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Even the best hardware on the market doesn’t run defect-free 100% of the time. Especially for highly customised network solutions, it’s good to have a partner at your side who knows your network like the back of their hand – and who can always find a way out of any tricky situation. We explain how IT support works, what you should consider when choosing your service partner, and which support options, service levels and service packages HCD can offer you.
What should proper support provide?
Support should be as flexible as you need it to be. If you are operating a large, complex network and employ your own network technicians, you need a different kind of support to a company which only uses the cloud. Depending on your requirements, support for your network should offer a variety of options – providing a full range of services all the way from replacing hardware to in-person support at your premises.
To do this, the support service needs to know your network – to better understand where problems may arise. Ideally, this means it won’t take them long to get your network running again. To prevent downtime before it happens, it’s also helpful if the support team train your employees how to use the hardware, e.g. regarding operation and troubleshooting.
Service Level: meaning and benefits
You’ll find service levels in almost every IT support service and even in other computer-related technical divisions. Service levels secure you a contractually-agreed minimum level of service which your partner must fulfil upon request. For example, this might define a time period, what kind of help you receive or similar.
As the service readiness increases, the service levels get more expensive: generally offering support throughout Germany within just a few hours. Especially if your locations are decentralised and you don’t have on-site technicians, higher service levels may offer you significant added value.
Your partner is contractually obliged to fulfil your chosen level of service. So you can rely on receiving the right help quickly, without having to employ someone especially for the task.
Choosing the right support partner
When you are choosing a service partner, you should ensure that support can be provided at all the locations (and future locations) you need. Let the service partner advise you on which service level you really need.
If you haven’t yet given any thought to the critical components of your infrastructure, then the service partner should advise you on these, too. In the contract, you need to define acceptable periods of downtime for the components in your network. Your service provider should be able to provide you with a solution within these periods, e.g. replacement hardware.
In the same way as for manufacturer support, make sure you understand what kind of support you’re getting: e.g. remote support provided by a variety of service agencies, or a personal contact partner. Ideally, your support partner should not only provide you with hardware support, but also help you if you change something, need new solutions or wish to expand your network.
HCD offers the following options
Depending on the support you need, we’ve put together a selection of predefined service packages. Starting with Hersteller-Support, your hardware manufacturers offer a variety of options for software and hardware support.
If you need more personal and comprehensive support than that offered by the manufacturer, we offer our own service options to fit your requirements:
With our „HCD Care Hardware“ package, we keep replacement hardware for your network for you in our warehouse, independent of the manufacturer. If the worst comes to the worst, you’ll have replacement equipment by 3 pm on the next working day at the latest. You can reach us eight hours a day, five days a week at our German and English-speaking call centre, or via our online portal.
With the additional„Express delivery“ option for HCD Care Hardware, you can also choose to have your replacement hardware within just four hours, no matter the time or day of the week. Your technicians can then replace the hardware and your network will be fully functional again within just a few hours.
In addition, for Juniper/Mist hardware, we offer premium support with our „HCD Care Core“ package. Even with the basic option, you can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at our German and English-speaking call centre. With this package, you’ll also receive remote support from our certified technicians and access to Juniper resources.
You’ll also be impressed by our Care Core package with flexible extensions – allowing you to create the right service level to fit your hardware and online support requirements. The decisive advantage of the other support options is personal support. We get to know your network so we always have our finger on the pulse. If something goes wrong, this means we can track down the fault within a very short time and provide you with a solution that gets your network up and running again as soon as possible.
Before you choose your package, we will always give you another face-to-face consultation. This ensures you will never purchase a service level which is too low or too high, and that you’ll always get exactly the support you need.
Questions?
Just ask!
I am Sebastian Wiedemann from the HCD sales team. I will be happy to advise you or assist you with any questions. You can phone me on +49 89 215 36 92-0 or reach me using our contact form.
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