Disadvantages of break-fix support

 

Traditional IT services are provided under the break-fix method: when it breaks, the business calls an IT contractor to fix it, paying said contractor an hourly rate. Break-fix often works well for clients who need IT support infrequently, such as once or twice per year. As a business scales up, it will require more frequent IT services. Support quickly becomes unaffordable under the hourly break-fix model. Below are a few concerns with the break-fix model of support:

• Inherently, clients only call when there’s a problem, which means that no preventive maintenance is done. This leads to higher costs for the client: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as they say.
• When a problem occurs, it may be too late to resolve. For instance, manual backups may not be carried out or automated backups fail and neither party knows until after a system goes down and the backup is needed.
• The best interests of the client and the IT support firm are not aligned: the client is best served by minimizing their costs, while the IT firm is best served in maximizing their profits. This is known as the principal-agent problem.
• Under the break-fix model, response times vary and guarantees are rarely made; there is no incentive for the IT support firm to be on time or early.

 

Advantages of managed services

 

For small to medium-sized businesses, managed services make sense financially and logistically. Businesses rely on IT infrastructure more and more every day. With break-fix, crumbling and obsolete systems are typically only replaced when they fail. With managed service, we are able to monitor computer and network status 24x7x365, so we’ll be alerted to issues and can respond quickly no matter what time of day or night. We work with businesses to identify likely points of failure and replace them before they fail and disrupt a company’s workflow. Managed service is the best way to guarantee effective systems management and avoid large unexpected bills. Below are a few of the many advantages:

• Fixed monthly rate for labor, so there are no surprises when the invoice arrives.
• The client can request assistance as frequently as necessary; there is no limit to the number of hours American Office Solutions will work to resolve any issue you may have.
• 24/7 monitoring notifies American Office Solutions immediately in the case of virus/malware, network outage, dying hard drive, failed backup, and much more.
• Guaranteed response times per your service level agreement.
• Proactive maintenance minimizes hardware replacement costs.
• Remote access software included with granular security controls so that owners and managers can connect in as needed.
• Automatic software updates for mainstream applications.
• Coverage for both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh systems.