Book Review: The IT Handbook for Business, Managing Information Technology Support Costs by William C. Couie

The IT Handbook for Business: Managing Information Technology Support Costs
William C. Couie
CreateSpace (September 17, 2010)
978-1453766569
178 pages

Learn how to spot IT scams and unfair billing practices, how to interview an IT firm, what a service invoice or quote should look like, and much more in The IT Handbook for Business by William C. Couie.

The IT Handbook is presented in seventeen detailed chapters. Certain chapters in the book will stand out to different business owners and managers depending on their personal situations. I will look at six chapters that stood out for me.

Interviewing an IT Firm. Selecting an IT firm is much more than opening the yellow pages or performing a Google search. Couie looks at the questions you need to ask and the necessary Certifications, Credentials, Experience, and References you should look for in an IT firm.

Lowering IT Costs. These chronic expenses can overwhelm budgets as well as the managers responsible to keep them in check. The valuable tips on these ten pages alone make this book a must own.

Anatomy of a Quote and Anatomy of an Invoice. Two important chapters. The first shows what a quote for quality service from a reputable firm should look like and how to tell if you are about to be ripped off. The second shows what the invoice should look like and how to spot when you are billed for work not done, etc.

How to Recognize Technobabble. Industry jargon can be used to confuse, mislead, or dazzle customers in almost any industry. This chapter will help you recognize technospeak, whether it is spoken by a technician or written in an invoice or quote.

Scams and Unfair Billing Practices. This chapter is a revealing insider look at the grey areas and total rip-offs that some IT firms exploit to pad their revenue streams. The author looks at no less than 10 shady practices and complete scams. This information is the equivalent of an auto- mechanic or plumber showing how their industries cheat motorists or home owners.

Mr. Couie draws on his more than 30 years of information technology field work, protecting and auditing businesses to write a book that could transform how businesses and IT firms cooperate with each other. He writes in a conversational tone and does not bog down his pages with highly technical passages. As someone with limited IT knowledge, I was able to absorb and understand the information easily. This book will empower business owners and managers to make informed decisions about their computer network maintenance, upgrades, and repairs. The book begins with the author’s bold statement, “In virtually every city in the world that has computers, I think there's a technical support firm or person who's taking advantage of a business's ignorance of technology.” I have no doubt this quote is accurate and I believe that a significant amount of IT Support expenditures can be reduced, or eliminated, by reading and implementing the lessons learned in this book.

If you own or manage a business you need The IT Handbook for Business. Highly Recommended by William Potter

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