A Tale of Two Quotes

Below are reproductions of two online backup service quotes. They provided the manager of a small branch office a choice between two proven vendors – both with the technical skills to get the job done.

Expanded image: MSP Consulting Services Work Order
Expanded image: Dr.Backup Quotation for Managed Backup Service

 

The first vendor quote is from a traditional Managed Service Provider (MSP) that offers a variety of products and services designed primarily to serve larger enterprises.

The second quote is from Dr.Backup, an MSP that focuses singularly on delivering fully managed backup services to small business clients.

The quote contents are pretty much self-explanatory. They confirm that Dr.Backup delivers great value to the small business customer at a fraction of the cost of the big boys — without sacrificing service or support.

 

The “Back Story” (A Tale of Two Quotes)

For over 15 years, Dr.Backup has delivered S.M.A.R.T. online backup service to small businesses throughout the US and Canada. Over 300 independent IT consultants and small business shops have joined our Pro-Partner Program and are authorized to resell our service.

Dr.Backup clients receive the same class of service and support that larger organizations enjoy – but at affordable prices. You see, backups are our only business – and because we do it in volume – we can pass along significant cost savings.

Recently, we came across a business that asked a traditional Managed IT Service Provider to quote a price for secure online file backup at a remote branch office.

The business didn’t want a fancy, expensive backup appliance (“BDR” box) like at HQ. They just wanted a cloud solution that was quick to deploy, reliable, ran over a standard Internet connection and met their RPO (Recovery Point Objective) of one day.

Their needs were spelled out below.

Initial Requirements:

  1. Download and install cloud backup software on Windows server and four PCs
  2. Identify important files, folders, email stores, SQL databases & application data and designate each for offsite backup
  3. Configure data retention periods and backup schedule(s) in offsite storage software
  4. Assist with needed adjustments to firewall rules and local security exclusion settings
  5. Perform initial baseline backup of all data to secure cloud storage
  6. Randomly select and verify critical files can be restored from offsite archives

Additional (On-going) Requirements

  1. Remotely monitor all devices to ensure they complete nightly backups
  2. Review backup logs daily to identify items that failed to backup and help clear issue
  3. Make minor corrections or adjustments as required to ensure error-free backups
  4. Provide next-day notification of any issues which could not be resolved

While we have sanitized things and taken some minor liberty with presentation format (in the quote reproduction above) the bottom line is clear. This office would be spending hundreds of dollars each month for managed offsite backup service with the traditional MSP approach.

That wasn’t going to fly because there was another alternative – Dr.Backup.

Using the Dr.Backup online pricing tool, the branch office manager was able to prepare a budgetary quote for the exact services needed. It didn’t take long to discover what a good value Dr.Backup was for this savvy small businesses.

PLUS, heaven forbid the business actually needed assistance to restore files from a backup…that would be done at no additional cost.

When the manager held these two proposals together side-by-side the choice for this small business was clear.