After working with hundreds of clients as an MSP, we’ve noticed that prospective customers often have similar questions in the discovery phase of our working relationship:
- What services does Kelser offer?
- Can I pick and choose the services I want?
- How much will it cost?
- What is the process?
- What are the benefits?
As Kelser’s president, I have answered these questions and more for many clients. This article compiles those answers in one place as a resource to help you figure out if Kelser is the right managed services provider (MSP) for you.
We like to provide as much information as possible to make our initial meetings with customers productive. This is one of the ways Kelser works a little differently to enhance the customer experience.
So, let’s get to it!
1. Cost
One of the items we like to address early in the process is cost. As consumers ourselves, we know that cost is a top consideration. Each client has unique needs that may affect the price charged by an MSP.
What factors affect the price of IT managed services?
Factors that affect our price include:
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number of devices (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.)
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number of servers
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current network and firewall
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current support model
All of these components can affect the price, whether higher or lower. For instance if you have an outdated firewall that needs to be refreshed, that will increase the cost. If you have older wireless access points, those may need to be upgraded which would increase the cost. If you have current networking gear, you would not need to upgrade, so you would not incur those extra costs.
What does Kelser charge?
The cost for our services usually falls in the range of $120-140 per user per month, based on the variables outlined above.
Will my cost change?
Once your monthly cost is determined, you can rest assured that it will not change from month to month. We pride ourselves on understanding the unique needs of your business as well as any current IT pains. With that in mind, we develop a proposal to address all your requirements.
2. What is the minimum I can buy?
Because our managed services are designed to provide the highest level of support to make sure our clients are secure, efficient and available, we don’t offer individual or “a la carte” options. We believe that each of the components included in our essential services work together to optimize your business.
Some of these essentials include:
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Unlimited 24/7 service desk support
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Managed workstations with automatic patching
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Managed anti-malware
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DNS-based protection
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Managed employee awareness training
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Mail support
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Managed spam filtering and protection
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Managed servers including disaster recovery
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Managed network
3. What other services do you offer?
For those who want to use IT as a differentiator, Kelser offers ongoing strategic planning services. These include a virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) and a Technical Alignment Manager (TAM). These experts keep tabs on your organizational goals and infrastructure needs to determine how IT best plays a supporting role.
TAMs visit customers each month to work on a list of tasks identified and prioritized jointly with you. vCIOs provide periodic reviews, along with strategic and budgetary guidance.
Your vCIO and TAM stay on top of IT trends and continually explore proactive solutions to support your business.
4. After we sign an agreement, what happens next?
Trust and transparency are fundamental pillars of a managed services relationship.
One of our goals is to eliminate the unknown and unpredictable, so we’ve outlined what to expect after signing an agreement:
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Based on your unique requirements, you will be paired with a vCIO, TAM, and service delivery manager (SDM) who are best suited to help you achieve your objectives.
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Within 48 hours of signing the agreement, your SDM will reach out to coordinate an introductory meeting between you, your in-house team, and your Kelser team. We’ll get to know one another better and cover details like scheduling an on-site visit with your TAM and establishing an onboarding schedule that’s tailored to your needs.
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Within one week of the introductory meeting, based on schedules, your TAM will conduct a deep discovery at your location(s) to become acquainted with your systems, processes, and your entire technology stack gaining insights into what is and isn’t working for your organization today.
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Finally, your SDM will provide and maintain a project plan that keeps us accountable to one another. Experience shows that careful attention to detail in this early stage sets us all up for continued success. The project plan and your SDM make sure we achieve that together.
Ready To Find Out More About How Kelser Can Help Your Business?
At Kelser, we’ve been serving our clients for more than 40 years. Over that long period, we have evolved with the ever-changing technology landscape to provide best-in-class service within a predictable budget to help meet the needs of our clients.
We work to not only understand technology but also to understand your business and work with you to proactively plan for both anticipated and unexpected changes.
The best compliment we get is when a client tells us how well we understand their business. Fortunately, we hear that a lot. How we work makes it possible. From understanding what’s important to you, to working with you to develop a plan that brings it to life, we are committed to helping your business succeed.
If you’re ready to find out more, click the button below to set up an initial meeting with our team. Let us help position your business for a secure, efficient and successful future.
