Doing a backup on site before work

[xxsilk109xx]

I have learned my lesson in backing up or making an image before I do any work here in house. And that is a good thing for those who have not learned yet.

However - When I do these here in the shop they take some time but I don't mind because I have other things that I can be working on. However, these are not 5-10 minute deals, some of them go into the 50-75 minute range, especially if there is a lot of music, pics, etc.

I want to know what everyone else does on site as pertaining to a backup...

I went to a ladys office, computer was running slow, etc. Had a virus, lots of registry errors, and LOADS of temp. files. So I told her my price is 65 dollars an hour on site, only because I have done lots of work for her before, or normally its 95 an hour.

So I put my acronis disk in, plug in my external HD and start the backup. Then I see its going to be completed in 50 minutes. So I was not really for sure what to do there as I just didnt think about it before going in there. So I basically told her that I was not charging her for the backup time since I was just sitting there, so I went to get a coffee and some breakfast and came back and it had 10 minutes left until it was done. She did not mind as I brought her favorite coffee back with me. Luckily this lady has been a customer of mine for some time so we have a friendly relationship.

How do you charge for this and do you do on site backups all the time? Am I going about it the wrong way or is there a faster way/program to do this?

 

[chrisaroz]

What you did was brilliant, and I'm sure you have a customer for life. However, that's not always a practical solution as you just lost an hour of your day and didn't get paid. I typically tell them they need to make a backup before I get there (most can't or don't know how), in which case I offer to do a back-up of whole PC, or more likely Fab's auto-backup (quicker) and they pay for it. If they don't have/want a backup, they sign my waiver/form and are told I'm not responsible for any data loss.

 

[ATTech]

I try to have the back it up the important information before I come out and typically don't do image back-ups on-site unless absolutely necessary. If it's a situation where they can't back the data up and it's going to take a long time to complete, I'll make two appointments and they get charged for seperately.

The most important thing it to make sure they understand every possible outcome, what they will be charged and why.

 

[xxsilk109xx]

Thanks for the tips, it makes sense to charge them for it, but I feel kind of like I am ripping them off when I say, well i need to make a backup and why that happens you are going to pay me 65 bucks an hour, and I am not doing any work unless i do a backup.

ATTech, makes sense to fully explain everything to them.

If a customer said, yea make a backup, and ill pay for it, fine. But in the future should I need to use it, how can I restore this image myself? I hate holding people over the fire by saying, well you would have to call me to come out and restore it because you dont have the software, etc.

how do you handle that question?

 

[Vicenarian]

maybe burn all their important data to some DVDs?

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Thanks for the tips, it makes sense to charge them for it, but I feel kind of like I am ripping them off when I say, well i need to make a backup and why that happens you are going to pay me 65 bucks an hour, and I am not doing any work unless i do a backup.

ATTech, makes sense to fully explain everything to them.

If a customer said, yea make a backup, and ill pay for it, fine. But in the future should I need to use it, how can I restore this image myself? I hate holding people over the fire by saying, well you would have to call me to come out and restore it because you dont have the software, etc.

how do you handle that question?

The point is not that they are paying you $65 an hour to sit there and watch something run. The first point is how important is their data to them? Secondely, the point is that if you weren't there you could be somewhere else doing something else, so it has to be worth your while to be there instead.

Doing a full backup and then incremental backups beyond that is not the same as keeping a restoreable image always ready for them unless the want it that way? But that's more of a corporate IT solution for several desktops to be identically configured without regard for users personal data. The way they back things up whether using some app that backs things up incrementally or if they manually back up by drag and drop as they see fit is their preference. See how important their data and settings are to them, then find a solution that works best for their situation. Give them the tools and show them how to use them if they don't like paying you to image their drive everytime something goes bad. If they don't choose to follow your instructions or implement anything, its not your problem.

 

[ATTech]

Thanks for the tips, it makes sense to charge them for it, but I feel kind of like I am ripping them off when I say, well i need to make a backup and why that happens you are going to pay me 65 bucks an hour, and I am not doing any work unless i do a backup.

Because of these issues, I don't require that I back-up their data prior to working on the computer when the job is onsight, I make them fully aware that by not having the data backed-up, they are at risk.

If a customer said, yea make a backup, and ill pay for it, fine. But in the future should I need to use it, how can I restore this image myself? I hate holding people over the fire by saying, well you would have to call me to come out and restore it because you dont have the software, etc.

how do you handle that question?

I explain the differences between a standard back-up and an image back-up. Most people are content with a standard back-up where I simply transfer their important files to an external device.

For the few that really push for the image back-up, I first explain that it's intent is just to be a saftey net for the duration of the visit. I then explain that because of the complexity of how it's accomplished and the shear amount of information that it backs up, special software and a special process is required, and that If down the road, they were to need information from the back-up, that it's something that I need to perform and provide for them. People typically understand that they need to pay more if they want the more complex and time consuming option.