Q1: Do you answer your phones calls live or do I always have to leave a voice mail and wait for someone to call me back?
Our Answer: We answer our phones live from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and give all clients an emergency after hours number they may call if a problem arises, including weekends. The emergency after hours phone is monitored by our chief technical officer, Jim Huber. Why? Because many of the CEOs and executives we support work outside normal hours and find it to be the most productive time they have. If they cannot access their computer network AND can’t get hold of anyone to help them, it’s incredibly frustrating.
Q2: Do you have a written, guaranteed response time to my calls?
Our Answer: We guarantee to have a technician working on emergencies within 60 minutes or less of your call. This is written into every service agreement we give to our clients because it’s standard procedure.
Q3: Do you take the time to explain what you are doing and answer my questions in terms that I can understand (not geek-speak), or do you come across arrogant and make me feel stupid for asking simple questions?
Our Answer: Our technicians are trained to have the ‘heart of a teacher’ and will take time to answer your questions and explain everything in simple terms. Just look at what one client had to say:
“Huber & Associates talked to us normally, in terms we could understand, and that meant a lot to us when discussing cost factors and short and long term forecast for our business.”
Q4: Do you consistently (and proactively) offer new ways to improve my network’s performance, or do you wait until I have a problem to make recommendations?
Our Answer: We conduct quarterly review meetings with our clients to look for new ways to help improve their operations, lower costs, increase efficiencies and resolve any problems that may be arising. Our goal is to help our clients be more profitable, efficient and competitive with these meetings.
Q5: Do you provide invoices that clearly explain what I am paying for?
Our Answer: We provide invoices that show exactly what you are paying for, so you know exactly where your money is going. We also double check our invoices for accuracy before they are sent to you. We rely on support ticket status updates to provide you with in-depth information on each support ticket associated with your company and the work completed behind it.
Q6: Do you have adequate insurance to protect ME?
Our Answer: Here’s something to consider: if one of their technicians gets hurt at your office, who’s paying? In this litigious society we live in, you had better make sure whomever you hire is adequately insured.
Q7: Do you guarantee to complete projects on time and on budget?
Our Answer: Yes, Huber & Associates is flexible when it comes to working with you on your project budget. Sometimes you need to work with a firm fixed price so you know your risk up front. The better you define your project, the less risk you assume, resulting in a more accurate firm fixed price. Other times you may not be sure of what you want and a more agile approach works better. This allows you to try things to determine what works best. This often results in a better outcome overall, if you can afford to take the risk.
Huber & Associates can help you figure out what the best approach is for you by giving you alternatives. When shopping for an IT resource, we recommend you value capability over cost. Whatever method works for you, Huber & Associates is willing to complete projects on time and on budget.
Q8: Do you insist on remotely monitoring my network 24-7-365 to keep critical security settings, virus definitions and security patches up-to-date and PREVENT problems from turning into downtime, viruses, lost data and other issues?
Our Answer: Yes; our remote network monitoring system watches over your network to constantly look for developing problems, security issues and other problems so we can address them BEFORE they turn into bigger problems.
Q9: Do you provide me with a monthly report that shows all the updates, security patches, and status of every machine on my network so I can know for SURE my systems have been secured and updated?
Our Answer: Every month our clients receive a detailed report that shows an overall health score of their network and the updates to the antivirus, security settings, patches and other important network checks such as hard drive space, backups, speed and performance, etc.
Q10: Is it standard procedure for you to provide me with written, network documentation detailing what software licenses I own, critical passwords, user information, hardware inventory, etc., or are you the only person with the “keys to the kingdom”?
Our Answer: All clients receive this in electronic form at no additional cost, giving them complete control over their network. We update all information in real time and can access it when you need to.
Q11: Do you have other technicians on staff who are familiar with my network in case my regular technician goes on vacation or gets sick?
Our Answer: Yes; and since we keep detailed network documentation (basically a blueprint of your computer network) and a detailed ticketing system, any of our technicians can pick up where another has left off.
Q12: When you offer an “all-inclusive” support plan, is it TRULY all-inclusive, or are there “gotchas” hidden in the fine print?
Our Answer: Our “Advantage Complete” support plan is just that — all inclusive. One of the more popular service plans offered by consulting firms today is an “all-inclusive” or “all-you-can-eat” managed services plan. This is actually a good thing because they’ll save you a lot of money in the long run — HOWEVER, make sure you REALLY understand what is and isn’t included. Some things to consider are:
Q13: Do you INSIST on monitoring an off-site as well as an on-site backup, or are you letting me rely on outdated tape backup?
Our Answer: We highly recommend our clients do not use tape backups because they are incredibly unreliable. We recommend our Huber Advantage Back-up & Disaster Recovery so that they can sleep at night knowing their data is safe and could be recovered no matter what.
Q14: Do you INSIST on doing periodical test restores of our backups to make sure the data is not corrupt and could be restored in the event of a disaster?
Our Answer: We perform a monthly “fire drill” and a test restore from backup for our clients to make sure their data CAN be recovered in the event of an emergency. After all, the WORST time to “test” a backup is when you desperately need it.
Q15: Do you insist on backing up my network BEFORE performing any type of project or upgrade?
Our Answer: We do, and that’s simply as a precaution in case a hardware failure or software glitch causes a major problem.
Q16: If I were to experience a major disaster, do you have a written plan for how my data could be restored FAST and/or enable me to work from a remote location?
Our Answer: All clients receive a simple disaster recovery plan for their data and network. We encourage them to do a full disaster recovery plan for their office, but at a minimum, their network will be covered should something happen.
Q17: Is your help-desk US based or is it outsourced to an overseas company or third party?
Our Answer: We provide our own in-house help desk and make sure the folks helping you are friendly and helpful. We consider this one of the most important aspects of customer service, plus we feel it’s important to keeping your data secure.
Q18: Do your technicians maintain current vendor certifications and participate in on-going training — or are they learning on my dime?
Our Answer: Our technicians are required to keep the most up-to-date vendor certifications in all the software we support. We hire the best of the best in the industry, and all of our technicians stay up-to-date on all training.
Q19: Do your technicians arrive on time and dress professionally?
Our Answer: Our technicians are true professionals that you would be proud to have in your office. They dress professionally, show up on time and if they cannot (for some odd, unforeseen reason) we always notify the client immediately. We believe these are minimum requirements for delivering a professional service.
Q20: Are you familiar with (and can you support) my unique line of business applications?
Our Answer: We own the problems with all line of business applications for our clients. That doesn’t mean we can fix faulty software — but we WILL be the liaison between you and your vendor to resolve problems you are having and make sure these applications work smoothly for you.
Q21: When something goes wrong with my Internet service, phone systems, printers or other IT services, do you own the problem or do you say “that’s not our problem to fix”?
Our Answer: We feel WE should own the problem for our clients so they don’t have to try and resolve any of these issues on their own — that’s just plain old good service and something many computer guys won’t do.
