Not concerned at all. Who is going to take some teenager with an IBM dress code from 70′s seriously as an IT consultant? If they do, they are unlikely to pay my consulting fees anyhow.

This is just another incompetent competitor in an already crowded space with a pretty brochure and a themed car.

Honestly, not really concerned but I can see how this will put a lot of IT consultants out of business. It’s a good thing. It will force people to be more serious about their jobs and their customer care. The “Computer GOD” is about to disappear.

I have to admit that I am a little surprised at how little interest/commentary/opinion is given on this. This post in total with the previous post has brought in a total of five comments.. Something that may easilly put a lot of you reading this blog out of work is bringing up less comments and emails than a picture of Amy Babinchak and her phone number.

I’m just a little surprised at the lack of interest. Oh well, not my gig.

-Vlad

Vlad, why bother talking about it? They are just another competitor and they are starting with cheap techs. I can give you a list of people who have done this through the years and went out of business. On the other hand businesses usually get destroyed by the competitors they ignore. This one is out of my hands so why worry?

I agree with most of the comments that this news is not likely to have an effect on the higher level consultants.

People at the lower end of the market who just supply hardware and software as a one off sale could feel a little squeezed but it depends on how good a job BB4B does.

In the UK we have PC world which offers a large range of Business services which seem to offer good value however I have picked up several clients who were totally dissatisfied with the care that they received and miss selling that took place when the sale was made.

as long as beast buy keeps arresting customers who ask for a pricematch…i won’t be having any sleepless nights worrying about my clients deserting me, particularly my a-listers.

based on their track record, i’m willing to see how bb does with it. i’m betting they frack it up but good…and then those clients will needs someone to fix their mess for them.

and then those folks will become clients for life.

I see the writing on the wall, but I’m not sure what we can do about it…

Who moved my cheese?

If it’s anything like geek squad I think this will be the best thing for consultants in a long time. Customers will be running to you once they realize what a mistake it was to outsource their business IT needs to a bunch of teenagers working at a stero store. I have heard enough horror stories of geek squad not to lose sleep over this.

Gek Squad are crooks, at least in this area. Flat out, straight up crooks.
I recieved a call from an elderly gentleman who paid Geek Squad $180 (yes it’s on the reciept) for home delivery and set up of his new computer he bought from Best Buy. They delivered it maybe 10 blocks and stacked it nicely in his living room floor. That’s it….$180.

When his son called to inquire about this “premium service” he was told to call back and make an appointment if he actually wanted it unpackged and made functional. He then called me to finish the job.

Absolutely unbelieveable.

Keep it up guys and you won’t be around long. On the bright side you are good for business.

I wouldnt trust a geek squad tech that was selliong washing machines in the back of the store six months ago. Theese guys are idiots and you will be paying them $90 an hour? I had one client that had a “geek” come over for spyware removal which took the guy 5 hours to remove and the total bill was $449 with software. WTF is that about, format the machine if you cant remove it within a half hour. Like I said theese guys should have stayed in the home audio or refrigerator department. Two thumbs down to “geek squad”. Plus I cant stand there stupid theme. Insepctor, double agent……just fix my f-ing computer and leave the theatrics to broadway.

The two biggest reasons I see not to worry are:

1) They are contracting the job at a fixed rate. Now they either have to lock in a really large fixed rate to cover all eventualities or they are going to be losing a lot of money on average. I know from experience that there are too many variables to be able to charge a fixed rate for your work. This is from both working for a national VAR and doing freelance work.

2) The Geek Squad guys are not going to have or put in the time to keep up with all you have to know about SBS not to mention every other Microsoft product. I mean every day there is new information to learn. If you want to do things correctly and in the least amount of time you have to know this information.

[...] so…someone’s been sounding the death knell of the local it consultant now that a certain giant electronics retailer has gotten serious about business. [...]