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A new competitor to Geek Squad and TechGuys has emerged in the form of Yorkshire-based SmartFixIT, although rivals have questioned whether there is room for yet another SME call-out service.
SmartFixIT will initially launch across Yorkshire and the firm plans to roll out nationally by 2009. It has 110 engineers with ambitious plans for a total of 1,000 by next year.
As a competitor to PC World’s TechGuys and the Carphone Warehouse’s Geek Squad, SmartFixIT provides services including emergency call outs, health checks, PC set ups, networking and broadband installation.
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The service will be aimed at home users, small businesses and charities, and covers all makes and models of computers, hardware and software.
SmartFixIT executive director Randall Pevin recently joined the firm from distributor Target Components.
“SmartFixIT is a network of IT specialists that offer support and maintenance for either a monthly or one-off fee. We would like to become the AA or the RAC of computer services,” he said.
“We immediately dispatch an engineer when needed it could even be because
a laptop has been set on fire. Unlike our competitors, SmartFixIT is not
affiliated with any major retailer. We are independent, which makes the
service we provide unbiased to manufacturers or hardware and software
providers.”
Online reseller Misco set up a similar service called Home Install in April 2007.
Mike Gammie, IT services development manager at Misco, said: “Home Install is still running steadily and we get a steady flow of customers, but there are a lot of players in this game.
“The feedback that we get from affiliated engineers is that there is not a lot of work out there for this kind of service.”
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