Few are aware of the amount of talent and resources it takes to provide quality educational services to thousands of students every single day. In order for your teaching talent to be able to perform at their highest ability they must never have to worry about the resources needed to do their job and they must have every teaching aid available at their disposal. Today there is no better teaching aid than a personal computer. It’s no wonder that today entire fleets of these devices are now handed out to students by almost all educational institutions. At some point most of these educational institutions will also rely on outsourcing for computer set up, maintenance, and repair, here are some of the top ways your educational institution may be losing money without your administration even realizing it.
1. Unrefined Diagnostic Tactics.
What sets aside a good technician from a bad one is his or her ability to zero in on the problem with as little time and resources as possible. A good technician is like a skilled hunter, he gets his prey quickly, cleanly, and without making a ruckus. Many IT service providers use ham fisted methods to locate a problem that ends up costing you at every instance of an incorrect diagnostic. Whether you end up paying for parts you didn’t really need to solve an issue or whether it ends up costing you time, it’s a loss of either way. Money should never be thrown at a problem nor should your time. The worst part is as an institution with whole fleets of devices, you may never even realize this is happening when outsourcing your technical work. You must be sure to hire a professional IT service that’s as sharp at cutting through problems as they are efficient.
2. Shotgun Solutions.
So your IT service provider has located the source of a problem. Will they also now use a coarse strategy to repair the problem? Many services keep a broad brush around which they use to fix a variety issues which come their way. Will your IT service provider make you buy an entire motherboard or do they have the ability and skill to only replace a 10 cent component which has gone bad within your motherboard? Imagine replacing your entire engine when all you needed was a new spark plug. This ability to zoom in even closer at the problem than most providers is a rare ability that not all have the skill to pull off. Is your service provider capable of this? If not, these repair costs are adding up across your entire computer fleet and is costing you. It’s easier on your repair and maintenance provider to operate like this, but it certainly isn’t easier on you.
3. Standard Pricing.
Rather than working directly with you to figure out the best pricing for your specific needs, many service providers will keep a list of standardized prices for a variety of issues. While this simplifies matters it keeps you from accessing a service plan custom tailored for your needs. Large institutions may not have the time to sit down to independently research what certain repairs entail and what kind of price is most fair for that particular job. This makes prices that would otherwise be unacceptable for an individual client, fly by under the nose of a large company or institution which outsources large fleets of devices to be serviced. It’s better to work with a company that can sit down with your administration and build a plan custom built for your exact needs. Better yet, work with a company that is honest about what exactly your needs are in the first place.
4. Wasted Resources.
A broken computer is still very much an asset even after it has stopped functioning. Not every device will be repairable and not every needed part will be obtainable. Take these two situations and make them into a positive. If you have 50 non-functioning Chromebooks that all have perfectly good LCD screens and another 30 Chromebooks which could use a new LCD, well you may have already put 2 and 2 together. You can use parts from unused broken devices to keep your remaining fleet working and set aside the rest as an inventory for any future device breakdowns. This is an incredibly simple way to save money on parts and keep your institution from contributing to the ever worsening e-waste epidemic. That’s two birds with one stone. Many companies today speak about eco-friendliness but few get their hands dirty going one step better than recycling. What’s one step better than recycling? Re-purposing and re-using, of course!
5. Stopping Short of a Solution.
Many contractors will focus on the bulk of easy jobs in your device fleet giving these priority over jobs which may be slightly more time consuming or challenging. This is great for them but not so great for you as every “No Fix” device is one which you will have to replace, an expense your provider does not have to worry about but you on the other hand do. Is your IT service provider capable of going the extra step to try and save you from replacing yet another device or will they stop short for their own sake? Again, finding someone with this level of care and determination is extremely hard. Those institutions lucky enough to be working with such a service provider are counting their blessings and saving big time. Computer Prodigies provides you with this information so you know exactly what to look for and where you may have not thought to look.
We’re a business that started small and our work ethic and integrity counter acts each and every one of these 5 negatives listed above. We take all the integral characteristics that made us highly respected within our community as we worked with individuals and we are now extending that same courteous, professional, honest service to large institutions. We can treat your company or institution with the same respect as an individual because that’s what gave us our start. Our technicians are sharp. We select experienced people who’ve been gaining experience since they were very young. That’s why we use the word “Prodigies” in our name. Our team is composed of those who have followed their natural-born interest in technology and realized it into a high level skill. They have that eagle-like vision to zoom in on a small problem even when that problem is surrounded by a web of complexity. We go deep, we are anti-cookie cutter solutions. It’s part of being a PRODIGY. You can always reach out to us if you’d like to learn more about how we can work with your company or institution to save you from wasted potential. Think of us when it comes to time to maintain a vital part of your educational infrastructure. Ask us about how we can work with your school or business to create your own inventory of salvaged components using your own unserviceable or obsolete devices, saving you on operating expenses and helping stop e-waste.
