What does it mean to be a contract client?

For larger clients with complex network and server setups, often across multiple locations, being an IT Basecamp contract client is an easy decision - we work together on an ongoing basis with these clients, providing part or all of their technical infrastructure and support.

But what if your business is smaller and your needs more simple … is a contract really necessary? This is a question regularly asked by smaller businesses who operate in a PC/laptop-based cloud environment and believe this covers all their bases.

Our answer? Yes, absolutely an IT contract delivers tangible benefits to small businesses. In some respects more so than large organisations. Your setup may be less complex, but your business data and processes are just as critical to your business as in a large company.

Any level of outages, data mishaps, cyber-attacks or even natural disasters like last summer’s bushfires can quickly and seriously impact your bottom line. Being on an IT contract is about having the resources, knowledge and expertise in place to help prevent issues and let your staff get on with running your business or, in the worst case, deal with any IT scenario quickly, to minimise business downtime.

Besides peace of mind and preventative maintenance, an IT contract provides you with:

• Remote monitoring of key aspects of your computing environment. Our remote agent software ensures your staff’s computers are kept patched and up-to-date - a simple but important line of defence against hackers. We monitor your antivirus and receive alerts on key issues that may affect the performance or safety of your computers. Prevention really is better than cure and although it is difficult to ‘see’ these results, not seeing anything really is the success!
  
  
• Access to after-hours support. We have technicians on standby after hours for contract clients, should you need us.
  
  
• Backups. As part of an IT Basecamp contract, we look after your backups. This means setting up solid backup procedures, monitoring the backups daily to ensure data collected is viable, and restoring from backup when needed - whether it be retrieving a single folder after accidental deletion or restoring an entire working environment to avoid being held hostage to a ransomware attack.
  
  It is a common customer perception that if your data is in the cloud in a service like O365 then your backups are automatic. The truth is O365 backs up your infrastructure, but your actual data is still your responsibility. In the VEEAM 2019 customer survey of over 1500 cloud business users, 37% experienced loss of data in the cloud from ‘user-error/accidental deletion’, 18% from cyber attacks like ransomware and malware, and 19% from retention policy gaps (thinking something was backed-up/protected that wasn’t).
  
  Just because it is in the cloud, doesn’t mean it can’t be maliciously attacked or accidentally deleted.

With expertise in all the leading backup technologies - Acronis, VEEAM and Datto, the IT Basecamp tech team is well-positioned to advise on the best solution for your circumstances. Remember: nobody needs their backup … until they do!

• Reduced hourly support rates. You may not need us often, but when you do, not only will you be a priority client, but you will receive a preferred rate from us. You may even choose to purchase some hours and keep them in the bank.
  
  
• Commitment to response times. We commit to our contract clients to respond to their needs in a consistent and timely manner. Particularly if your situation is urgent, just say the word (urgent), we will get onto it asap!
  
  
• Capped margins on new equipment. When it comes time to buy new IT equipment, IT Basecamp caps the margin applied on sales to contract clients. This helps your bottom line and gives you more transparency into the purchasing process.