The IT assessment is arguably the most important and versatile service that you, as an IT service provider, can offer. And there are inexpensive tools available that allow you to perform this highly valuable service very quickly, and at little cost to you.
There are at least five primary ways – and dozens of secondary ways -- that an IT assessment should be used within the context of your current service portfolio: New Business Generation, Pre-Service Benchmarking, Client Network Audits, Internal and External Vulnerability Scans, and Network Change Management. All five of these areas will lead to both improved client service and growth of your business.
Win New Business with Network Assessments
There’s nothing more compelling than to offer a prospect a free “health check” of their network computing environment. With their permission to look under the hood of their network, andusing the right tools, the chances are very high that you will discover some serious issues that they don’t know about. And, if you’re any good at what you do, nine times out of ten, you’ll parlay that discovery into a new project or a new managed service client.
Pre-Service Benchmarking
Before you perform any service for a new prospect – or even with existing clients – it’s best to document the condition of the network and/or devices that you plan to do “surgery” on. The last thing you want to do is end up fixing the issue, and then get blamed for the next non-related problem that pops up. You can scan an individual device in less than a minute – and save yourself a lot of headaches and a lot of explaining.
Client Network Audits
The same tool, and the same network scan, can also generate a much more detailed report that you can easily sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars as a one-off project. The complete assessment report can run hundreds of pages that become your “high-value” deliverable. Everything is branded, well-organized, with line-item listings of everything you discovered, and with all issues highlighted in red.
Internal and External Vulnerability Scans
Any time your client installs a piece of software, adds a new device onto the network, or makes any other seemingly “harmless changes” to the network configurations or user setting, something bad could happen. All of a sudden, ports are opened and are left in that state, or employees gain access to files and devices that they shouldn’t have. A quick and easy IT security check of internal and external vulnerabilities will quickly discover any issues. Do it monthly as part of a paid Managed Security Service.
Document Changes to the Network
I’m sure you know clients who have no clue what they have, and no way to really track and record not only whether anyone has been “tinkering” with their systems, but also whether all of their assets are actually still around. If you regularly run a network scan with Network Detective, you can run a report that compares the results of any two assessments and highlights anything that has changed, from users added, to computers that have not logged on, to open ports, and more.
