Comparison
Break/fix bills you after something breaks. Managed IT is a flat monthly fee to keep it from breaking. Both make sense for the right business. Here is how to tell which one you are.
The short version
At a glance
| Managed IT | Break/fix | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | A flat monthly fee per user | By the hour, per incident |
| When the work happens | Continuously, before something fails | After someone notices a problem and calls |
| Monitoring | Around the clock | None between calls |
| Updates | On a schedule, after hours | Whenever someone gets to them |
| Security tools | Checked to be installed and running on every computer | Whatever is there, unverified |
| Backups | Monitored, so a failed backup gets noticed | Usually checked after something is lost |
| Monthly cost | Predictable. SWFIT starts at $115 per user | Low in a quiet month, high in a bad one |
The hidden cost
When nobody is watching your systems, the clock starts when someone notices the problem. Diagnosis starts from scratch, a technician has to be scheduled, and your team waits. That time is gone whether or not it shows up on a bill.
Break/fix also has no reason to prevent anything, because the failure is what creates the invoice. That is not a criticism of the technicians. It is simply what the model pays for.
What changes
Drives warn for weeks before they fail. Disks fill slowly. Backups stop quietly. Monitoring sees it in time to fix it as routine maintenance.
Most issues do not need anyone on site, so work starts in minutes while your team keeps working. When hands are needed, we come out, from Tampa to Naples.
Updates and restarts run on a schedule you approve, not in the middle of your workday.
Most businesses own antivirus. Fewer can prove it is installed, current, and running on every computer today. We check, every day.
Privacy
We see the condition of each computer: whether it is on, how full the drive is, what is installed, and whether updates and backups finished.
We do not watch people. Remote sessions need someone at the keyboard to accept them, and every session is logged. Nobody reads your email, opens your files, or watches your screen.
Questions
Break/fix charges by the hour after something has already failed. Managed IT is a flat monthly fee for monitoring, updates, security, and backups, with support included. One responds to problems; the other is built to prevent them.
In a quiet month, break/fix costs less. Over a year it usually costs more once you count the hours your staff lose to outages, not just the hours on the invoice. Managed IT trades the spikes for one predictable number.
Not under a properly run agreement. Monitoring reports on the condition of the computer, not what is on it. Remote sessions need someone at the keyboard to accept them, and every session is logged.
Yes. With a few computers, no shared server, no regulated data, and a business that can survive a day of downtime, paying per incident is reasonable. The math changes once downtime costs real money or you hold client or patient data.
Fully managed IT starts at $115 per user per month, and you can build an estimate on our pricing page in about two minutes. Every quote is confirmed by a person before you sign anything.
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