Is your company working off of the “Break-Fix” Philosophy?

New alternatives to the “break-fix” scenario began to emerge

The break-fix IT scenario continues to be the way the majority of small to medium sized businesses manage their computer networks. They go about their business every day waiting for something to happen, and when it does, they call in their “computer experts” to save the day…or at the bare minimum, fix the problem.

Today, no business can really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on a “Break-fix maintenance service” because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system. Furthermore, having separate suppliers responsible for different parts of the system puts you in the difficult position of trying to decide who should be delivering the service you require. You simply do not have time for this

The truth is, there is a much better and cost-effective way to manage your network. Technology solutions for your company have drastically changed over the past 5-10 years. Can you remember a time when there wasn’t a computer on everyone’s desk? When the only thing available was a tape backup, or when all employees didn’t have access to the internet?

The times change, and technology usually changes with it…not always for the better, but in most cases the solutions that stick around – stick around for a reason. And of course the first companies that benefited from these changes were the ones with money – the Fortune 500 companies…

Managed Services: A break through for fortune 500 companies

At the same time, the hardware and software vendors were adding new and better ways for the systems to signal problems as early as possible. Simple Network Management Protocol had been developing since the early 90’s and was being applied to PC’s. The first systems that could watch these tools and turn all the data into usable information were complex to manage, were geared only to large networks, and were prohibitively expensive for small business.

In 2005, systems started to mature that allowed smaller companies to take advantage of the same features and benefits as the large companies. This technology started the “Managed Services” movement. Once all of the large Fortune 500 companies incorporated “managed services” into their IT worlds, it was only a matter of time before the service would be available and affordable to small to mid-sized businesses.

Exactly what is managed services

Every day more and more businesses are turning to a Managed Services Company to service their computer and technology needs. But what does managed services actually mean and how can you tell if an IT Support company is not just using the word as a marketing tool, but is in fact only offering “flat rate” services packaged as “managed services’?

As a definition, managed services allow a business to offload IT operations to a company known as a Managed Services Provider. The managed service provider assumes an ongoing responsibility

for 24-hour monitoring, managing and/or problem resolutions for the IT systems within a business.

Just like larger companies, small businesses need technology to operate efficiently and to compete effectively. But as reliance on IT grows, the resources needed to support this increasingly complex IT environment may not. In many small businesses, IT resources are limited and can be quickly overwhelmed.

If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. For instance, if your Email server, customer relationship management system, financial application or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.

Want to learn more about managed services please contact us at Amshot Solutions