Project Management

If you look at most successful IT projects, large or small, they have several things in common. They start on time, they usually have a simple plan that everyone can follow, if issues arise along the way (which they always do) they are dealt with quickly and not allowed to drag on and finally they are brought to conclusion without leaving any loose ends.

This is where the value of having a good project manager involved right from the start until the very end really pays off. If you sit down and look at the initial costing and final costings of any project and then compare them, you will generally find that a lot of the final costs are attributable to "unforeseen" issues that arose along the way.

A good project manager should be able to spot many of these issues before they become problems and prevent situations where the hardware people are blaming the software people, the software people are blaming the network people, the network people are blaming the broadband provider and you are left in the middle with a system that doesn't work.

These days you can buy your computer equipment from any number of places from your local computer shop, reseller or any number of internet shops, but there  are pros and cons associated with each and for a SME Business that really relies on their systems there can be cost implications to getting it wrong.

Outsourced IT Support and Services

Your local computer shop may seem like a good choice and for home users they are, but they often will not understand how computers are used in a business context and you can find that a home computer will not meet your business requirements or link up to your existing systems.
Computer Resellers will generally understand business computers, but they do have a vested interest in selling you equipment. Some good independent advise can prevent over specification and make sure you get the maximum business benefit from your computer systems.
These days you can buy anything online and you can get some very good deals, but remember the online sellers will sell you what you ask for. They don't know or care whether it will work with your other systems or if you really need it. We regularly come across business who have bought components at a fantastic price only to find that it won't work with their systems and have had to buy the component a second time.
So when it comes to selecting Computer Hardware and Software for your business, a little advice will make sure you get real value from your investment.

Support

It's not possible to prevent all problems. Occasionally situations arise or systems fail in a way that could not be foreseen and "Murphy's Law" comes into play.

At times like these it is very important that people don't start the blame game but work together to find the real cause of the problem, get the systems back up and running as quick as possible and put procedures in place to prevent this type of situation in future.

At Glasgorman this is how we have been introduced to many of our clients, when we are called in to deal with these types of critical failures.

When it comes to keeping your systems running smoothly, computers are really no different to cars. At least once a year you should have somebody look at your computer systems and address any issues before they become major problems.

Even if you feel you cannot justify the cost of an ongoing annual maintenance contract, you should have somebody spend a day looking at your systems, The cost to hire somebody for a day is insignificant when compared to the cost to rebuild a system from scratch.

Training

Studies have shown that businesses only get about 10% of the value of their computer systems if proper training is not included as part of the overall solution.

 At Glasgorman we can provide training designed specifically for you but more importantly we can advise you on the best external training courses so that you and your staff can use the computer systems to get maximum benefit for your business.

Troubleshooting

At Glasgorman we have a range of Remote Online and On-Site Support and Maintenance options. Because every business is different we have a range of options that can be adapted to meet your business needs. Below is a list of some of the options available to our customers;

Available on the phone to call on for advice.
Access your systems remotely over the Internet to solve problems.
Support on a per incident call out basis.
On-Site support with guaranteed response times.
This is not an exhaustive list and in most cases a combination is used to meet a customers needs.