“Sounds great, but how much does it cost?”
“What is my monthly cost going to be?”
“Can you give me a high-level estimate?”
These are just a few of the questions we get asked all of the time. At face value these seem like fair questions, right? Sorry, but it’s not that quite that easy. More often than not, it comes down to fit and scope, not price.
Specifically speaking within the Managed Services world, it’s hard to gauge what it would cost to support client X; especially if you don’t know anything about them. Think about it this way, you know something is wrong with your car so you take it into the mechanic to get a quote to fix it; you tell them they can’t look under the hood or investigate the problem, you just want to know how much it costs to fix it. Chances are that mechanic isn’t going to be able to give you a proper quote without being able to look under the hood to find out what the actual problem is. Now translate this example to Managed Services and your current IT infrastructure, without us ‘looking under the hood’ we can’t provide you with a price or a technology solution.
This is why whenever we talk to prospective clients, initial conversations aren’t price driven (and if they are, it’s probably not going to be a great fit). Conversations surrounding the ‘get-to-know-you’ phase are just that, we focus on truly getting to know the business. We focus on understanding current-state technology, future needs, pain points, frustrations, and the long-term business IT roadmap – all before we talk about pricing.
We need to understand what you currently have in terms of an IT infrastructure and technology, how are you using technology, what are the major ‘red-flags’ off the bat, and where do you want to go as a business. To gain this knowledge we will actually provide an on-site technical assessment and in most cases, there is no fee attached. Once we know this information, then we can focus on aligning pricing and budgeting requirements to fit this overarching goal of utilizing technology to empower your business. Without knowing all of these intricacies, throwing out pricing would be akin to picking a number, regardless of the business or their needs, and hoping it fits.
Now let me be clear...yes, of course we have pricing models built on standard services. BUT, and it's a big but, if we simply just focussed on throwing out ‘standard’ pricing numbers without truly focusing on the business itself and how they utilize technology, we would be utterly failing at our core; we are a Managed Services Partner, not a reactive vendor. We are not a break-fix IT support company that just turns wrenches and puts out fires, yes we have a Service Desk division that provides reactive support for live client issues, however we go far beyond this. We are a proactive business Partner to our clients and focus on providing strategic technology recommendations that align with their specific business requirements. In the industry, we are recognized as a mature MSP. Here's a list of what to look for in a mature MSP and how Nucleus measures up in each of these categories:
This is how we ‘SUPERCHARGE’ your technology investment. Interested in elevating your business? Reach out to us and let’s start the conversation!