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Managed IT vs Break/Fix: What's the Difference?

One model bills you when things break. The other is paid to keep them from breaking.

Break/fix IT charges you by the hour after something fails. Managed IT charges a flat monthly fee to keep systems from failing in the first place. The difference shows up in downtime, security and your total cost over a year, not just in the invoice format.

How break/fix works

You have a relationship with a technician or small shop. When a server crashes or a laptop will not boot, you call, they come, you pay for the time. There is no monitoring between visits, no patching schedule, no security program and no one planning ahead. It feels cheap in a quiet month and expensive in a bad one.

How managed IT works

A managed service provider monitors your environment continuously, applies updates on a schedule, runs security tools, verifies backups and answers user questions, all under one monthly fee. Because the fee does not go up when you have more problems, the provider's incentive is prevention. Proactive IT support explains what that looks like day to day.

Side by side

  • Cost: break/fix is unpredictable; managed IT is a known monthly number. See what managed IT costs.
  • Downtime: break/fix responds after the outage; managed IT catches failing drives, expiring certificates and missed patches before they become outages.
  • Security: break/fix rarely includes security tooling; managed IT builds it in.
  • Planning: break/fix has none; managed IT includes a roadmap and budget.
  • Accountability: break/fix has no standard to measure against; managed IT should be aligned to a framework and reported on.

When break/fix still makes sense

A very small business with a handful of computers, no compliance requirements and nothing critical running on its network can get by on break/fix for a while. Once you have more than about 20 to 25 employees, customer data, or systems the business cannot operate without, the math changes.

Mentis Group's Fully Managed IT program is the managed side of this comparison, serving businesses across Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond. Start with what are managed IT services if you want the full definition.

For a longer look at this topic, read How Managed IT Services Compare to the Break/Fix IT Model on the Mentis Group blog.

Have a question about your own environment? Schedule a consultation with Mentis Group or call (866) 901-7808.