The Differences Between Managed Services and Break Fix IT Support
Today I wanted to touch on an industry for the outsourced IT support companies. As you may or may not know we started as an Outsourced IT company. For years we have supported small to medium businesses in Arizona. Our customers continue to ask us what the benefits of a MSP program would be for them. And today, I will attempt to address this question for you.
For years businesses of all types have been utilizing outsource IT firms as source of support for their IT needs. Over the last decade MSP’s or Managed Service Providers have been on the rise as a source of support for small and medium size businesses. So, what are the differences between “break Fix” and “Managed Services”. Here is the simplest way to think of these two very valid and valuable services. Break Fix is a “pay as you go” plan. Meaning, you have any issues you call you support company and they dispatch an engineer or technician to help resolve the issue. It usually includes an hour minimum and some sort of trip charge. The person comes out, and resolves your computer issues.
With this type of service, it is very difficult for the business or end user to understand what their costs of IT support will be as they do not know what their needs will be on any given day or month. The same issue exists for the outsourced IT company. It is difficult to forecast what your revenue will be as you never know what the needs of the clients will be. This is a very reactionary type of service.
Outsourced IT Support and Managed Services
The Managed Services product offerings have one major difference. This is where you pay your outsourced IT company a flat rate every month for all of your IT support needs. This tends to be a much more proactive type of service as the IT company wants to make sure that no downtime for the clients takes pace. This then keeps their labor costs down and they know what and how much to staff for. This also means that the clients are able to know what their IT cost will be every single month without fail.
Now that we have gone over the differences between “Managed Services” and “Break Fix” IT service I hope you are one step closer to understanding which is best for your business. Both of these services have their pros and cons. And to better understand which is best for you and your company contact your IT professional today.