Hourly consulting makes sense in troubleshooting scenarios or other cases in which the outcome is not well defined or difficult to define. A great example of an effort appropriate for hourly consulting is computer malware removal. No two pieces of malware are ever alike and the removal effort is wildly unpredictable. Trying to come up with a fixed price fair to all parties is an exercise in randomness, since the labor is unknown and the outcome uncertain.
Another example might be advisory work. Infrasupport is a trusted advisor for many customers helping to plan a sensible IT strategy. These are typically – but not always – hourly engagements.
Infrasupport will never offer the lowest hourly billing rate. Frankly, Infrasupport needs to charge a fair billing rate to pay for investments in equipment and training and generate a profit. Just as your business does. We also feel strongly that Infrasupport can accomplish many tasks in fewer hours than many less experienced competitors. If the lowest per hour billing rate is your major criteria in selecting an IT service vendor, then perhaps it makes sense to consider somebody other than Infrasupport.
On the other hand, Infrasupport will also never charge the highest cost hourly billing rate. Some companies charge high hourly rates to discourage hourly work. Others seem to believe they are entitled to large fees when you are in an emergency situation.
Infrasupport questions these practices and is grateful to our customers for partnering with us. We believe in simplicity and fairness and strive to keep our hourly billing rates competitive, never too high, and never too low.
See Emergency Support for more.