Why You Need to Stop Buying IT by the Hour

There have always been periods in human history when the development of technology moves much faster than normal. Unfortunately, these periods do not usually reflect happy times.

WWII provided jumping-off points for the most rapid strides in many fields, from field armaments to the atomic bomb, whereas WWI saw its own advances in aviation and weaponry - and the ensuing Spanish Flu epidemic did the same for medicine. The Cold War saw the space race and the rapid advances that led to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leaving footprints on the moon less than seven years after JFK proposed the mission.

For our generation, the impetus for communication tech has been COVID. The drastic and hurried way that the modern workplace changed from office-centric to remote-centric showcased the fact that many patched-together technologies in use began showing their age – especially in network security and defense mechanisms.

Anyone who is not keeping up with the technological innovations that are boosting network Cybersecurity, reliability and productivity is clearly falling behind. As Stewart Brand, a writer and editor of The Whole Earth Catalog once wrote:

“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road.”

Which are you: The steamroller or the road?

This does not mean that CEOs or administrators need to turn themselves into technology experts – any more than they need to be auto mechanics or tax preparers – these are among many services that are wisely outsourced, as long as they are worthy of trust. Which brings us back to the issue of trustworthy, knowledgeable, and reliable IT support.

The very least any business should do for itself is to STOP buying IT by the hour  because, at a minimum, a good Managed Services Provider will know your network needs and the technologies which will keep you operating at peak efficiency.

What is the difference between break-fix and MSP?

In the most basic sense, it’s a matter of being Proactive (MSP) vs. Reactive (Break/Fix).
Break/Fix companies focus on fixing a problem when it occurs.
MSPs focus on preventing the problem.

A TOP-NOTCH MSP will also know your business. They will know what you do and how you do it. They will have their fingers on technologies of all types – not just those affecting IT, but those that affect your unrelated processes. This technology may be for everything from inventory control software to shipment tracking to court docketing for attorneys. Let the technology guys keep you in the best technology.

This brings us to why you need to stop buying your IT by the hour. Hourly-billed IT services go by the industry name of ‘Break/Fix’, and the fundamental difference between an MSP and Break/Fix is the basic mentality involved.

What is break/fix mentality?

Break/Fix is ruled by a reactive mentality. Just like the name implies, it reacts to something breaking down. For the client, it’s a waiting game:
Client suffers a network/workstation breakdown and calls IT.
Client waits for a call back from IT.
Client waits for IT to arrive.
Client waits while IT troubleshoots the issue.
Client waits for IT to fix it.

During all this waiting, the affected network or workstation is down, and productivity comes to a halt.

The Break/Fix ‘consultant’ mentality is based on producing billable hours. Billable hours are the enemy of productivity and cost-effectiveness for the client, but the are quite friendly to the Break/Fix ‘IT Guy’. There is no reason to fix things quickly or permanently, and there is no reason to perform preventive maintenance. The Break/Fix profit comes from recurring client visits.

It is rare for an average Break/Fix purveyor to maintain an IT HelpDesk, which routinely monitors the network. Performs preventive maintenance, and effects repairs remotely and quickly – there aren’t enough billable hours with that kind of speed and efficiency.

Just a glance through the roster of the Charlotte IT Support Community will demonstrate how the ranks of the Break/Fix IT ‘Guys’ are thinning. Impactmybiz.com provides an excellent overview of why Break/Fix is dying out HERE.

What are the benefits of managed IT services?

The benefits are abundant. A Managed Services Provider (MSP) is governed by a Proactive mentality. The client pays a fixed monthly fee, so the impetus is to do the heavy lifting up front: Set up the network to require the least number of human hours to maintain it. Many future issues, logjams, or equipment failures are predictable and preventable. MSPs use automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for menial tasks, freeing up their technicians to predict and prevent issues from occurring.

It is a rare Break/Fix outfit that has the resources to employ these tools. PLUS, it is against their core principle: creating billable hours (good for them – bad for you). Also rare among Break/Fix companies is 24/7 remote monitoring and repair – another technology that defeats the Break/Fix model of producing billable hours.

MSPs spend the money for Managed Endpoint Security and sophisticated ticketing (a client’s call for service opens a ticket) and network reporting wherein every issue and repair the network has ever had can be viewed at a moment’s notice.

Not all issues can be prevented. For example, any MSP worth its salt knows that every time Microsoft issues an update, there is a high probability that something is going to go wrong with something. So, while not being able to prevent the specific problem, the MSP can certainly predict that a problem will occur and be prepared to root out any issues caused by the update and solve them quickly.