What and how do IT techs in NY charge please?

[mikehende]

Hello guys, if this topic does not belong in this forum then please remove with my apologies?

I am an experienced computer repair tech, I have never done on-site networking, only on my home network which has 5 wireless pc's. I am being a job here in NY to "fix whatever issues" on a 25 pc networked system for a company. I have other IT techs in my network whom I can hire to handles any specifc issue which might be out of my expertise whenever needed.

So first thing is, how do I charge for this, per hour? If yes how much keeping in mind the extreme competition here in NY? Any advice will be appreciated, thanks.

 

[razel]

Depends on the client and what you plan to do. Ballpark is $60 an hour for basic help/troubleshoot. More for hardware install/drilling. Even more to debug wireless issues/replace/repair, but then if the client is nice and not that well off, adjust accordingly. If it's family, then as long as they feed or offer me a drink then I'm more than good.

 

[mikehende]

Thanks and sorry I should have mentioned it's a Medical complex and I don't have any more info at this time as the guy only called me up a couple of hours ago. When I go there on Saturday then I will know more. I have a friend who does IT and he says $100 per hour for on-site visits and $60 per hour for remote support but he's not in NY which is why I am inquiring here.

 

[Burner27]

Depending on your level of expertise/experience should gauge how much you charge. Dont sell yourself short. If you are in the business over 15 years, i say $125/hr is fair for onsite.

 

[mikehende]

Thx. I've been doing pc repair for close to 20 years and I specialize in OS and OSX troubleshootung, repair and reloading and Virus cleaning. Speaking of which, especially businesses mostly never want to wipe the drive and reload OS. I normally would do virus work for a fixed fee when people drop off their pc here but some machines which are very heavily infected can take many hours to totally clean. How do you guys handle that onsite, by still charging per hour or fixed fee? I can't imagine a business paying 4 or more hundred dollars for virus cleaning when some of their pc's are not even worth that much?

 

[SNC]

I'm $96 an hour in a rural part of PA.

 

[mikehende]

Thx. Let me rephrase my previous question, is there any scenario where an IT tech would charge a fixed fee or is everything done only by the hour?

 

[SNC]

Thx. Let me rephrase my previous question, is there any scenario where an IT tech would charge a fixed fee or is everything done only by the hour?

You and the client need to come to that decision. When you get into; 'If this happens it will cost you this for me to fix it' you will end up doing a ton of work for very little money at some point. You can add stipulations but really I prefer a time based billing unless the jobs never vary in time and scope. Another thing I find with flat based pricing is the talking and interrupting goes up considerably because you not on the clock. My clients know that telling me about their vacation or that they think their spouse is cheating on them, costs them $96 an hour, some are happy to pay it others not so much. Unless you have a business adviser intimate with your process, procedures, clients, exact work you are hired for, outlay and the area you're in there is nothing anyone can give you but generalisations.

 

[mikehende]

I see, thx. My main concern would be doing virus work which can take many hours even days to totally disinfect so I don't know at this time what would be the deal.

 

[SNC]

I see, thx. My main concern would be doing virus work which can take many hours even days to totally disinfect so I don't know at this time what would be the deal.

Days? If you're planning on keeping a PC from an employ for days you might want to configure a backup system and sell them that along with monitoring services. I do that with some of my clients. Each PC is backed up every night to local storage and moved off site every other week. I receive daily reports that get scanned and moved to a sub folder. If there is an issue I create an image of the backup I last took from the site, drive to the business, connect to the onsite backup device and restore any local files created or changed since the offsite image was created. This process works for virus, hardware failure, coffee spills, theft hardware replacements and on and on. With this the client has a better piece of mind knowing things are protected, and you have an income stream doing nothing but scanning some log files from time to time, and a billable hour or so to deliver and replace the hard drive.

 

[mikehende]

Yeah, I have worked on systems where all scans showed system was virus free then owner would return with same issues again the next day when they didn't want to reinstall OS, this went on for a week.

Noted on the backup, thanks, will inquire if they already have such a system in place.

Ok so last issue I think would be what tools should I take with me please?

 

[SNC]

Yeah, I have worked on systems where all scans showed system was virus free then owner would return with same issues again the next day when they didn't want to reinstall OS, this went on for a week.

Noted on the backup, thanks, will inquire if they already have such a system in place.

Ok so last issue I think would be what tools should I take with me please?

It's your job to educate the client, not for the client to dictate to you what or how a repair will be done. IF the client tells me that he does not want a reinstall after an infection (depending on the infection) he acknowledges that the system can not be guaranteed and that any issues will be billable time and not covered under this invoice including any additional machines on the network. Allowing the client to determine when a reinstall is required is a recipe for disaster. I might be assuming wrong that you are thier new IT guy? If so you need to go through their entire infrastructure and find out exactly what they have and need, asking them is not going to get you a correct answer. And if they do tell you that they have a backup system in place and are not interested in you quoting one, get that in an email and save it. You WILL need it at some point. If you're just hired in on an as needed basis, I usually charge hourly rate with a 2.5 hour cap on most things with teh stip that if it becomes a rabbit hole that cap goes away.

As for tools, what job are you doing?

 

[mikehende]

Great advice, thanks! All the guy told me over the phone yesterday was that they are in need of someone to "fix whatever issues" on a 25 pc networked system. So until I visit them tomorrow I won't have any more info. I am thinking to first ask if they will be needing someone to maintain their entire system for them or only will be needing someone to come in whenever they should have an issue?

The person had not mentioned any specific job except for some pc's may not be connecting to the net or may not be working properly so I just wish to go prepared for anything.

 

[SNC]

Great advice, thanks! All the guy told me over the phone yesterday was that they are in need of someone to "fix whatever issues" on a 25 pc networked system. So until I visit them tomorrow I won't have any more info. I am thinking to first ask if they will be needing someone to maintain their entire system for them or only will be needing someone to come in whenever they should have an issue?

The person had not mentioned any specific job except for some pc's may not be connecting to the net or may not be working properly so I just wish to go prepared for anything.

A 25 PC network is a bit big to cut your teeth on. Good luck

 

[mikehende]

I have a professional IT friend who I work with on remote support for an 80-pc company, he can assist when needed.

 

[SNC]

I have a professional IT friend who I work with on remote support for an 80-pc company, he can assist when needed.

I would be sure that your new client knows this. He may prefer to actually meet anyone who has access to his network.

 

[mikehende]

Of course, my plan is to go there, see what I am dealing with first. I can handle all computer maintenance/troubleshooting/repair myself plus light networking but if something more advanced should be needing for networking then that's where Andrew would physically go there to take care of it. I am thinking however, than for any pc which may not be connecting to the net, in the same way that an average consumer can call up Verizon or their service provider for tech support, why can't I do the same for any of their pc's?

 

[SNC]

Of course, my plan is to go there, see what I am dealing with first. I can handle all computer maintenance/troubleshooting/repair myself plus light networking but if something more advanced should be needing for networking then that's where Andrew would physically go there to take care of it. I am thinking however, than for any pc which may not be connecting to the net, in the same way that an average consumer can call up Verizon or their service provider for tech support, why can't I do the same for any of their pc's?

Business owners are a bit more picky about 100s of thousands of dollars and their livelihood and that of all their employees than the average home user calling Verizon to fix an issue. Depending on the business there are property software packages in use that require special attention or configuration that can only be known if you're there and deal with it for a bit. Odd connection requirements that the person sitting at the keyboard has no idea about, like the fiber to serial converter to monitor distant sensors as just one simple example of a connection that appears as one thing but is in fact another. Home networks are nothing like business networks. And it there is no inhouse IT that someone who knows just enough setup and configured everything, no way to understand the network from a distance, especially if you don't have someone on the other end who can describe it. Myself, I would never take on a 25 PC office without a contract and full reign of IT with no other hands in it. That to is a recipe for disaster. But that's just me.

 

[mikehende]

Again, super advice. I am thinking the same way. Since different techs would have different methods of setting up everything, would be difficult to figure out what someone else has done.

 

[brshoemak]

I'm $96 an hour in a rural part of PA.

May I ask how you came up with such an unusual rate? $95 or $100 just not interesting enough?

 

[mikehende]

Oh please, feel free to ask anything at all but I am not seeing where I've said that fee is not interesting enough, can you clarify please?

 

[SNC]

May I ask how you came up with such an unusual rate? $95 or $100 just not interesting enough?

The company I worked for billed me out at 86 so when I went out on my own I kept it the same. When someone suggested that I could increase it a bit without issue I just did $10 so it didn't seem like a lot. I could go to 120 or so without much issue but I'm comfortable where I am. If I did a rate increase it would be to 106, I just like the 6 I guess.

 

[SNC]

Oh please, feel free to ask anything at all but I am not seeing where I've said that fee is not interesting enough, can you clarify please?

He meant me.

 

[mikehende]

Oh sorry guys, my mistake.