I need to form a relationship with a firm that can provide quality
tech support for windows backoffice server software products. (MS
Windows 2000 server, MS Exchange, MS SQL, and especially Active
Directory). I don't need on-site services or hardware support, just
software configuration phone support. I want paid phone support
services on demand for the above products (preferably via an 800#). It
would be best if I could purchase a 'block' of phone support hours or
points, etc. Can you provide me with a list of several companies that
offer services like this ? I've checked into a couple services that I
found on the web, (supportfreaks.com, askdrtech, geekhelp.com etc.)
but haven't found any firms that look very professional or have the
level of expertise that I require. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by pwizard-ga on 06 Dec 2002 13:09 PST

Is there a specific price range you are looking for? Of course
Microsoft offers these support services directly, but their fees can
reach $245 per phone incident when paid on a per-call basis. I believe
this price falls when you pre-purchase a certain number of incidents.
They've recently started offering "online" support (via email) for a
significantly lower price -- only $99 per incident. You get the same
support that you would via phone, it's just handled via email instead.
I've had great luck with this new offering and have used it for our
business several times, each with success. I always received a
response the same day I logged the call and talked with experienced
personnel.

I was just curious as to what your price restrictions were on the
firms so that I didn't list any that were out of that range.

Thanks,
PWizard

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Clarification of Question by juiceca-ga on 06 Dec 2002 16:14 PST

Pwizard,

Yes, I'm aware of the Microsoft offerings, but I'd like to have a few
other options besides Microsoft support.

A 'pack' of 5-10 incidents for $400-$600 would be nice. Or $100-$150
per incident.

The following things are most important to me : 

1. Firm knows MS Backoffice products very well. (Exchange, SQL, Active
Directory)
2. Able to speak with a live technician on the phone if possible.
3. Quality of support - (able to access case tracking on the web,
etc.)

Thanks,
Chris

Greetings juiceca,

I did some research on your question, but since I wasn't entirely
pleased with my results, I decided to post what I had as a comment and
leave the question open for another researcher to try and come up with
a better list than what I was able to find.

The majority of hits I came across included the sites that you
mentioned, ones like AskDrTech and the like that mainly focus on the
home-based computer user and end-user applications. I did, however,
find two different firms that offer high-end tech support covering the
applications you are wanting:

1. Net Infrastructure (http://www.netinfra.com)

This company offers several different services, one of which is expert
client support services. A quote from their site: "RHCE & MCSE trained
technicians are available via email and telephone support 24/7. No
answer machines, no unqualified night-staff, no escalation - our goal
is to keep the top tech people in the front line at all times."

Their consulting page is located here:
http://www.netinfra.com/consulting/consulting.asp

According to their support policy
(http://www.netinfra.com/policies/supportpolicy.pdf) they charge on a
per-hour basis (per 15-minute block actually). They don't show
anything over an hour, so the charge of $140 may be the max for each
call. They support operating systems (Windows 2000/AD) and also
Exchange, SQL, etc. It says that their support fees "may be higher"
for the high-end applications such as Exhcange and SQL server. It does
not indicate how much. I would contact them at services@netinfra.com
to find out more about their pricing structure. They do offer the
ability to pre-purchase packages in advance at a savings of around
15%.

This company looks very professional and they also appear to have an
online tracking system, but without registering with them, it's
difficult to know for sure.

2. Pantek (http://www.pantek.com)

From their website: "By phone, email, remote login or on-site at your
location, Pantek engineers will quickly troubleshoot and correct any
technical difficulties your system might be experiencing. Vendor and
platform independent, we support several IT software and hardware
applications."

Their list of supported software is available here:
http://www.pantek.com/support.php?subsect=applications

They support Windows 2000 AD, SQL, Exchange, and many other high level
server applications. Their support is also by the hour. They charge
$125/hour or you can pre-purchase a block of 10 hours for $1000. Their
after-hours rate jumps to $175/hour. It doesn't look like they have
online tracking capabilities, but it's possible.

Their support page is here: http://www.pantek.com/support.php

I'm sure there are other companines that offer what you're looking
for, I just wasn't able to locate ones meeting your criteria as easily
as I had hoped. I have yet to find one that offers a simple "per
incident" type structure. All of the ones I have seen are either paid
by the hour or are charged by the minute (on like a 900# service).
Looking at some of these offerings, Microsoft's own support is
starting to look not so bad. I've easily spent more than 5 hours on
the phone with Microsoft regarding a single incident. That would have
cost me like $700 at one of these other firms instead of the $245 that
MS charged. Tech support is a tricky thing. What I would probably do
is use one of these types of firms for problems I believe to be easily
or quickly solved, but use Microsoft for the more difficult problems
that might require lengthy troubleshooting sessions or multiple
callbacks.

Good luck in your search and I apologize that I wasn't able to help
out more. Hopefully another researcher will be able to locate more
information for you.

Sincerely,
PWizard
Google Answers Researcher