Packaged IT solutions
-
what are your thoughts about packaged IT solutions by an IT solution/consultant company?
Something like:
Starter pack 5-10 users for a start up- Email, file sharing, collaboration, securitySecond package- 10-30 users Centralised login(AD for example), email, file sharing, collaboration etc.
-
yeah mean like flat rate stuff? Anything flat rate is usually asking for trouble.
-
Rates can be flexible based on the solution client wants. Eg: email could be anything from o365 or a self hosted one that we maintain and just manage it for client, idea is to give the client a total packaged solution so business owner of a startup company just choose the package and we start working on it. Idea is to give them complete solution based on the size of their company.
-
If it is flexible, is it a package?
-
Flexible in terms of the end solution/product. Base idea/the package stays the same, in this eg of starter its email, file sharing.
-
I don't see the point of the package then.
-
Why not? Not necessarily all companies who start might know what exactly they wanted in the IT setup. Idea of the packages is to simplify it for the client saying, you are a company of x size you need a,b,c which is provided in package1. It will be simple for them rather than finding what they need, and try to find a vendor who does each. Of course most solution providers does all basics IT setup, but the idea of packaging is that this can be scalable.
For eg: a medium sized company of say 50 users, there can be a package saying, taking care of A-Z IT ( cabling, servers, mail, etc), am easy one stop shop for the business owner.
-
@Ambarishrh said:
Why not? Not necessarily all companies who start might know what exactly they wanted in the IT setup.
That's what the consulting is for, no need for packages.
-
That's what I'm missing.... what is the "package" aspect here? Package means not custom. Once you go custom, what's the package?
-
Means a set of tools can't be considered as package? This I got from 2 of my clients, so just thought of getting opinions from ML. For them all they want is to tell them they need x,y,z and total price for that. They don't want to worry about/wasting their time to find what they need in IT, may be is that they trust my judgement on the products I choose for them till now,
-
@Ambarishrh said:
Means a set of tools can't be considered as package? This I got from 2 of my clients, so just thought of getting opinions from ML. For them all they want is to tell them they need x,y,z and total price for that. They don't want to worry about/wasting their time to find what they need in IT, may be is that they trust my judgement on the products I choose for them till now,
That's a package. What you are describing is that they don't want options or customization. Once you start customizing, then what did you package?
-
Seems like this is going on circles
But just wanted to make it clear one more time.Package- email, file sharing- this is not changing. Let's say this is ideal for a very small startup of 5 user company. Company A or B if 5 users, this is the base package.
Under this package solutions can change according to the factors like budget, features etc. eg: Email- Google apps OR part of a hosted Zimbra setup with their domain configured.
File sharing- Dropbox/Box or owncloud if self hosted- may be too much for small team but just mentioning as examples.Does it still sound wrong?
-
The only thing that sounds wrong is calling it a package when nothing is packaged. LOL. You keep saying package but then saying "that can change." All you are actually saying, then, is that you'll offer what's needed on a customer by customer basis - which is all anyone who doesn't do packages does.
I'm not sure what you are imagining, but you really at the end aren't asking anything. Basically you are asking if IT consulting makes sense and yes, yes it does.
-
totally understand. Just thinking about if I go full time as consultant and rather than listing all products/techs offered, thought of doing it in a different way easy to understand for the customer, which again is already been asked by my existing clients. -
Hi @Ambarishrh
I did similar based packages to support like you, I now offer nothing as a package because I don't want to be the one size fits all provider. I want to tailor everything to the client.
When you offer "Packages" you limit yourself and the customer to the options.
Customer A looks at the packages, does not see what he wants, moves onto another provider.
Customer B looks at the packages, does not understand why you are more expensive than other provider for the same/less features, so moves on.Both of these customers could be yours if you can have the discussion with them.
http://mangolassi.it/topic/4928/my-new-company-dara-it
I found this thread fairly difficult, I was very attached to "my baby" as I'd spent time planning it and working out all the neat little packages but the biggest asset to my business will never be pre-set packages, there are countless providers out there doing the same thing, if you want to distinguish yourself don't try to copy mass market with packages.
And on another note, office 365 would be a competitor in packaged services, what will you do to match or beat them? Why would you be better than Microsoft as a provider?
-
@Breffni-Potter Thanks a lot for the feedback. I am at the planning phase too and checking on different options too.
Reg Office 365- Its not about beating that. Some clients might be more inclined to products like google apps/a self hosted mail service like Zimbra. Had zimbra community edition configured for a client in house who didn't wanted to spend on monthly fee for O365 or similar solution on per user basis. Apart from that the maintenance are patches and spam control as per requirements, but haven't had much issues in the past year.
This is just one case, could be more users who are inclined to a simplified cloud based solution too, but just wanted to share the req on other types of solutions as well. -
I'm perhaps in the minority here, but I like the idea of flexible packages. You start with a basic package, which businesses can understand, then tweak it slightly to fit. It's a bit like cars. BMW do a 1 series a 3 series and a 5 series and they are a fixed price, but once you've picked the model that suits you best, you start tweaking it with things like leather seats instead of cloth, better audio, a sunroof, etc etc. This sounds the same, which makes sense to me.
-
@Breffni-Potter said:
I found this thread fairly difficult, I was very attached to "my baby" as I'd spent time planning it and working out all the neat little packages but the biggest asset to my business will never be pre-set packages, there are countless providers out there doing the same thing, if you want to distinguish yourself don't try to copy mass market with packages.
Tons of vendors do packages, not custom solutions. It's a very common way to go because it can be tested as a complete solution and priced reliably.
-
@scottalanmiller said:
Tons of vendors do packages, not custom solutions. It's a very common way to go because it can be tested as a complete solution and priced reliably.
True, but are you a vendor or a consultant would be my question.
-
@Breffni-Potter said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Tons of vendors do packages, not custom solutions. It's a very common way to go because it can be tested as a complete solution and priced reliably.
True, but are you a vendor or a consultant would be my question.
Consultant means not-packaged. The term package implies that you don't need consulting (one could argue that consulting was built into the package - someone consulted on what a good package would be before making it.)
But when you go to McDonald's and get a pre-packaged combo mean (package) you don't think of the cashier or the fry guy as a consultant, they aren't making recommendations based on your needs, they are just providing a package.
