Managed IT services in Norway, boundaries in writing
Seven services, one invoice, and always a number.
20–30 minutes · no obligation · a reply within one working day
THE CATALOGUE
Thinking of outsourcing your IT?
Loopback is a Norwegian managed IT services provider for small and medium-sized businesses, and we take on work across the whole of Norway. Seven services, one supplier, one invoice – and for each of them it is written down what is included, what is not, and which pricing model applies.
If you outsource your IT, these are the seven things someone has to take over – and the boundary between them decides what you actually pay for. Here are three of them. The number follows the case from this page to the quote, and on to the invoice.
Ongoing03 Hosting
- INCLUDES
- Server hosting, web hosting, domains, email, backup as a service.
- NOT HERE
- 06 Web and digital services
- PRICING MODEL
- Per instance / month
One-off05 Consultancy
- INCLUDES
- Ongoing hours and fixed-price projects. The two are always kept apart in the quote.
- NOT HERE
- 01 Operations and management
- PRICING MODEL
- Hourly rate or fixed price
Mixed07 Security
- INCLUDES
- Ongoing protection and monitoring, a one-off security review, and security awareness training.
- NOT HERE
- 04 Network and infrastructure
- ALSO NOT HERE
- 02 Cloud services and licences
- PRICING MODEL
- Per device / month + fixed price
THE REPLY TRACK
What happens when you send it
You send the enquiry
If something is down right now, the form is not the right channel. Call +47 482 66 425 instead, and we take it straight away.
INCIDENT NOTICE
When something is down, you hear it from us
The notice has five fixed parts, in the same order every time. If one of them is unknown, it says so. And the notice goes out even if we do not know the cause yet – especially then.
What is down
The service affected, by name.
Who it affects
Roughly how many users, and where.
When it started
A time of day, not “this morning”.
What we are doing
The action already under way.
When the next update comes
A time of day – even if nothing has changed.
THREE WORDS, AND WHAT THEY MEAN
Up
The service is responding normally.
Notice
Reduced performance, planned work, or a deadline approaching.
Incident
Down, or a breach of what we agreed. Then you get an incident notice.
The word always sits next to the colour, in every notice we send. Around eight per cent of men have some form of colour vision deficiency, and a status page where green and red are just two dots is useless to them.
THE HANDOVER
Switching from another provider?
If you already have a provider, there are three things we need to know before anyone can set a date – and they are unclear more often than people think.
The notice period with your current provider
It is in your contract, and it governs when we can start. We set no date before we know it.
Who owns the accesses today
Domains, licence agreements and passwords are not always in your name. That is worth checking before notice is given, not after.
Whether documentation exists
An overview of servers, networks, contracts and who owns what. If it does not exist, mapping is the first job – and then we say how much of it is included.
The handover itself is 05 Consultancy. The operations afterwards are 01 Operations and management. We go through the three questions in the scoping call, before anything costs anything.
HONESTLY
The four places this usually goes wrong
We know where IT deliveries go wrong, because it is the same four places every time. That is why they are written here, and not only on our own checklist.
The boundary against the service agreement
What you call “a small project” is often already paid for.
The estimate that was read as a price
If it is an estimate, the word is there – with what it is based on.
The change that was never written down
“Could you just add …” is agreed in writing. Every time.
The handover to operations that never happened
Anything not taken into operations is something nobody is looking after.
Tell us what you need
Fill in what you know. We will say if we need more.
No obligation · Confirmation with case number the same day · A person replies within one working day · The quote is valid for 30 days, prices excl. VAT
PARTNERS
Loopback is a Google Partner and a Lenovo Partner. Hardware we resell goes on separate lines with purchase date and warranty period – so it can be read on its own.