IT Solutions Can Be Financially Hypocritical
Content
Not that technologies have evolved to a point where they can lie.
But some business models for IT services are not exactly the way they seem at first sight. Little asterisks have been introduced into the game.
When selecting an IT solution as a manager, we encounter 4 areas that could cause problems:
- Order price vs. real price
- Standard and non-standard invoice items
- Contract notice
- Solution characteristics
Let’s look at how these areas influence the total price of the solution because not always is it the first thing that is clear. And neglecting a detailed research can cause significant costs in the long-term – actually above what would be necessary. And all this just because of underestimating details or for example being blind by a big name.
Price on Order vs. Invoice
With many cloud solution providers, you can find calculators on their websites that shouuld tell you how much the solution will cost. For a manager, though, selecting something with these tools is a nightmare because they are all about technical slang and settings that are the domain of the tech team.
And when we actually survive this task, we arrive at a number that tells us how much it will cost. And then the invoice comes – first, second, third – and the price from the calculator is a remote reality from what you see and have to pay in reality. How is it possible?
It can happen that we find aprovider that charges for items on the run. That would not be something unheard of. With cloud you have to count with ammplitudes within the time used. With these items you can at least estimmate the cost. You know, a month only has so many hours. But with other items that are not dependent upon time, you can encounter costs skyrocketing.
You can see that with data transfers. That is not dependent on time but per one datum transfered so in one month you can actually have infinite amounts of data so even though the price listed is within cents, the final invoice price can be in thousands or even more. And then the invoice looks like that.
When making a choice, it is appropriate to check which items are dependent on time and which are ont. Those are the ones that will make the difference that you don’t expect and it is very difficult to estimate them. Maybe it is better to select a provider that does not charge for items that are independent from time.
Standard Items as Premiums
And we continue with invoices but now from the point of view of the items themselves, not their values. We have shown already in the beginning how it is with the preliminary calculations. A long list of items then shows us what we need to take into account.
It is good to seek advice, though, and think about the items whether or not they shouldn’t be included in the base price. Why? Would you pay an extra for a baker to put flour in bread? Hardly. But this is exactly the approach we can see with some cloud service providers. Just beause these are tech items, it just slips throught he cracks.
It would be a shamme not to use the option to pay only for items that are clearly related to the use of the service. Of course, computing resources are given and that is what you rent from the provider. But what about the other items you have on your invoice? Do you really have to pay for maintenance, updates or even items that cannot be identified by their name?
Complicated Way From Contract Termination
When a company concludes a contract, then it is clearly given under what conditions the contract can be terminated. That used to be the case. Today, we can enounter the conditions including various loop holes that enable the providers to drain your finances even when you no longer have a wish to continue using the service.
I will share with you a story of one of our technicians. Disclaimer – he is not just some technician, he is a cloud expert. He wanted to try the cloud environment of a global provider. He created an account, inputted his card and set-up the infrastructure. When he tried everything out, he went by the book and cancelled the service. And voila, another charge on the card appeared for the cancelled service. He tried to figure out what went wrong. He had a complicated communication with the support and did what they advised. And then another charge appeared on his statement.
It took several days to make everything straight but the lost hundreds of dollars for the cancelled service have not been returned. That can be the case of any company but the truly careful selection with regard to an exit strategy and service termination is worth the money.
Insufficient Solution Qualities
“Everyone is using it, we have to do it too.” But IT infrastructure is like clothes – not everyone canf it into the same thing. It is a tool that has to be selected in a way to alight your needs with its functionalities with the future development in mind.
The market offers many solutions – various types of XaaS, private and public solution, hybrids and multitools, virtual private servers and data centers. In this large chaos it is necessary to fish for such a combination of services that follows the needs of your company the best.
Last years have shown a great interest of companies in using VPS – virtual private servers. But just because ,any small businesses use this technology is it good to close door to other solutions. Your company, your specific needs.
Companies are still afraid of needs and risks analysis and disaster recovery plan. Maybe this is caused by hte atmosphere in the IT department, maybe it is caused by a cost view. But the result usually is ill-fitting IT infrastructure that in the end costs much more than all the analyses combined.
Route from Trap
Just like with taxes, it is worth it to have professional help with IT. Specialists can very clearly see the infrastructure in the context of your company operations and they also have a broader view regarding solutions that can work more efficiently. This ability is sometimes lost in the internal team, but we have discussed that in our previous article (How Do You Break the Chains of Professional Deformation in Your IT?).
