Every business requires robust IT that will keep them competitive in the market. Technology is rapidly changing and businesses often times find it hard to keep up with the latest trends. These difficulties are often derived from the fact that IT is expensive, and opening an IT department is even more expensive. So a viable business model has become to employ IT services. In this world, there are two types of IT services, Break/Fix and Managed Services.
In this article, we are going to take a look at the pros and cons of each one, and who will best suit you.
Source: Agile IT
What is the Difference between Managed IT and Break/Fix?
Traditional IT service and maintenance were quite reactionary. It worked similarly to how you would call a plumber to your house to inspect your water problem. As soon as an issue presented itself an IT specialists would come over and have a look. He would then look for a solution. This is precisely how break/fix IT services work.
Managed IT, on the other hand, works differently. The reactionary approach is scrapped altogether and it focuses on a proactive approach. Managed IT service providers (or MSP) observes your systems 24/7 and is alerted whenever a problem begins to arise. The IT technicians would then look to diagnose and solve the problem without alerting you. Unlike break/fix services, managed IT looks to manage your entire IT infrastructure and monitors it at all times.
Source: TRINUS
Pros and Cons of Break/Fix IT Services
Break/Fix IT services are quite limited to what they can do to prevent a problem. Their reactionary nature makes this kind of model often conflicting with what your business needs, according to IT service specialists at Centerpoint IT. The pros are limited, while the cons are definitely more overwhelming. Break/Fix IT service model uses an old –school approach to solving IT problems, which doesn’t seem to work with what your business needs. Break/Fix IT technicians are paid per problem solution, and they have no financial incentive to keep your systems and IT infrastructure stable at all times.
It’s not in their interest to update your systems to prevent issues in the future. The costs per problem solved can sometimes be billed hourly and response time is not guaranteed. However, probably the biggest con is that downtime is guaranteed when choosing for this IT model, which is bad for business and has been found to lose revenue.
Source: itnetworksaustralia.com.au
Pros and Cons of Managed IT Services
One thing that Break/Fix IT has over Managed IT is that it can be often seen as a cost-effective solution. Managed IT requires monthly fees to be paid to your provider for maintaining your systems and IT infrastructure, even if an issue doesn’t arise during the month. Managed IT is more professional and beneficial for a business as IT technicians constantly overlook your entire IT infrastructure and prevent any issues from arising. Managed IT takes a proactive approach to solve IT issues, meaning less downtime and losing less revenue. The pros definitely overweight the cons, but it is more expensive. Managed IT comes with fixed costs, usually billed monthly or annually. It allows access to skillful IT technicians that prevent the issue from becoming a problem. Low downtime as risks are monitored and mitigated. Less loss of revenue due to less downtime or servers and systems. Managed IT services have a high incentive to keep your networks and servers up to date and up and running.
