Managed Services vs Break/Fix Model (aka ‘the guy’)
It’s been roughly a year for me in the Managed Services space and I have to say it is a most interesting industry. Equal parts challenge and reward. Former colleagues of mine in the IT have told me it’s one of the most challenging sales environments in IT. ‘Michael you are in the business of replacing employees with Managed Services’ I remember one rep stating and to a certain degree he is correct. Fact remains however that some companies require managed services and realize great savings as well as an overall performance improvement as a result. It’s a case of the classic break/fix versus managed services.
A recent Gartner study has shown that the average unsupported PC costs an organization roughly $4,000.00 per year in lost productivity due to down time and cost to repair. That is a significant number of dollars given the fiscal strains found on your typical SMB operation. This represents just one down side to operating under a Beak/Fix model as opposed to having a company like GRIP I.T. deliver full HelpDesk and Device Support. Many companies I speak too say the same thing when asked how they manage their IT needs. Four painful words to my ears. ‘We have a guy’.
Most times the ‘guy’ is family member or friend of the owner and he or she often time has ownership convinced that all is well. All is not well. Maintaining a network is a lot of work and requires years of study while keeping up with a host of current threats and tech trends. Chances are the ‘guy’ does not spend a significant amount of time looking ahead and instead spends most of his or her day putting out fires. It is these fires which lead to the above mentioned annual costs. Forget the cost of not having a vision for your company’s IT infrastructure.
The team at GRIP I.T. operate 24/7/365 in the world of Manages Services. We understand the importance of delivering a solution to our clients that has to be Secure, Stable, Serviceable and Scalable. Once our IT audit process is completed we get to work on delivering this ‘4S’ solution. The client may not see or be aware of all we do in the background (at a set monthly fee) but they will notice over time there are fewer and fewer fires to put out. This is because Managed Services work. Proactive vs reactive. Our Network Operations Center (NOC) spends every day handling security updates, patches, firewall & server management, vendor management and other tasks with the goal of delivering optimized work flow to every client.
In the final analysis, I suppose it comes down to perceived value. Unfortunately, though the perception is not always what it seems. Perceived savings in ‘having a guy’ actually costs more in the long run. Costs due to employee downtime are real. Costs incurred in constantly putting IT relates fires out are real. Costs stemming from a less than efficient work flow are real. Don’t find yourself in this position. Do your research and choose the MSP that is right for you and your business. You and your business deserve better than anything the ‘guy’ can deliver.
When you think Managed Services think GRIP I.T.
Want to see how we can help you? Give a us a call – coffee’s on us.
info@gripit.ca | 416.907.8181