How do you quote a project when you cannot see what we have?

We scope it first. Small, well-understood work is fixed price. Anything where the shape depends on what we find is quoted as a day rate with an estimated range and an agreed point at which we stop and talk to you, rather than a fixed price padded to cover the unknown.

Do you mark up hardware?

Devices are sold to you at the price on the quote, which includes any margin and any onboarding cost for the device. You see the figure before you buy and it does not move afterwards. You are also free to buy the hardware yourself and have us configure it — bear in mind that setting a device up is an onboarding charge either way, and that a machine which does not meet the network, infrastructure or client requirements costs more to make suitable. Windows Home rather than Pro, or not enough memory, are the two we see most. Both are fixable and both are chargeable.

Can you take over a project someone else started badly?

Often, though we will want to document what exists before committing to a date. A half-finished migration with no documentation and no credentials is a discovery exercise first and a project second, and we will price it that way.

What happens if a project overruns?

On fixed-price work, that is our problem. On day-rate work, we stop at the agreed point and talk to you rather than continuing and presenting a larger invoice at the end.

IT projects, migrations and hardware procurement

What this is

Everything that is not day-to-day support: migrations, office moves, new sites, infrastructure replacement, and buying the equipment to do it with.

Kept deliberately separate from the monthly fee. Bundling project work into a support contract means either you are paying for projects you are not having, or we are absorbing work we did not price, and the second one always ends badly for the customer.

What is actually delivered

Migrations. Between tenants, from on-premises servers to cloud services, or away from a provider who is not being helpful about handing over credentials. The last of these is more common than it should be, and we plan for it.

Office moves and new sites. Connectivity ordered with enough lead time, equipment specified and configured beforehand, and a cutover plan that does not depend on everything going right.

Infrastructure replacement. Servers, network equipment and end-user devices, specified against what the business needs for the next few years rather than the cheapest thing that works today.

Hardware and software procurement. Devices are sold at the price on the quote, which includes any margin and any onboarding cost for the device. We will tell you when the specification you have been quoted elsewhere is more machine than you need — and, if you buy elsewhere, what it would cost to bring a machine up to the network, infrastructure or client requirements it has to meet.

Remediation. The backlog of things found during onboarding. Prioritised by risk, quoted separately, and worked through at a pace you choose rather than presented as an emergency.

And a good deal that does not have a heading. A line-of-business application to stand up or move. A network to segment properly. A starter and leaver process that currently runs on somebody remembering. Wi-Fi that has never worked in the far corner of the building. Telephony to port. A remote site to bring onto the same footing as the head office. An audit finding or an insurer’s question to close out. Equipment nobody supports any more, and a plan for what replaces it. And whatever it is you are reading this paragraph hoping to find, which did not get its own heading because the page would never end. If it has a beginning and an end it is a project, and the answer is usually yes. Where it is not, we will tell you who to ask instead rather than take it on badly.

How it is scoped

Every project starts as somebody’s technology puzzle, and we would rather solve it on paper than halfway through. Discovery, then a written scope with what is in it, what is not, what we need from you and what happens if we find something unexpected. You approve the scope before anything starts.

How it is charged

Fixed price where the work is well understood, day rate with a range where it is not. Either way the basis is on the quote. All figures exclude VAT.

Microsoft 365 and cloud Identity, email, files and the permissions underneath them.
Phones, lines and networks Connectivity, telephony and the equipment between them.
Managed IT support The day-to-day. Unlimited remote and on-site support for every managed device.

Questions people ask

How do you quote a project when you cannot see what we have?: We scope it first. Small, well-understood work is fixed price. Anything where the shape depends on what we find is quoted as a day rate with an estimated range and an agreed point at which we stop and talk to you, rather than a fixed price padded to cover the unknown.
Do you mark up hardware?: Devices are sold to you at the price on the quote, which includes any margin and any onboarding cost for the device. You see the figure before you buy and it does not move afterwards. You are also free to buy the hardware yourself and have us configure it — bear in mind that setting a device up is an onboarding charge either way, and that a machine which does not meet the network, infrastructure or client requirements costs more to make suitable. Windows Home rather than Pro, or not enough memory, are the two we see most. Both are fixable and both are chargeable.
Can you take over a project someone else started badly?: Often, though we will want to document what exists before committing to a date. A half-finished migration with no documentation and no credentials is a discovery exercise first and a project second, and we will price it that way.
What happens if a project overruns?: On fixed-price work, that is our problem. On day-rate work, we stop at the agreed point and talk to you rather than continuing and presenting a larger invoice at the end.

Before you get in touch

How we charge What is charged per user, per device and per site, and what moves the number.
Service levels Response and resolution targets, and the hours they run within.
Certifications ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials, with the numbers to check them.

Projects and procurement