Break/Fix vs. Managed Services: Navigating the Key Differences for Your IT Needs
As more businesses incorporate technology into their operations, having reliable IT support is now more important than ever. In response to this growing need, two support models have emerged: the traditional break/fix approach and the proactive managed services model. While each of these models aims to address IT issues, they have differences that can significantly impact how businesses manage their technology infrastructure.
In this blog post, we'll explore these two models in depth and explain how they differ in handling your IT needs. Understanding their differences can help businesses make an informed decision about which model aligns better with their IT requirements and business goals.
What are Break/Fix Services?
Several years ago, IT service providers primarily relied on the break/fix model to support their clients' IT needs. When issues occurred, IT professionals would travel to an office location and provide one-time services to fix their customer's IT problems. This could include network issues, hardware failures, downed systems, and other IT challenges. Under this model, clients would only be billed for the technician's time and parts needed to repair the hardware or systems.
To demonstrate this IT service model, let's use a medical practice as an example. This clinic relies on the Internet to schedule appointments, take payments, answer phone calls, and update patient medical records online. When the Internet goes down, operations grind to a halt, and patients grow frustrated when employees do not answer the phone.
Under the break/fix model, office staff would call their IT provider right away. A technician would then travel to the medical practice, diagnose the issue, and work diligently to address the problem. While the problem is ultimately addressed, the time taken for the technician to travel onsite and resolve the issue led to delayed operations and, unfortunately, a loss of customers who couldn't reach the clinic to schedule a new patient appointment.
Because of this common scenario, IT service providers have slowly shifted to a more proactive model. Called managed IT services, this model offers several advantages over traditional IT support. We'll explore this model in more detail in the next section.
What are Managed Services?
In managed services, technicians continuously monitor and manage all IT endpoints to ensure smooth business operations. This model uses a proactive approach to preventing IT issues and ensuring maximum uptime. Finally, these services are billed on a subscription basis, where companies pay a fixed monthly or annual amount based on their service level agreement.
To demonstrate the managed services model, let's revisit the scenario at the medical practice. With 24/7 monitoring, the managed service provider is alerted as soon as the network connectivity begins to decline. Instead of traveling to the clinic, a technician is able to dial in remotely and diagnose the problem. Fortunately, the problem was able to be resolved remotely and did not require an onsite visit.
With proactive monitoring and quick resolution, the connectivity issue was swiftly mitigated and prevented a disruption of the medical practice's operations. Patients were able to still get a hold of the clinic, the doctor was able to view its patients' medical records, and all payments were collected. In this scenario, the managed services model was much quicker at solving the connectivity issue and preserved the clinic's reputation. The medical practice was also able to save more money since an onsite visit was not needed.
How do Break/Fix and Managed IT Services Differ?
Now that we understand what break/fix and managed IT services are, let's take a closer look at some key differences in their service models and how they handle IT issues.
Cost Structure
Under the break/fix model, clients only pay for one-time services. This usually involves a trip to the business, diagnosis, and repair of the systems or hardware. While this option may be suitable for small businesses that are not heavily reliant on technology, it can also lead to unpredictable costs.
For example, addressing a data breach after it occurs can lead to heavy fines, legal action, lost revenue, and significant resources to repair the downed IT systems. Customers may also not know their hardware is malfunctioning and may be hit with an unexpected bill when it completely goes out.
With managed services, clients pay a set monthly subscription fee that covers monitoring, maintenance, and continuous support. These set monthly fees help businesses predict and budget their costs more effectively. Proactive monitoring and maintenance help businesses avoid other costs, such as operational downtime, legal fines, reputational damage, and loss of revenue. Malfunctioning equipment can also be detected before it goes out and causes larger problems.
Level of Support
The break/fix model only provides support when issues occur. This means that businesses are on their own until another problem arises. As IT providers under the break/fix model do not follow Service Level Agreements (SLAs), response and repair times can vary. The break/fix model's services can also be more limited, not providing any monitoring, proactive maintenance, or IT planning.
Managed services, on the other hand, offer a full suite of IT services and around-the-clock support. Most managed service providers operate under SLAs, ensuring business that issues will be resolved within a fixed time frame. In addition to issue resolution and proactive monitoring and maintenance, many managed service providers offer a variety of other services, such as cybersecurity, cloud solutions, disaster recovery planning, network management, and much more.
Reactivity
Break/fix services only react to problems after they occur. Without around-the-clock monitoring or proactive maintenance, most business owners do not know there is a problem until it's too late. This approach can lead to significant downtime, unexpected costs, data loss, and lost revenue.
Managed services are proactive, aiming to prevent issues before they occur. Proactive maintenance ensures that your IT systems are up-to-date, decreasing the risk of downtime, cyber attacks, and slowed performance. With managed IT services, you're not just fixing issues; you're ensuring uninterrupted business operations and employee productivity.
Strategic IT Planning
Strategic IT planning ensures that IT investments align with a business's overall goals. It helps businesses budget wisely, reduce IT risks, and plan for future growth. Managed IT services can help with this process. These services offer valuable guidance during planning and budgeting. They can help business leaders stay current with new technology that can support their growth ambitions. Finally, they can help businesses set up IT systems and monitoring tools that reduce IT risks and support business continuity.
Unfortunately, the break/fix model does not provide continual guidance and planning to ensure IT plans are carried out effectively. This reactive approach leaves businesses open to a variety of risks and hinders their ability to align technology with long-term business goals.
Efficiency
Even the best IT systems and equipment can experience problems or fail over time. What matters is how quickly these issues can be addressed and how soon business operations can resume. With around-the-clock monitoring, proactive maintenance, and SLAs, managed services are more efficient at addressing issues before they escalate and helping businesses get back to work.
Strategic planning services offered by managed service providers can also help businesses adopt new technology and streamline their IT infrastructure to improve business efficiency. With no monitoring, proactive maintenance, and IT planning, break/fix services are less efficient at solving problems, helping businesses resume operations, and streamlining processes.
Vendor Partnerships
Many businesses use third-party vendors' services, software, or hardware for certain business tasks. As managed services providers offer continual support to businesses, they frequently engage with vendors. This collaboration allows them to negotiate better terms, gain access to exclusive resources, and obtain cost savings for their clients.
Break/fix providers only engage with vendors when problems arise. For this reason, they may not have the same purchasing power, incentives, or long-term engagement to form strong relationships with vendors.
Conclusion
Running a business is no easy endeavor, and having the right IT support can often mean the difference between success and failure. While the break/fix model does not require a contract or monthly service fee, these services fall short of preventing issues, offering predictable costs, and promoting business growth. Managed IT services, on the other hand, offer a proactive approach that ensures businesses can operate efficiently and securely.
Prescient Solutions is a reputable managed service provider offering a full suite of IT services designed to help businesses improve efficiency and reduce IT risks. By taking a proactive approach, we continuously monitor and optimize our clients' IT systems to reduce downtime and promote business growth. By outsourcing your IT management and planning to a trusted IT provider, we allow you to focus on what matters most – growing your business.