The business side of IT
Managed IT or pay-as-you-go: what's the difference?
There are two basic ways to buy IT support: call someone when something breaks, or pay a team to run your technology continuously.
1 min readExplainer
The short version
Break-fix support is paid when something breaks. Managed IT is paid to keep things from breaking. Here is how they compare.
Break-fix
You call a technician when something goes wrong and pay for the time it takes to fix.
It suits very small offices with simple technology that rarely changes.
The catch: the provider earns more when things break, nobody is watching for problems before they happen, and security, updates and backups are usually nobody’s job until there is an emergency.
Managed IT
A provider takes ongoing responsibility for running your technology, for a predictable recurring fee. Typically that means monitoring, updates, security, backups, a help desk for your staff and regular planning.
It suits businesses that depend on technology every day and want problems prevented rather than repaired.
The point: the provider earns the same whether things break or not, so it is in their interest to keep things running.
What to compare
- What is included, what is extra and what is quoted separately.
- Security: is there a defined standard every client gets, or is it all optional?
- Who is accountable when something goes wrong across several vendors?
- Planning: does someone help you look ahead, or only react?
A middle path
Businesses with their own IT staff often choose co-managed IT, where the provider supports the internal team. (Read more.)
Talk to us about your technology
Tell us what you run today and what is getting in the way. We will get back to you about how we can help.