Customer Reviews

Service Agreements for SMB Consultants - A Quick Start Guide for Managed Services

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the book to have on your shelf. Karl will walk you through how his contracts are setup, what the parts mean, and the basic structure of delivering managed services via a contract vehicle. You can't get this kind of consulting help this easily, and Karl will give you everything you need. I highly recommend it.

If you want to offer service agreements to your IT customers, or are not sure of the value of selling service agreements, buy and read this book. When you are finished, you will be able to start offering service agreements - it's as simple as that. Thanks to Karl, I'm in the process of proposing 4 service agreements. The $50.00 for the book will be paid for by the first one so it's definitely money well-spent. On that note, I appreciate the short, concise format because that made it that much easier and faster to read. Technology books with hundreds of pages are more often than not nothing but "fat." Not with Karl's book - lean and right to the point.

Whether you know nothing, something, or a lot about IT service agreements, this book is an excellent resource. It will show you nearly everything you need to know about service agreements, from the perspective of someone who is obviously very adept at running his own IT business.

In the past when I tried to come up with something on my own, I just stared at a blank screen. Although I could come up with a handful of bullets of what should be included in a service agreement, Karl points out many things I hadn't thought of, including what not to cover. He also provides actual frameworks and examples of the agreement language. I really like his practice of having more than one type of agreement.

Wow! This book only cost me $50, and as far as I can see, it gives me all the info I need to offer clear managed services contracts to businesses that just want their computer system to work. Mr. Palachuk tells how his company structures their contracts, but also gives you all of your options, because as he says, everyone is different and has to be comfortable with the services they offer. His writing style is excellent. He uses humor, but there are not so many jokes that you get distracted. He is clear and organized. I give this book my highest recommendation to anyone in the I.T. service business, whether you want to offer contracts, blocks of hours, or provide service on an as-needed basis. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out or a veteran. This book has many golden nuggets of knowledge for you!

The following is the letter I sent to Karl regarding his book. This is without question a must read for anyone implementing or considering the Managed Services model.

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Karl,

I wanted to pass on a quick note regarding your book "Service Agreements for SMB Consultants."

I received this book as a prize during Amy Luby's SMB road show in Cincinnati. At first I didn't appreciate the value of what I had won.

Not being a "computer geek T-Shirt" kind of guy, I was happy to have won something else. Even though I was not familiar with your writing, I thought it was certainly worth checking out for free.

All I can say is "WOW!" I am blown away at how you were able to take a book about contracts (not an exciting topic by any stretch of the

imagination) not only readable, but even somewhat enjoyable. Not only that, I was able to take your contracts and make relatively minor modifications and get them through the lawyer with very little change (another amazing task as most lawyers like to justify their worth by making a final copy look nothing like the original).

We have jumped head first into the Managed Services realm of IT. Since going live two months ago [July 2006] we are generating a lot of interest in this arena within our professional circle here in the Cincinnati area. It's a great concept (as proactive concepts always are) and it's a real win-win situation for us and our customers.

Your book was certainly an invaluable asset as we were researching and trying to figure out how to swim in these murky waters. I should also add that Amy Luby and her team were also a great inspiration for us. We had stumbled upon a loose version of this concept about a year ago and were struggling with a way to formalize it and make it work. Between your book and Amy's experiences we were able to come up with a solid foundation to tie all the loose pieces together.

So, to sum it all up...thanks! I look forward to reading more of your work in the near future.

I just completed this book and I found that it had many good ideas... and not just about SLA's. It seems that most books in this sector (Managed Services) are on the expensive side, but I believe that the content of the book as well as the CD make it a fair price. The key for me is how well/easily I can implement the idea's contained within this book. If I have the time I'll do a follow up to this review. But for now, as far as an informative read goes, this book is worth the time and money.

This is the only book that I have purchased in the last ten years. That is because it was not available (and there was nothing like it) at the public library. Karl writes books that are custom specific for IT service and support providers like myself. I recommend this book if you are self employed as an IT service support person like myself.

I found this book to be helpful. If you have never consulted before then this is a must buy. I had consulted in another line of work so this book added to my knowledge base as was worth the price.

This book has been very helpful. I reads quickly and easily, and the CD provides great templates. Within a week I was able to stndardize my existing contracts and reduce the need for customization with each new client. Great Work Karl!!!

Nice work on this book Karl. After I finished it our general manager read it and could not believe the resources contained within. It is not only a book about service agreements for the SMB consulting space but a great tool relating to all aspects of your business practices. We are now in the process of having our lawyer (as you suggest) reviewing our new contracts. Keep putting out these little gems!!

It's hard to find good information on the business side of IT consulting.

We started a year ago with decent technical skills but not much in the way of business training. Since then we've built a company which is supporting us, but couldn't see how to take it to the next level.

I purchased Managed Services in a Month and a week later had converted two break/fix customers over to managed services contracts worth thousands every year in recurring income.

This book is not cheap, but it is extraordinarily good value. It's cost is still less than one billable hour (at least if you're pricing yourself reasonably, something this book teaches you to do) and you'll make it back tenfold with the first contract (included with the book) that you get signed.

If you're an independent IT pro dealing with small business networks or servers then this book will help you take your business to the next level.

Highly recommended, and I'll be buying other books from Great Little Book Publishing very soon.