Missing Piece: “The price-quality ratio is simply very good”
Missing Piece focuses as a specialist in IT outsourcing on insurance firms, accountancy firms and other small and medium-sized business and financial service providers. They take over the entire IT environment, from workplace management, network management and telephony to hosting industry-specific applications. The uptime of the data center determines the quality of service. That is why Missing Piece entered into an agreement with BIT.A company must suit you
In 2008 Marco van Dam started Missing Piece together with his partner Lex de Bruijn, which quickly grew into a club of about 50 employees with whom they now manage more than 5,000 workplaces. As early as 2010 Missing Piece opted for the colocation services of BIT. Van Dam: “We made a selection in which we looked at aspects such as continuity of service and performance on the one hand, and how well the company suits us on the other. In that first area, there is not so much distinction between data centers. There are many parties with the required certifications, all of which provide reliable services. We chose BIT because they suit us. It is not a very big player. We know their employees, they know us. Just like us, they focus on SMEs. You can also see that in the price. Data centers that focus on the corporates often also have corporate prices. BIT combines a very good price with very reliable services and a pleasant relationship.”
"There are many parties with the required certifications, all of which provide reliable services. We chose BIT because they suit us. It is not a very big player. We know their employees, they know us."
Internet connectivity: the importance of redundant connections
Missing Piece rents cupboard space at BIT including cooling, power and internet connectivity. The internet connection is decisive for the continuity of services and was therefore the main technical focus when choosing BIT. "We looked at which connectivity providers are entering the data center and how BIT has arranged redundancy," says Van Dam. “The corona crisis has made clear how important the quality of the connection is. When people suddenly started working at home en masse, you saw more dips in the connections than usual. That shows how important redundant connections are.”
Communicate directly about failures
He has nothing to complain about the connectivity and availability of BIT. “There are very few failures. And if they are there, they are short, usually between 5 and 10 minutes. But what I find even more important: BIT communicates directly about it. They tell what is going on and how long it will take. Because that is what customers want to know. When you agree on an SLA, you talk about percentages, about the maximum number of hours of downtime per year. I can tell you that customers prefer 30 minutes of downtime once a year than six times 2 minutes. In other words, such an SLA says very little. The determining factor for customer satisfaction is the frequency with which there is a malfunction and the communication that takes place at that moment. We are very satisfied with BIT in both areas. ”
“There are very few failures. And if they are there, they are short, usually between 5 and 10 minutes. But what I find even more important: BIT communicates directly about it."
A data center with low power consumption
When selecting BIT as a data center, Missing Piece also paid attention to the power consumption for cooling and lighting, because this also plays a role in the costs. Van Dam also thinks low energy consumption is important with regard to the environment, but his customers never really ask about the sustainability of the data center. “They are already saving so much energy because we use thin clients in our concept and centralize IT for them in our data center. The power consumption of companies that still do IT completely in-house, with their own servers and personal computers, is on average a factor of 10 higher. Our customers are therefore making enormous improvements by opting for outsourcing. I suspect that they will soon ask questions about what we as Missing Piece can do to reduce the energy consumption of their environment, for example by energy-efficient servers. But also about the sustainability of the data center where those servers are located. This is not yet happening. However, you notice that companies are increasingly wondering what they can do to reduce their environmental impact.”
Short lines and good contacts
Nevertheless, personal service is and remains the most important reason for Van Dam to remain loyal to BIT. “If I have to summarize, it is about the short lines and good contacts, the reliability with which they keep appointments and the speed with which they solve problems. Because again, the data centers are not that different from one another on a technical level. But on a personal level, yes. ”
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