Emergency support for a system we have never seen
Your system has failed, or is failing, and the person who would normally fix it is not there. An engineer works on the fault with you for a fixed fee, and tells you plainly what they found.
At a glance
- Price
- £480 fixed
- Typical duration
- The first four hours
- VAT
- Prices exclude VAT
When the person who fixes it is not there
Most business systems are looked after by one person or one small supplier. That works until the day the system fails and they are on holiday, have left, or have stopped answering. The business then has a problem it cannot describe to anyone, on a system nobody else has seen.
This service is for that day. You do not need a contract with us. An engineer who is used to arriving at unfamiliar systems works on the fault with you, for a fee you know before they start.
What we can and cannot promise
We can promise an experienced engineer’s attention, a careful approach to a live system and an honest account of what we find. We cannot promise a fix before we have looked. Some faults are a full disk or an expired certificate and are over in an hour. Others turn out to be a failed upgrade or missing source code, and the useful outcome of the first four hours is knowing that for certain.
Either way you finish with more than you started with: the cause, or a shorter list of possible causes, in writing.
After the emergency
A fault that takes a business by surprise usually has company. The same neglect that let one certificate expire or one disk fill has often left backups untested and software out of support. A code audit finds the rest, and a support plan means the next fault is somebody’s job. Neither is a condition of getting help today.
Talk to us
Describe the system and what you need. You will hear back from someone who can answer technical questions.
Discuss this project 0800 433 7990What the fee covers
- An engineer, not a help desk
- Four hours of an engineer's time on your fault, working with whoever at your end knows the system best.
- Diagnosis first
- We start by reading logs and settings without changing anything, so the fault is understood before anyone tries a fix.
- A fix or a way to keep working
- Where the cause can be dealt with in the time, we deal with it. Where it cannot, we look for a safe way to keep the business working in the meantime.
- A written note afterwards
- What we found, what we changed, what we would do next and what it is likely to involve. It is yours to act on with anyone.
How it runs
Call us
Phone during office hours and say it is urgent. Tell us what has stopped working, when it started and what changed beforehand.
Access
You give an engineer remote access to the server or hosting account, and to the source code if you hold it. We confirm the fee and what it covers before starting.
Investigation
We find the cause, working read-only until we understand it. You hear what we are seeing as we go.
Fix, workaround or plan
We apply a fix or a workaround with your agreement. If more time is needed, we say how much and quote it before spending it.
Follow-up note
A short written account of the fault and our recommendations, sent after the work.
What moves the price
- The fee covers the first four hours. Most faults are understood in that time, and many are fixed.
- Further time is quoted before it is spent, so the bill cannot run on without your agreement.
Not included
- A guarantee that the fault can be fixed. Until we have looked, nobody can honestly promise that.
- Work outside office hours, unless agreed when you call.
- Hardware repairs, and recovery of data for which no backup exists.
A good fit when
- A system the business relies on has stopped, and its developer or supplier cannot be reached.
- A server, database or website is failing intermittently and nobody knows why.
- A deadline such as payroll, month end or a despatch run depends on the system working.
- You want an independent engineer to look before agreeing to something drastic.
Probably not for you if
- The fault is in a packaged product such as Sage or Dynamics; its vendor or reseller can do more than we can.
- The problem is with PCs, email, printers or the office network, which is general IT support.
- Nobody can give us access to the server or hosting account.
Questions we are asked
We are not a client. Will you still help?
Yes. This service exists for systems we have never seen. We will need access and someone at your end who can tell us what the system should be doing.
How quickly can someone start?
Call during office hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and tell us it is urgent. We will tell you on that call when an engineer can start.
What if it cannot be fixed in four hours?
You will know what the cause is, or what has been ruled out, and what fixing it would involve. Further time is quoted before it is spent, and you are free to take the findings elsewhere.
Do you need the source code?
Not always. Many faults are in the server, the database or the configuration around the application. If the fault is in the code itself, a fix needs the source.
Will you change things on our live system?
Only with your agreement, and only after we understand the fault. We take a backup first wherever the system allows it.
What happens afterwards?
Nothing, unless you want it to. Some clients ask for a code audit to find out what else is waiting to go wrong, or move the system onto a support plan.
Tell us about your system
Say what it does, what it is built on and what is worrying you. We will reply with what we would look at first and whether we are the right people to help.