Systems Support
Risk mitigationOngoingFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors
What was built, kept running: a monthly check that reads the systems against the month you actually had, fixes drift while it is one conversation, and answers the questions in between, on one job's systems or the business-wide cycle alike. A fixed monthly amount, stopping at the end of any month, and only offered on systems I set up.
The problem
A system that worked in the demo and died in the first busy fortnight was never supported. Every system is at its best the week after set-up and drifts from then on: a new starter never gets shown the capture step, a busy month puts the variation record behind, a tool updates itself and a feed quietly stops, someone slides back to the spreadsheet they had before. Nobody decides any of it, which is why nobody notices. The typing creeps back into the day first; then the record thins, towards exactly the months a final account or a dispute will one day lean on.
The solution
Support is what makes the difference between a tool and a habit. Each month I read your systems against the month you actually had - the captures against the instructions given, the registers against the changes that happened, the reporting against the position the records support - whether the set-up covered one job or the business-wide cycle. Drift gets fixed with the person concerned while it is one conversation, what the tools changed gets absorbed before it breaks the routine, and between checks the questions come to me instead of becoming workarounds. Every change I make arrives with an update report and a re-issued manual, so the documentation always matches the system you are actually running.
What you receive
You get systems still running properly in month six, not only in the demo week: the hours the set-up gave back still given back, the record building all the way to the final account, and a short monthly list of what drifted and what was done about it. Stop at any month-end; the systems stay yours either way.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: two working days per cycle.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
How it works
You take the support on at handover
One conversation at the end of the set-up: the fixed monthly amount goes in writing, the first check lands the following month, and there is no minimum term to sign.
- A
Continued access, and who grants it
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to open when access lapses, and support stops rather than continuing
Where to find it: Already in place at handover; it just stays on.
Why I need it: No access, no support
- B
The system itself, in the version now in use
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to support: the service cannot open a log, run a function check or fix anything
Where to find it: The live file with edit access, from whoever edited it last, not the copy issued at handover.
Why I need it: No system, no support
- C
Its handover pack
ImportantWithout it: Every fix is made against a picture of the system nobody has verified, and the first period goes on writing a pack instead of supporting one
Where to find it: Whoever holds it from the set-up that built the system; if it has gone missing or was never written, say so rather than sending something out of date.
Why I need it: The pack makes support possible, not archaeology
- D
One route for reporting issues
ImportantWithout it: Issues raised informally get lost, and the period report understates what actually happened
Where to find it: Agree it in the same message as the other five: a shared log if you already run one, or a single mailbox if you do not.
Why I need it: Issues reported informally are never fixed
- E
Who uses it and who owns it
ImportantWithout it: There is nobody named to take a decision to, so questions sit unanswered until somebody happens to reply
Where to find it: A line from whoever instructed the service naming the system's users and its owner; if nobody is named, the instructing contact is treated as owner until told otherwise.
Why I need it: You need one named person
- F
Their payment and reporting cycle dates
ImportantWithout it: A fix lands after the cycle it was needed for, which is not a fix at all
Where to find it: Whoever runs your payment applications or month end can read the dates straight off the diary or the contract.
Why I need it: A fix after the cycle it was needed for is not a fix
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
I monitor the month against the record
A short standing session with whoever runs the systems, plus the records themselves: what was captured, what the month actually contained, and where the two disagree. Most months the answer is a small list; the point of the check is that it stays small.
I fix the drift and answer the questions
Each fix lands with the person it belongs to, not in a report: the capture step reshaped if people route around it, the newcomer shown the routine, the setting a tool quietly changed put back. Between checks, anything that confuses anyone is a message to me rather than a workaround.
Safe fixes only
Any fix touching a document you rely on for payment is made on a copy and checked against a real record before it goes live.
I keep the system a habit rather than a tool
Between projects the service pauses rather than cancels: nothing is re-onboarded, the file and the diary stay warm, and it resumes the day the next project starts.
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
Tips that raise your odds of success
Questions I get asked often
Support is only offered on systems I set up, so it follows the Project Systems Set-up or the Business Systems Set-up rather than standing alone. When you want the system built onward rather than only kept running, Systems Development is the senior arrangement for exactly that. And if a month's reading turns up a payment already gone wrong rather than drift to correct, that is the claims side of the practice, and I will say so.