The break/fix service method is declining. With the expansion and evolution of technology, having a solution that jumps in to help in an emergency isn’t helpful to your business, and tends to cause problems in the long run. If you spend the time waiting around until a disaster to adjust, you’re losing time and money that could be spent on more important tasks. Tridius breaks down what each service offers and why you should avoid break/fix.
Break/Fix to Managed Services
Instead of looking at each type of service’s pros and cons, it would be more beneficial to define and expand on what each solution offers. Each of these service models is a form of outsourced IT support that helps you maintain your IT and keep everything in its place. This is where the similarities end. When you need to achieve specific financial goals, you’ll be losing money by relying on break/fix. First, let’s start by defining each approach.
Break/Fix Support Model
Break/fix is a reactive approach to IT infrastructure maintenance. When hardware fails, disaster strikes, or your in-house IT fails to find the solution to an issue in your system, you rely on break/fix to handle the repairs. With this model, you only rely on support in times of emergency.
This may sound like a way to save money over time by relying on in-house solutions almost exclusively, but that isn’t the case. Imagine your system goes down without warning. You aren’t sure how to fix the problem, so you call in break/fix solutions to handle the repairs. A substantial fee for on-demand services cuts into your budget and does nothing to stop further issues from occurring. You’ll always be reacting to negative situations instead of building up ways to prevent these situations from happening.
Managed Service Model
Managed services are outsourced IT professionals that support you around the clock to keep your information technology in order. This is a proactive approach that monitors your devices and networks based on a contract. If any problems occur, the managed service provider (MSP) immediately responds, alerting you and working to mitigate damage.
Depending on the type of company you work with, you can have core functions of your IT managed by an MSP without issue. While this business model is usually paid through monthly fees, the amount of money you save by preventing disaster scenarios and streamlining your IT management offsets the cost. More often, you’ll pay less than you would for a break/fix solution, while also preventing damage to your infrastructure.
Planning IT Expenses
When considering a break/fix model, multiple points of interest should be considered red flags for your finances. With break/fix, you have no control over your expenditure. Disaster strikes when you least expect, meaning you will have no time to plan out repair costs or maintenance options like you would with an MSP. Since a break/fix service needs disasters to happen for their services to be required, they are incentivized to take longer to fix a problem and make more callouts necessary. While they won’t actively sabotage you, they will take much longer than an MSP would to fix a solution.
A break/fix company isn’t invested in your network or digital infrastructure. They care about providing a solution to a problem, not investigating your system to find ways to prevent these problems from happening. Managed services regularly work to ensure the uptime of your network and keep outages to a minimum.
Finally, their repair times aren’t guaranteed. Since break/fix is an uncertain service, providers can’t give a staple estimate for repairs or maintenance. This causes long-term service outages and leaves you with a risk to revenue and reputation, depending on the case. With the preventative maintenance of managed services, downtime is minimal, and repair times are established beforehand, since they have a better understanding of your network.
With each of these points in mind, planning your IT expenses becomes much more straightforward when you work with a managed service provider. Break/fix is uncertain, expensive, and has little investment in your success beyond fixing issues. When setting up your IT strategic planning, consider working with an MSP to hinder ongoing problems and save you money over time.
Since a break/fix service needs disasters to happen for their services to be required, they are incentivized to take longer to fix a problem and make more callouts necessary. While they won’t actively sabotage you, they will take much longer than an MSP would to fix a solution.
Expert IT Services and Solutions
Tridius provides managed services for businesses across Texas and the country. We help you understand your IT better, fix your problems quickly, and save you money through practical solutions. We specialize in technology solutions, Microsoft Cloud services, and more. When you need efficient, cost-effective IT services, contact Tridius today.
