If you are having an underwhelming experience with your IT company or provider, your business efficiency and growth could be suffering as a result.
In many cases, businesses that find their IT needs aren’t being addressed as efficiently as possible are working with what’s known as a break/fix provider. Break/fix IT providers act as a repair service, in which they only address IT issues when they cause noticeable interruptions. They work project-to-project, meaning that once they fix the issue, you’re left to foot a usually costly bill.
If your IT provider is a break/fix provider, you’re missing out on several advantages that a Managed Service Provider (MSP) could offer. To understand how Managed IT Services compare to break/fix services, there are a few specific things you should know about your IT that your current provider might be trying to keep secret.
Here’s the scoop on what the reality of break/fix IT services means for your business:
You Are Overspending on IT Services
Break/fix companies will often charge you for consultation, hourly labor and repairs, and much of the time, their cost estimates or after-the-fact bills are highly inflated beyond the actual cost of repair.
Further, when unexpected IT problems arise, they usually need to be fixed right away; so your provider justifies the urgency of these services as their way to charge you more. It is nearly impossible to budget for these kinds of IT services because they are often overcharging you and there’s no way to anticipate what issues will arise and what it will cost to fix them.
Not only that, but you also are likely paying for downtime as well, as break/fix providers do not take a proactive approach to eliminate inefficiencies in your systems. Because they depend on IT issues arising for their services, they don’t prioritize preventative care, costing you more in downtime and other disruptions. With downtime costing an average of $163,000 per hour, this method of IT just doesn’t make financial sense for most businesses.
MSPs on the other hand will take a proactive approach and monitor your systems continually to eliminate inefficiencies and root causes of downtime. Further, MSPs come at the monthly cost of just one salaried employee, meaning their services are much cheaper and easier to budget for.
You Should Be Getting 24/7 Monitoring
By relying on a break/fix provider, your systems are not continually monitored and are therefore left vulnerable to viruses, zero-day threats, and other weaknesses that can be exposed by hackers.
Additionally, you find your system has been hacked or compromised overnight or on a weekend, a break/fix IT company likely won’t be around to help you until the next business day. They don’t typically offer 24/7 support, which means you’ll be left to face the compounded consequences of a security incident that can’t be addressed for more than a full day.
MSPs, however, offer 24/7 monitoring so that your systems are always protected, and any vulnerabilities in your systems are immediately detected and patched before threat actors can exploit them. Because MSPs tend to offer 24/7 support through their help desk, they can address incidents as soon as they occur and get your IT systems back on track before they cause too much damage.
Your Lack of IT Strategy is Holding Your Business Back
Just as they don’t prioritize improving the efficiency of your systems, break/fix IT companies don’t offer strategies to help sustain your business needs. Break/fix IT providers aren’t hired on a contract basis, so they are not ideal to count on when you are looking for long-term strategies to meet your business goals.
Relying on a break/fix company to manage your business will simply hold it back. Due to the nature of their services, they are less motivated to offer you solutions, both short and long-term, to keep your systems optimized and scalable for the future.
MSPs like AxiaTP take a different approach because they rely on having a great relationship with their clients to get their continued business. They are therefore motivated to provide strategies and customized solutions that match your business goals and will help your business grow. Their concern is first and foremost to optimize your systems so that you won’t require total infrastructure renovations as your business scales.
Takeaway
Break/fix companies are becoming less useful for businesses because of how dependent modern companies are on their technology and how much they rely on secure practices to keep their data safe. Their outdated methods likely can’t keep up with your business needs and are costing you more money than necessary.
If you are still working with a break/fix company, consider reaching out to our Managed IT Service experts at AxiaTP so we can start better meeting your needs and strategizing for business success.