Spade Technology: Blog
Leveraging Technology To Maximize Billable Hours & Customer Satisfaction: Questions and Answers
Technology is rapidly changing the work environment with benefits going to those who can leverage it to get more done. The same technology also comes with inherent risks that, if not well managed, lead to security breaches, system downtime, and employee frustration that affects workforce productivity and tarnishes your image as a professional services provider.
We work with professional services providers in the Greater Boston Area, including lawyers, accountants among others, to build, monitor, and maintain resilient IT environments that lets them focus on their core business, maximize billable hours, and improve customer satisfaction. They never have to worry about the ins and outs of IT problems.
By taking a proactive approach to managing your IT needs, we reduce the likelihood of costly downtime, drive productivity, and reduce the occurrence and financial impact of data security breaches.
Q. How Can We Maximize Our Billable Hours?
A. By Using Managed IT Support With Your Desired Outcomes in Mind
Looking for a technology support company that “gets it”?
Tired of hearing about all the “stuff we do” and want to know our end game?
This is it… We’re here to leverage technology to help you get to where you want to go.
- Increased sales
- More clients
- More profitability
- Increased company morale
- Improved shareholder value
- Better ROI
- Early ownership transition and retirement
- Spend more time with family
- Stick to a expenses budget, including technology and IT support
- Business processes that flow effortlessly powered by technology that consistently “just works right”
While reliable IT support is only one of the levers and buttons involved in achieving these goals, IT is a significant factor in your firm’s success. Let us help you pursue your organizational and professional objectives.
Q. What Is Managed IT Support?
A. Proactive IT Service
This is an approach to managing IT requirements that puts you in the driver’s seat. Instead of the traditional pay-by-the-hour approach that slowly bleeds your business with downtime, Managed IT Support is proactive.
It utilizes cutting-edge tools and qualified IT expertise to continuously monitor and patch your IT systems, guaranteeing better uptime, security and reliability. It also comes with predictable monthly pricing that removes the guesswork and surprise fees from your budget.
Q. What Are the Benefits of Outsourced IT Support Management?
A. 4 Key Benefits
1. Expertise Focused on Business Outcomes – You’ll have access to a team of IT experts dedicated to improving your day-to-day operations, enhance growth, simplify scalability, and free you to run your practice.
2. Cost Efficiency – Utilizing cutting-edge technologies and innovations that speed up workflows, and allows for greater collaboration, saving your both time and money.
3. Time & Resource Efficiency/ Increased Billable Time – Improved team productivity and increased billable time is gained by leveraging the latest and technologies that enhance communication, efficiency, and service provision.
4. Agility & Technology Innovation – Utilizing ongoing evaluation and enhancement of technology, so you can quickly and easily scale your business to take advantage of new opportunities (The opposite applies if you need to scale down to cut costs and stay lean.)
Q. What Solutions Do You Offer Professional Service Providers?
A. 6 Basic Services (and more)
1. Professional Services Applications – Installation, management and troubleshooting of critical business applications including Qbox, Hubdoc, Microsoft Office 365, CCH Axcess, etc. for better collaboration and productivity.
2. Wireless Networking – Design, implementation and management of wireless communication devices and technologies to enhance work mobility and foster collaboration no matter where your workforce is located.
3. Cybersecurity – Monitoring and patching of IT systems to prevent phishing, ransomware attacks, malware, etc. while improving data security and privacy
4. Compliance Management – Assessment and implementation of systems or policies to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements including HIPAA/HITRUST, FINRA, GLBA, PCI/DSS and more
5. IT Consulting – Assisting in IT strategy, planning and implementation of technology to align with your firm’s goals and maximize billable time with highly-available technology tools
6. Managed IT Support – Providing information and communications support to professional services firms during peak seasons such as tax preparation time, by offering highly-available, robust IT technologies that improve uptime and throughput
Q. How Can Updated Technology Improve Customer Service & Increase Our Billable Hours?
A. Your Employees Get More Done Each Day
If you are using outdated, aging technology, this will hamper your progress. When your technology works, you and your staff can concentrate on customer service and increasing your billable hours.
Running old technology equipment can cost you more than you probably know. Maybe you think that investing thousands of dollars in new servers and computers is beyond your budget.
What’s important to realize is that investing in updated technology makes it easier for your employees to get their jobs done each day. The ultimate benefactor will be your clients because their needs will be taken care of in a timely and efficient manner.
In the end, the investment pays for itself with more work being completed on schedule. As your firm develops a strong reputation for delivering projects on time and within budget, your clients will be pleased and continue to use your services. They may even refer you to other businesses. This is how you increase your billable hours and grow your practice.
So, what are we really talking about when we say old technology?…
If you’re using old servers that keep shutting down, they can cost you several hours of productivity each day. In a year’s time, this can add up to thousands of dollars in lost work hours.
Anytime your employees are sitting around waiting on an IT guy to repair their computers, you’re losing money, and your clients’ needs aren’t being met. If you replace that old server with the latest technology, you’ll get better performance overall from your entire workforce.
Why not replace their old computers with the latest on the market? New computers have larger processors so your employees can work faster and bill more hours. They have larger hard drives so you can store more information. Plus, they have the capacity to run those large software programs that your firm requires.
Q. How Much Is Outdated Technology Really Costing Us In Billable Hours & Customer Satisfaction?
A. A Lot More Than You Probably Think
Outdated technology can cause a lot of frustration and wasted hours. There’s no telling how much time and effort is wasted trying to get IT equipment to run correctly.
For some, downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour. You must take all this into consideration when thinking about whether to replace old, outdated equipment.
For example, what if you have one old server that keeps shutting down and each time it does, your employees can’t work? Let’s look more closely at exactly what this costs just in employee salaries alone.
6 employees earning $20 per hour each = $120 per hour or $60 for 30 minutes
30 minutes of downtime each week for 50 weeks per year = $3,000
If you have an IT department, you must figure in the time it takes them to get the server back up and running. You probably pay your IT people a lot more than $20 per hour.
3 IT people at $30 per hour = $90
3 IT employees working on this old server for an hour per week
$90 per week for 50 weeks = $4,500
So far, you’ve spent $7,500 on this single old server that really should be replaced. It isn’t performing well. It’s slow, and it can’t run the latest and best programs that you should be using today.
You still haven’t figured in the cost of lost customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction goes out the window because your clients aren’t getting the services they need in a timely fashion. Your employees are spending too much time trying to connect to your server when they should be tending to your clients’ needs.
You can see by the above example that there are a lot of expenses and negative repercussions that you might not think of right away when you consider updating your technology. You might simply be thinking that a couple of employees can’t work for a few hours each week when it’s actually a much larger problem than this. And we haven’t even touched on data security.
Q. Can Outdated Technology Impact The Security Of Our Data?
A. Most Definitely
You can’t risk a data breach. No network is entirely safe from hackers these days. So how do you minimize the chances that your network will get breached? You need the latest and best hardware and software, plus regular security training for all your employees.
If everything isn’t constantly updated to combat the latest cyber threats, your data is at risk. Data losses affect your reputation and can result in litigation and penalties. Why take the chance?
Customer satisfaction will go out the window when your organization’s confidential information is breached and it’s listed in the headlines. The trust that you’ve developed with the businesses and individuals that you serve can be wiped out with one breach.
Q. What’s The Bottom Line?
A. If your technology works, you and your staff can concentrate on increasing your billable hours and improving customer service to grow your practice.
There are a lot of other reasons to replace your old, outdated hardware and software. And many more why you should use Managed IT Services. When you can’t meet the needs of your clients, they’ll leave and go to the competition. When your staff can’t work due to outdated technology, you can’t bill your clients.
As with any emerging technology, it’s more cost-effective to replace equipment every few years than it is to struggle with outdated equipment. The gains in customer satisfaction and benefit to those you serve will more than outweigh the cost of replacement.
And with Managed IT Services, you only pay for the services you need. Our solutions are affordable and tailored to address your firm’s needs while offering a predictable, flat-rate monthly payment plan that takes out the guesswork from your budget.
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