Many of our clients have asked the fair question ... "What am I really getting when I purchase Managed IT Services?"  and more importantly "What are the different types?"

Answer: 

First and most importantly, what you should be getting is 24/7/365 Network Monitoring. 

The secondary list of services are huge and different with each IT company.  Most IT companies include some level of repair, software patches, malware removal, spyware removal and antivirus updates.

The important key to purchasing Managed IT Services and what most companies do not reveal is who, or what, is doing the "behind the scenes" work.  There are three different types of Managed IT Service Programs.  I have categorized them below for simplification...

1.       "The Trunker"  - This is the one to avoid.  This is computer guy that may or may not be Microsoft Certified.  His definition of Managed Services is that if you have a server failure in the middle of the night, he'll hop up, drive over to your office and try to repair it with the spare parts that he keeps in the back of his car. 

2.       Managed Service Application - This is usually offered by an IT person or company that works 8-5 during the day but a computer system (software application) monitors your system during off hours.

3.       Combination Machine and Boots on the Ground - This system offers a combination of software application and computer technicians.  They are available during business hours for "hands-on" work.  Some have emergency after hours technicians that make service calls.

4.       Combination Machine, Outsourcing and Certified Boots on the Ground - This is the one you want!  A software application monitors your network 24/7/365.  It is backed up by engineers in a country that have daytime hours while the rest of us are asleep.  They patch, repair and call in alerts through the night.  During business hours Microsoft Certified Engineers review the notes on their networks and make site visits when necessary.

For more information on Managed IT Services, please send me an email - llucas@ccpteam.com or visit our Managed IT Services web page.

Recently Register.com conducted a poll regarding the presidential campain as it pertains to small business and the internet.  Here are the results...

What do Small Businesses Think About our Presidential Candidates

Respondents to the Register.com Customer Opinion Poll about the US Presidential Candidates has revealed that more than half (54%) of small businesses believe that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is better prepared to manage the overall economy vs. only 36% of respondents that believe the same about Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Additionally, while the majority of respondents believe Senator Obama has demonstrated a better understanding of how to successfully use the Internet, the majority also believes Senator McCain will do more to help small businesses and protect them online.

Additional survey responses indicate:

• 53% of respondents think Senator Obama has made better use of the Internet in his campaign (vs. 34% that believes the same about Senator McCain)
• 49% believe Senator Obama has a better understanding of how the internet can help small businesses (vs. 38% that think Senator McCain has a better understanding of this).
• 50% think Senator McCain will take more action to protect small businesses online by combating Internet security breaches (vs. 37% that believe Senator Obama will take the same action).
• 54% believe Senator McCain would consider small businesses as an important part of his overall economic agenda (vs. 38% of the small businesses who felt that Senator Obama would do the same).

The Register.com Customer Opinion Poll was conducted as an informal survey of Register.com customers between August 23 and September 4, 2008. Responses were received from over 700 Register.com customers, 90% of which identified themselves as small businesses. Responses were collected through an online survey provider and results were tallied based on complete responses.

Overall, 93% of respondents indicated their intention to vote in the Presidential election in November. 49.9% of respondents said they are planning to vote for Senator McCain in the upcoming election vs. 35.2% who said they would vote for Senator Obama.

I am absolutely consumed with finding the perfect combination of factors to achieve perfect SEO on the major search engines.  The problem that I am having is the definition of perfect SEO.   My original goal was to propel my site, and those of my customers, to their rightful place in the cyber space pecking order. 

I assumed the ultimate goal for Google, Yahoo and MSN was to match relevant, authentic material to search queries.  At this writing, I am uncertain as to what the goal of the major search engines are but I am guessing it has a lot more to do with money than it does with authenticity.  I almost wish I didn't know the seedy underside of this marketing phenomenon but here is the ugly truth as I see it. 

To get into the SEO game your site must have the following....

Keyword research - Find out what your customers are typing in the search boxes.
Keyword rich content - Put those keywords in the body of your web pages.
Keyword rich titles - Put the keywords into your page titles.
Keyword rich descriptions - Put the keywords into your meta descriptions.
Register, Register, Register! - Tell the search engines that you have joined the WWW!  Send in your submissions to all of the engines. 

Now in a fair and "perfect" internet world that should be enough right?  If you list your services and keywords correctly the search engines should return your site to users.  BUT the playing field is truly not level.  If you want to show up on the first page here's the list that you have to either do yourself or pay someone to do for you. 

Link in to your site - Links need to come from other "important and relevant" sites to your site.  Now you can do this yourself but it takes a lot of time.  There are SEO consultants and link building companies out there but beware ... the links must be legitimate. 

Write a Blog - The search bots apparently love Blogs.  Blogging gets those products and ideas out there but, again, it takes a lot of time.  If you have some cash there many good content writers that can assist you with this task.  There is a catch here though.  The blog needs to be associated with your URL.  You can’t use Blogger or WordPress.  You must pay someone to create a blog that specifically goes back to your website. 

Videos - Put a video on your site and link it to Utube.  Honestly, I have no idea why this is such a big deal but I've tried it and it works.   I am certain that for the right amount of cash there is some SEO geek out there that can provide you with the reason. 

Buy Google Adwords - Yeah, I know what you're thinking... If I truly have the best service then why do I have to pay to be seen?  Well you just do.  40% of people really do click on that paid advertising.   I don't want to miss 40% of my prospects, do you?

Want to talk more about this... I would love to hear your opinions...  Give me a call 704-549-0125 or email me at llucas@ccpteam.com.