IT Support Contracts and the Pros and Cons of "All-Inclusive"

Prospective customers may find all-inclusive IT support contracts a tempting proposition. By suggesting an all-inclusive monthly price, you allow them to budget effectively. This may make your support proposal more attractive than one from a competitor.

However, all-inclusive IT support contracts have some advantages and disadvantages from the IT support provider's perspective. It is important to weigh the positives and negatives of all-inclusive IT support contracts before offering them. This article explores these pros and cons.

All-Inclusive IT Support Contracts – The Pros

• Fixed-price contracts may attract budget-conscious customers who would prefer not to work on hourly billing.

• Operating a number of all-inclusive contracts guarantees monthly revenue to your business, making your own budgeting easier.

• Having these contracts on your books, as opposed to a history of average hours billed, may make your business more valuable to a potential buyer if you plan to sell your company.

• All-inclusive IT support contracts may generate more revenue from low-maintenance customers with stable, static infrastructures than would be realized from an hourly arrangement.

All-Inclusive IT Support Contracts – The Cons

• It can be hard to predict the resource required to service a number of all-inclusive clients. While your core staff may cope during quiet periods, serious concurrent problems on multiple networks may stretch your team to the limit.

• If your IT support contracts are all-inclusive, you will probably be unable to bill additional hours during serious system problems. This will be extremely frustrating if the problem is not your fault.

• Your revenue, while consistent, will not reflect the amount of work you and your team put into your business. While sometimes this will work in your favor, other times it will not.

Does your company offer all-inclusive IT support contracts? Share your strategies in the comments box below.

And to follow through on the tips introduced in this short article, especially if your contracts also cover SaaS and IaaS, be sure to enroll now in our free 7-day eCourse: Go-to-Market Strategy 101 for B2B SaaS Startups and Scaleups.