Managed Services vs. The Break-Fix Mentality
Managed services are a philosophical change in the way that a business deals with its technology. Instead of following the old-school tradition of break-fix (literally means waiting until the server, desktops, or other critical networking devices fail, then scrambling to fix them), a business operating with a managed service focuses on the prevention of these issues before they disrupt employees, management and/or clients.
If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches, and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. For instance, if your Email server, customer relationship management system, financial application, or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.
Why Break-fix is no longer good enough for your business
A Break-fix maintenance service fixes problems as they crop up. This means that something needs to go wrong before you receive any service, resulting in an inevitable reduction in IT system performance while you wait for the problem to be fixed.
Today, no business can really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on a “Break-fix maintenance service” because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system. Furthermore, having separate suppliers responsible for different parts of the system puts you in the difficult position of trying to decide who should be delivering the service you require. You simply do not have time for this.
Do Managed Services Cost More Than Traditional Break-Fix Services?
Actually no! Surprisingly most managed services cost less than traditional break-fix services, especially when including the true cost of downtime. Remote monitoring, remote maintenance, and the prevention of major issues allow a managed services provider to be more efficient than a similar break-fix company that is constantly rolling a truck to visit customer sites. Therefore the managed service company can offer a “better” service without charging more.
Why are so many IT Firms now promoting Managed Services?
Because it puts the IT Support Company on the same page as the business they are serving. With traditional break-fix services, the only way for an IT Support company to make money is if something goes wrong — which to us as always was a double-edged sword. If we do our job too well, we’re out of business, which happens to about 80% of all small IT Firms — they just don’t make it.
How are Managed Services priced?
Managed services providers usually price their services on a flat-rate monthly basis. Depending on the services included in the program offered, pricing is usually based on the number of devices, with different packages priced at different levels. Some providers offer on-site customer support for an extra fee.
Basic services often start with a monitoring service, which notifies the ”you” of problems, which you resolve on your own. At the upper end of the spectrum, service providers offer fully managed services that cover everything from alerts to problem resolution.
The Real Benefits Of Managed Services
Put in simple terms – one of the biggest benefits of Managed Services is discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively affect your business.
A well-maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative. With proactive network monitoring, patch management, and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations… and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them. That is why all businesses should use managed services.
Reduced costs: Businesses are also able to control and reduce their overall operating costs with the flat-fee billing model. Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support is a reality
24-hour monitoring: Because the Managed Services provider also manages all of your vendor relationships, issues with internet slowness/outages, printers, phones, cell phones, and websites are dealt with directly by the vendor and the Managed Service provider. As a result of this “always-eyes-on” network monitoring 24 hours per day, businesses experience an additional level of comfort and security.
6 Additional Benefits Of Managed Services:
- Reduced operating costs
- Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support
- Minimized downtime
- Allows the focus to be on running the business, and not the technology
- Peace of mind from knowing that the network is monitored 24/7/365
- Increased Operational Efficiency
All businesses, small and large, can benefit from the proactive approach of Managed Services.
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