Support

I've mentioned this before, but I will mention it again, if you are not a Microsoft partner, then you must know where you will go for quality support. I would always recommend a Microsoft Partner with the SBSC blue badge as mentioned in Chapter 1 as they have taken exams and provided case studies to gain the SBSC status. While no certification can guarantee the competency of a partner, it does at least show that the partner has invested time and money in becoming reasonably expert.

It is also often worth understanding what your support contract with the partner covers—that is, what is included in your monthly or annual fees and what will cost you extra. Make sure you're clear on this and how additional fees are calculated: if you have a user who constantly rings for help on something small, be aware that he or she could be quite expensive in terms of your extra support bill. You might need to find a support package that includes a certain number of that kind of phone calls.