How Many IT Guys Needed To Support A Small Business?

[jyl]

Help, help hefalump said Pooh

I am trying to figure out what is a reasonable number of "IT guys" to support a given IT infrastructure in a small business.

I don't really know where to start. Can any of the PPOT IT guys please PM me? Thank you.

[legion]

It really depends on a number of factors.

What is the business? How big is the business? Is IT central to the business or a "support" function? How many servers/unix boxes/mainframes need support? How many different platforms are present? What software do you use? How many different applications need support? Are these people expected to write custom software or simply support off-the shelf software? Are they expected to troubleshoot hardware? Is your IT a competitive advantage? Can it become one? Do you need part-time support? Full-time support? 24/7 support?

[VaSteve]

E) Cannot answer with information presented.

What kind of business....data processing or a fabric shop?
Uptime needed?
Criticality of IT to the business?

[nostatic]

Mac or PC?

[porsche4life]

Yes this does depend on the business and your definition of "small" To me if you have a full time IT guy... You are no longer small... My parents 4 employee sign shop has me for IT on the weekends occasionally.. Not a whole lot that needs done....

[MRM]

John, it should only take one good contract IT guy. What you need to do is find a competent one, sit on him long enough to convince him that you need premium service and that you're willing to pay for it, but that the computers better do what you need them to do without wasting your time when he's done with them or you'll go somewhere else.

Until recently (I just merged with a larger firm that has a fully staffed IT department) I ran my own law firm with one contract IT guy. So that you can compare your situation with mine, this was my situation: I officed shared with two other lawyers, we shared two secretaries, and I had my own contract associate and law clerk. I was fully networked with everyone and shared documents and calendar on line through Microsoft's SharePoint site. I had a very specialized firm defending Fortune 500 manufacturers, so my clients are very serious individuals. My callendar, email, docket and document management needs are insane. Having an IT system that either costs me time or doesn't do what I need it to do is not an option. At any given moment I have around 50 files in litigation, which is a very heavy case load, and probably have another 20 in NLM (non litigated matter) status. All in all, we were very IT intensive.

There are plenty of off the shelf systems that will keep you on track if they're installed right and given the necessary tweaking for your needs. I found that the hardest part was finding a guy who would do what I asked him to do. I looked forever before I found someone who acted like he believed me when I said that my livelihood depended on having a premium IT infrastructure, that a "just good enough" system would not do it for me, and that I was willing to pay the price to get a premium system. I literally could not get IT guys to believe me. I guess everyone they deal with is looking to cut costs and are willing to take hits in service to save a buck.

I finally explained that in no uncertain terms to the guy I ended up using, using small words so my position was clear. Complimenting my exceeding polite and detailed explaination of my needs was a policy of negotiating to pay his highest rates and establishing a policy that I would pay him cash on the barrel head as soon as he was done with each project. That tended to keep his attention. When I called and asked him to fix something he was always happy to drop what he was doing and come right over. Funny, he was always real polite to me too. After we established our relationship it seemed like he valued my business.

It was only after I did this a couple of times that I started getting the service I needed. It turns out that he had several small business clients, including a medical practice, an insurance broker, and several others like that that he created the whole infrastructure for and where he kept their systems optimized for only a few hours a month. He's also available on call on an emergency basis. He has two employees, so there's enough depth if something goes real bad, but I always had him do my work personally. There isn't any reason a single contractor can't do what you need. Once you get set up there shouldn't be all that much that needs to be done. You just can't cut corners on the hardware and initial setup. I probably paid him around $5,000 a year, plus maybe a thousand or so a year on average for hardware. If I wanted, I could have negotiated an unlimited service contract with him for not much more.

So that's my experience. The guys I officed shared with had the municipal prosecution contract for several small cities, which meant they were juggling around 20,000 individual prosecutions a year spread out over several client cities. Those numbers include everything from speeding tickets to real crimes, but each one requires a docket entry that needs to be kept track of. They operated with a similar single contractor.

As long as you get the right guy and you're willing to invest up front to get the right infrastructure, it shouldn't take more than one outside contractor.

[slodave]

MRM has some good advice...

[NineOhOne]

Originally Posted by slodave

MRM has some good advice...

With the exception that he is the exception... My attorney clients are the cheapest skin-flints that ever walked the earth. "How much? Can't you do it cheaper? I can't spend that much." (as they walk to their Bentley's and drive-off to their $4mil waterfront homes). I think it's just in their nature as experienced negotiators.

Occasionally, but rarely, do I get a lawyer/firm that says "just do it...we don't care how much, we just want it to work".

And to answer the original question: 1 good IT guy can keep a small-to-medium sized business running well, assuming we're not talking about an IT heavy business.

[slodave]

I have a couple that don't like to pay, but in the end they do. The rest of my clients don't think I charge them enough.

I can handle up to about 30 workstations and a couple of servers.

[NineOhOne]

I had a friend who owns an IT support business. He spent hours fixing/setting up a clients (welding shop) QuickBooks database. They didn't want to pay. That evening, he logged-in remotely, backed-up their files to his server, then deleted everything.

OMFG...the doo-doo hit the fan. They (big, ugly, smelly welder-dudes) were ready to tear him apart. They called their lawyer. He called his. It was nasty. (Both lawyers told him it was theft). Eventually he restored their system and they paid.

[mikester]

What is small? A single office shouldn't need more than a contract company. I wouldn't go for a single support guy/gal - Rather I would go for a reputable local company.

The best single resource to any successful IT infrastructure is documentation of the environment. With that you'll be able to negotiate exactly what you need in the form of contract services.

IT these days is fickle and diverse. Databases, Applications, Voice, Video and Data services all require an infrastructure of support. If you're talking about a small business then that infrastructure is much different than a small office.

I've done small offices as the contract guy - that guy does it all. Still, I believe hiring a company with resources rather than a 'guy' is a better way to go. The company will have a team and even if their folks move on to bigger and better things the company lives on and resource remains.

I've done medium sized business (say 300 head count) and that requires a team.

In IT there is a difference between cheap and inexpensive.

[spuggy]

Depends just how freakin' clueless the (l)users are.

I earn a living with an XP machine. By the time Windows admits it needs to be defragged, it's about 4-6 months overdue in my opinion - I defrag and compact/clean the registry every 3-4 weeks...

Small office IT is a bad joke. Large enterprise IT is a bad joke. Knowledgeable folks to maintain their own machines? Pretty thin on the ground. That's what you get for 3 decades of selling computers like they're photocopiers...

[HardDrive]

Is screwing in lightbulbs involved?

[jyl]

It is a private elementary school. It has at most 90 desktop PCs (no portables), and maybe 1/3 of them are actually used semi-hard. Ethernet network (no WLAN). Windows file sharing. All Windows environment. Various printers.

Also a simple (lamely simple) website, but I think someone else (not the IT dept) handles it. No complex software involved, just bookkeeping/accounting software and the usual productivity/office stuff.

Should it take three IT people to maintain this? Two good ones? One over-worked one? Or contract it out for $X/year?

[beepbeep]

I've run IT-operations for 250 persons spread out over 9 offices. Alone. 20 servers, 300 terminals.

Schools are probably a bit more intensive so I recon you would need one guy + outside backup when he's sick or on vacation. It's all in architecture. If you build it in messy way (stand-alone computers messed up by kids), you will need 5 persons to keep it running.

If you built it so it's reasonably maintenance-free (thin clients, virtualised servers for example) you will need one.

[jyl]

Don't think it is very intensive or kid-messed-with, this is an elementary school and very few of the PCs are used by kids - just the ones in the computer lab. Some 50 of the other PCs are in the classrooms, where they are used lightly - track grades and upload assignments etc, but all after class hours. Several more PCs in conference rooms, all they do is pull files from server and display on projector. So only about 20 of the PCs are used all day as a traditional office worker would.

I don't know what the server/storage architecture is. Nor any details about the network.

I know we have three full-time IT people running this.

[Paul_Heery]

John,

Based upon what you have presented, I would size this environment for one (1) full-time resource with contract backup for overages, sick time, vacation, etc. That would be one person that knows waht they are doing. However, that would be after someone comes in and hardens the environment. In a school setting, someone is always monkeying with the PCs. So, to introduce something like Faronics Deep Freeze Windows Editions - ABSOLUTE System Integrity may be a good idea.

[legion]

What type of software is supported? Anything besides Office? Any special educational software? Any client-server or other application with a backend? Do the servers do anything other than store files? (Do they serve up any applications?)

What about hardware? Any special hardware? (Something that didn't come in the box with the PC?) What kind of network? Does the network have remote access? VPN?

[KaptKaos]

The old rule of thumb was 1 full time person for every 35+/- desktops. This estimate has assumptions tied to it like; it was setup right, it has homogeneous equipment, it has homogeneous software, it has homogeneous drivers, etc...

Like most small schools, I am betting they put it together piece meal, and nothing is really the same.

Windows file sharing means that there is no way (easy) to enforce security from the network out.

Lastly, while it is an elementary school, 6th thru 8th graders can wreak havoc on a PC. They're natural hackers.

If you assume that there is no single hardware image that PCs can be restored from when a virus/malware/kid/teacher messes up a PC, then your should expect 6 hours or more to restore a system. A 10% failure rate on the PC population eats up one of those three people full-time.

So yes, I think three is likely a reasonable number of support people given the assumptions I made above.

In other words: Doing it right up front costs a lot of money (3x+) but leads to lower costs over time. Not too much different from our little air-cooled cars, no? (apologies to the wasserpumpers).

[jyl]

Originally Posted by legion

What type of software is supported? Anything besides Office? Any special educational software? Any client-server or other application with a backend? Do the servers do anything other than store files? (Do they serve up any applications?)

What about hardware? Any special hardware? (Something that didn't come in the box with the PC?) What kind of network? Does the network have remote access? VPN?

Software - AFAIK it is Office and accounting/bookkeeping apps. Some educational software, nothing much, we use a third-party online system "Edline" where teachers upload assignments and students upload homework. Don't think any server-based apps. I will go find out details.

Hardware - think it is all basic stuff. About 5 projectors connected to PCs. Will have to find out about VPN, never heard that we have it. No portables or WLAN to support. I will go find details.

Because it is a school, there are 2-3 months in the summer when the IT person(s) can do major upgrades etc without interrupting actual teaching. Also the large majority of the PCs don't need 100% uptime - if a computer lab or classroom PC crashes it can get fixed tommorrow, doesn't need to be fixed in an hour. IMHO we don't need to provide the same PC support service level that is required by a business where broken PC = zero productivity.