Break Fix and Managed Services Comparison
What’s the difference between Break Fix and Managed Services?
Let’s compare them against each other (with plusses and minuses). Of course we’re specifically talking as these concepts relate to IT resources for organizations.
First of all, Break Fix is a transactional and tactical methodology. It’s pretty simple. When something is broken (or obviously going to), have somebody fix it. If your IT environment is relatively healthy then you could make the claim that this approach is best for your organization financially.
Oh, and buying a block of hours? For all purposes that’s break/fix…you’re just paying ahead of time and getting (I hope) a bit of a discount.
Managed Services is really the opposite. A Managed Service agreement should include several other types of services, including:
Operational resources designed to minimize the likelihood of the broken scenario (and fixing it if it does occur). Resources like security tools, backups, monitoring and management for all of the devices.
Recovery resources, such as local and cloud backups (including data from apps like MS 365).
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery resources.
Educational resources, like security and productivity training.
Planning resources, like virtual CIO, budgeting, equipment and software replacement strategies.
Security resources, like virtual CISO, MTR, Seims, end point, Soc2 (and someone who can explain these things to you).
These are just some of the things that a Managed Service agreement should include. And keep in mind that most of these resources are there for one of four reasons:
To prevent something bad happening with your IT resources (whether security, equipment or software failure).
To minimize the damage if something bad still happens (again,whether security, equipment or software failure).
To improve the productivity of your IT resources (and the people using them).
To help make sure your use of IT parallels your business needs for now and the future.
Compare that to the goal of a Break/Fix strategy:
When something is broken…fix it.
So of course a Managed Service agreement will be more expensive. And it will also require a lot more work for both client and the service provider to maximize the benefits.
So consider the costs and the benefits of the Managed Services agreement, and how much you think they would improve the operation of value of your organization. If you think the answer is “not much”, then break/fix might be the best fit for you. Especially if downtime doesn’t cost your organization all that much.
Contact us if you have any questions about Managed Services!