prevent problems as much as possible.
- Response times can’t be guaranteed. We always serve everyone as quickly as possible, but our technical services team is typically scheduled in advance and will respond at the first available time.
The chart below provides a simple comparison between our Managed and Technical Services.
| Services | Managed Services | Technical Services |
| Phone/on-site tech support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Technology competence | ✓ | ✓ |
| Flat monthly fee for unlimited phone or on-site support | ✓ | |
| Guaranteed response time | ✓ | |
| 24/7 monitoring, software/patch management, antivirus and detailed documentation |
✓ | |
| Disaster recovery planning* | ✓ | |
| Online portal, help desk, and ticket system | ✓ | |
| Centralized purchasing, inventory, asset and vendor management | ✓ | |
| Single point of contact for all technology issues | ✓ | |
| Cloud expertise* | ✓ | |
| Advisory services* | ✓ |
*Available to technical services clients at hourly support rates.