Break/fix IT support has been the go-to solution for many businesses for many years. This IT support model is exactly what it sounds like — if your organization's technology breaks down, you call a technician to come over and fix the problem. After resolving the issue, they send the bill. Break/fix IT support seems pretty straightforward and affordable, but its disadvantages can actually lead to more costly problems for your business.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss why your company should do away with break/fix IT support and what alternative you should take instead.
What are the disadvantages of relying on break/fix IT support?
There are many downsides to working with a break/fix IT support provider.
Unpredictable expenses
With break/fix IT support, you never know how much you’re going to spend since technicians charge by the hour. So if it takes the technician a long time to fix the problem, you may end up with a shockingly huge bill — an unexpected expense that can harm your company’s cash flow. And if you have multiple issues that need to be fixed, the costs can quickly add up.
No guaranteed service levels
Break/fix IT support providers do not have guaranteed response and resolution times, so you won't know how quickly you'll be able to get a technician to come over. If they're busy attending to other clients, you may have to wait a long time before they can accommodate you.
You can’t also be sure how fast they'll be able to fix your IT problems. It might take a while before you can even get a status update from them. These delays all translate to prolonged periods of downtime for your company, which can have extremely costly consequences, such as missed sales, reduced productivity, and tarnished brand reputation. In fact, a 2016 Ponemon Institute report found that unplanned IT downtime costs nearly $9,000 per minute on average, which is much higher than the average of $5,600 per minute revealed by a 2014 Gartner study.
Recurring IT problems
If you wind up working with a dishonest break/fix IT support company, you'll likely experience recurring IT issues. That's because they may provide only quick fixes rather than address the root cause of the problem. By doing so, they'll leave behind an issue that will recur and require constant fixing. After all, they earn whenever there's an IT problem to resolve.
Lack of proactive maintenance
Break/fix IT support is completely reactive, which means technicians will only come to your rescue when something breaks down. This approach does not allow for proactive maintenance, which is essential for keeping your technology infrastructure running smoothly and avoiding potential problems down the road.
What’s a better alternative to break/fix IT support?
Your company can instead leverage managed IT services, which is a proactive approach to IT support. This helps prevent issues from escalating or even occuring in the first place.
When you partner with a managed IT services provider (MSP) like Safebit , you get to enjoy proactive maintenance, round-the-clock IT support and monitoring, and guaranteed service levels. MSPs offer a service level agreement that clearly lists the following details:
- IT support type (e.g., remote support, on-site assistance, or both)
- Guaranteed response and resolution times
- Availability (e.g., within office hours or 24/7)
- Corresponding penalties or rebates if they fail to meet their committed service levels
- Contingency plans
MSPs charge a fixed monthly fee for comprehensive IT support, which means you can better predict and budget for your company’s IT expenses. Not only that, but the fixed rate also gives the MSP more incentive to provide faster service and long-lasting repairs.
The amount of the fixed fee depends on the number of devices/users supported, types of IT services availed, and guaranteed service levels. So if your business needs to downsize and there’ll be fewer devices to support, the fee can also go down. At the same time, you can easily add more devices to meet increased demand during peak seasons.
You can turn to Safebit for reliable managed IT services. We’ve been providing IT support and solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses in Houston, Texas since 1997. Learn more about managed IT services by downloading our FREE eBook.
