The perils of long IT contracts

I got a call yesterday from a new client that things were not going smoothly with them giving notice to their current IT. They sent me all their current contracts and asked for advice.

Looking through these there were two themes – long, long contract lengths tying them in for years – and the almost incomprehensible amounts of money they were being charged. If the £2,000 per year they were being charged for an internet router wasn’t enough, they were billed over £7,000 per year for backup services. This was to a business of 6 employees!

It saddens me to see a small business taken advantage of like that, and angers me that they’ve clearly mis-sold to this customer. Needless to say, I am working with our client to see what we can do to extract them from this.

Please avoid long contracts - who knows where you and business will be in 2,3,4 years time? There also seems to be a tangible link between IT companies who require long contracts to be signed and the quality of service they then provide. We work on 12 month contracts - we are confident enough in our services that our clients will renew each year - and they do! We have a number of clients who are now in their 2nd decade with us, and plenty that have been with us over 5 years now.

And if, like my new client has been, you are wincing at your IT costs then we can review those for you. If our £45 per machine per month will save you money - happy days.

It’s certainly going to save our new client money - if we can just get him out of that contract!

So if you’d like to enjoy the benefits of having an IT team that charges you the right amount and in the right way, please get in touch on 0333 344 8443 or via hello@controlandshift.com.