A lot of small businesses roll the dice when it comes to IT support. Proactive IT support seems like a more expensive option on paper but in reality the cost benefit from having an engaged IT partner can vastly outweigh the spoosed cost savings of an adhoc/break-fix engagement.

Reactive IT Support: The Traditional Approach

Reactive IT support, often referred to as the “break-fix” model, involves addressing issues as they arise. Although this approach may seem cost-effective initially, it has significant drawbacks. Let’s discuss the major ones.

A break-fix engagement carries no SLA. Since there is no agreed timeframe for delivery you are hoping that the provider has resources available to action your requests in a timely manner. If the provider has managed clients which do carry an SLA your request goes to the back of the queue.

The customer is ultimately responsible for IT. Without an agreement in place, the responsibility for monitoring and maintaining IT systems falls on the customer. The IT partner lacks visibility into what has happened since the last break-fix engagement and must piece together the situation from the last support request, which adds to the time (and cost) it takes to resolve the issue. In some cases, an IT provider may not address the request at all, as they are under no obligation to do so.

IT cost fluctuations. A proactive agreement usually has a set cost for support based on the number of staff, endpoints, servers, devices, etc. This ensures that day-to-day IT tasks and broader IT strategy can be budgeted for easily, with minimal changes each month. With a break-fix model, your monthly costs can escalate unexpectedly. Simple user requests such as “my Outlook doesn’t work” or “this document won’t print” might incur hundreds of dollars in unbudgeted billable technical efforts. They’re the smaller ones. If you have a major outage which affects multiple users you could be looking at days of unbudgeted billable effort.

Issues are more likely to remain unresolved. A break-fix engagement often has customers watching the meter run while technicians work, which doesn’t allow for additional time to fix the problem long-term. The focus is on fixing it for now and moving on. Customers don’t want a hefty bill for services, and IT providers don’t want to have to defend their invoicing costs for spending too long on basic support tickets. As a result, the same issue may arise again and again.

Users are dissatisified with technology.Clients on a break-fix agreement may tolerate annoying and disruptive problems for months to avoid incurring additional costs. If your staff know that every time they pick up the phone to IT you’re going to be billed for it, their natural response may be to sit on a small problem for an unreasonable amount of time. This can ultimately lead to higher costs from lost productivity day after day. Additionally, this can result in demotivated staff who see IT as a burden rather than a tool.

Proactive IT Support: A Strategic Advantage

With a proactive IT service engagement, both parties are incentivized to minimize downtime. The IT provider aims to spend as little time as possible on end user support tickets and issues, thereby maximising the profitability of the agreement. A good IT provider will invest time in future-proofing issues not just for one occurrence but across all supported users and devices within the agreement’s scope. This typically results in the IT provider spending more time fixing the problem during the first interaction, creating a win-win situation for both parties.

As the IT partner is responsible for the maintenance and uptime of all supported systems within scope, they would also invest behind-the-scenes efforts in mitigating outages for all services, including servers, network adaptors, Wi-Fi, and technology-related utilities such as phones and internet. Some issues can’t be avoided. A good IT provider will ensure that their response and remediation efforts are well documented and there is a process in place to quickly address and resolve any issues that arise. This includes having a clear communication plan, regular updates to the client, and a structured approach to problem-solving to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity.

A proactive approach to IT benefits both parties, ensuring smooth operations and enhancing productivity. It also shifts the regular engagement process to conversations about service improvements and efficiencies rather than end-user support.

Perhaps the best part of having an engaged proactive IT provider is that they become an extension of your business. If you have a simple technical question, you can just pick up the phone!

Got a supplier or customer coming in and need to filter the conversation through a technical perspective? Call your IT provider!

Do you do the same repetitive tasks throught the day and in the back of your mind you know there must be a more efficient way? Call your IT provider!

Do you want to sleep easily at night knowing you’ve got all bases covered regarding IT systems and security? Call your IT provider!