What does support cost?

Within regular service hours €120 net per hour. Outside regular service hours €240 net per hour. There is no day rate. Alternatively, hour packages of 10, 25 or 50 hours are available, valid for twelve months from purchase. Proxmox environments use the packages of Proxmox support. Regular service hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00.

Do I need a contract or an hour package?

No. Actual work is billed on the basis of a written remuneration agreement. For recurring needs, an hour package of 10, 25 or 50 hours is available, valid for twelve months from purchase. Proxmox environments have their own packages (Proxmox support).

How quickly do you respond?

Work billed by time carries no guaranteed response time. A binding response comes with a service level in an operations contract. We usually reply to enquiries within one business day.

When is an operations contract the better choice?

Once the same need recurs. Managed Server starts at €149.90 net per month and includes monitoring, updates, backup verification and an agreed response - work that quickly costs more as individual hours.

Does the rate also apply to existing customers?

Yes. Additional work and incident effort outside the agreed operating scope is billed at the same rate.

Do you also work on systems you do not know?

For scoped tasks, yes. Ongoing responsibility requires an inventory first - that is what the Linux server audit, or the matching check for the platform in question, is for.

Linux server support without an ongoing contract

For clearly scoped work on existing systems: troubleshooting, an extension, a migration step or a second opinion. Billed by actual effort.

Describe the task See what is included

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Starting point

A fit when the task can be scoped

You operate the systems yourself and need occasional support
A specific problem is named, but the cause is not
A planned change should be reviewed before implementation
An operations contract is not on the table, or comes later
The need is one-off or irregular

What you get

The same people who also run our managed operations

Your task is handled by someone who also carries responsibility for these systems in production. If the assessment shows that a single intervention will not solve the problem, we say so before work starts.

A scoped task
You describe what needs doing. We tell you what it is likely to cost before we start.
Billed by actual effort
€120 net per hour, no contract commitment.
A documented result
What was done, what stood out and what remains open - in writing, even for a single engagement.

The same rate applies to additional work within an existing operations contract.

What is included

Work on existing systems

Scope is agreed before work starts. The following are the standard cases; anything outside them is assessed up front.

Included

Linux systems
Review services, packages, permissions and system state, and correct them specifically.
Containers and deployments
Investigate Docker and Compose environments, registries, volumes and failed deployments.
Networking and access
Review and adjust firewall, routing, reverse proxy, TLS and administrative access.
Backup and restore
Trace backups, name the gaps and perform a test restore.
Troubleshooting
Isolate a specific fault, name the cause and document the path to a fix.
Second opinion
Review a planned change or an existing design before it is implemented.

A clear service boundary

Work billed by time is neither operations nor standby

Guaranteed response times - those come with a service level in an operations contract
Monitoring, patch cycles and backup verification between engagements
On-call duty or a guaranteed start time
Responsibility for systems WZ-IT does not know on an ongoing basis
Provider costs for hardware, licences and infrastructure

How it runs

Four steps from enquiry to invoice

Each step is completed before the next begins. Scope, effort range and fee agreement are in writing before work starts.

01
Describe the task
System, starting position and desired outcome in your own words. Access is discussed later.
02
Assessment and effort range
We say whether the task makes sense as a single engagement and give an effort range before any work begins.
03
Fee agreement and delivery
Scope and rate are set out in a written fee agreement. Work then proceeds within the agreed frame; effort beyond it is agreed beforehand.
04
Documentation and billing
A written result with findings and open points, billed by actual effort.

What we need for the assessment

Operating system, environment and number of affected systems
The fault or the desired change in your own words
How long the situation has existed and what has already been tried
Whether production systems are affected
Who is technically available on your side

Billing

Hourly rate or hour package

Billing is based on actual effort. Regular service hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00. Outside these hours the higher rate applies.

Hourly rate

Support billed by time

For clearly scoped tasks without an ongoing contract. Outside regular service hours €240 net per hour.

€120 / hournet, per hour

Hour package: 10 hours

10 hours in advance, €120 per hour, valid for 12 months.

€1,200net, one-time

Hour package: 25 hours

25 hours in advance, €110 per hour, valid for 12 months.

€2,750net, one-time

Hour package: 50 hours

50 hours in advance, €105 per hour, valid for 12 months.

€5,250net, one-time

Hour packages are valid for twelve months from purchase for the same work within regular service hours; unused hours expire. Proxmox environments have their own hour packages. For regular demand, an operations contract costs less than individual hours.

All prices are net and exclude statutory VAT. The offers are addressed to businesses.

Sensible next steps

When a one-off becomes a permanent need

Work billed by time is the entry point. Once the same need recurs, an agreed operating scope is more predictable and cheaper overall.

Managed Server

Take over, monitor, patch and operate existing Linux servers with documentation.

Explore Managed Server

Linux server audit

Assess patch level, access, firewall, backups and system state once and prioritise findings.

Explore the audit

Monitoring & alerting

Have systems and services monitored without handing over incident handling.

Explore monitoring

Common questions about support billed by time

Billing, boundaries and the move to an operations contract.

Reviews & projects

Operations that visibly relieve customers

Customer feedback on monitoring, updates, maintenance, support and stable production systems.

Networking & Provisioning

WZ-IT moved our studio infrastructure from decentralised individual devices to a central platform: every site is securely connected via VPN, new devices are onboarded automatically and an entire site is provisioned from a template, without manual steps on location. What impressed me most is the breadth and depth of their knowledge: Timo and Robin are not a typical IT provider who sets up a server and leaves. The two of them think their way into highly complex infrastructure and software topics, work through every requirement we put in front of them, and build networking, provisioning and operations so that everything fits together in the end. WZ-IT is an excellent partner for complex software, network and architecture projects.

Steve KirchnerManaging Director, nextGYM GmbH

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International

Built in Germany's Ruhr Valley. Running worldwide.

WZ-IT designs, develops and operates infrastructure and software for clients in Germany and internationally. We deliver projects remotely and continue supporting them in ongoing operations after go-live.