Paying for external ICT support (continued)

Working with an ICT support company

Don’t just hand over responsibility to the contractors:make sure you manage the arrangement and know whether it is delivering what you need.

Have one person in your team who is the main contact with the support company and agree a procedure so that staff and volunteers know what to do when they have a problem. Do they contact the responsible staff member or call the support company direct?You can be flexible, but agreeing on a single system makes it easier to manage.

Your contractor should keep records of their time spent on each job and have a system so that you can sign off to say that a problem is fixed. They may also offer you a way of logging problems through a website and tracking the solutions. If not, ask your team to keep a log of problems as they arise:

• date and time they called the support company;
• the problem they reported;
• what was done to resolve the problem – who did what and how long it took;
• any further comments, especially whether the problem happened again.

A log helps identify common problems and helps you plan for future support arrangements. It can also help identify solutions before calling for support, so money can be saved and knowledge shared within the team.

The contract with the support company may identify actions you need to take to prevent problems, especially if you’re trying to keep costs to a minimum. This could include:

• making sure your anti-virus and other security software is up to date;
• keeping back-ups;
• agreements about acceptable use, such as preventing staff from downloading their own software (see Chapter 4 on acceptable use policies);
• keeping your inventory up to date.

Even when things are going well, make sure you have regular reviews with the contractor. A quarterly meeting or phone call with the contractor will help identify issues and possible solutions. Having a regular slot in team meetings to discuss ICT support will mean you can include feedback from staff and volunteers.

Local community sector ICT support services

There is a growing number of community-based providers of ICT support, combining technical knowledge and professional ICT services with an understanding of the sector’s needs. Some are social enterprises, which charge for services but use any profits for community benefit. They may have a sliding scale of charges for businesses, public and community organisations, or a range of specialist services, training and other support at affordable rates.

Some community-based ICT support workers may be housed in a CVS or other infrastructure organisation, and may be grant-funded to subsidise services for specific people, networks or organisations in the local community. Some will provide a certain level of free advice and offer signposts to other services and support, but may charge for ICT support services.

Your primary concern when looking for ICT support is the quality of the service you will get and its cost. If you have a range of choices you may find that a community-sector service offers the best combination of quality, familiarity with the sector and reasonable pricing. It is also good if you know that you share their values and are supporting a community-owned resource.

Getting technical support over the internet

The widespread take-up of broadband has made it a lot easier for ICT support to be provided remotely.This means that someone can use the Internet to connect to your computer and use it as if they were sitting at your desk.The person providing the support doesn’t need a permanent connection to your network; they usually set up a temporary connection which is closed once you’ve logged off.

Seeing the mouse move around the screen on its own can be slightly unnerving at first but this method allows many problems to be solved more quickly, and therefore more cheaply. Keeping costs down in this way is one way in which smaller organisations can afford the level of support more commonly enjoyed by larger organisations.