Examining the Break/Fix IT Model

Outsourcing your IT management or project management is routine for modern businesses, but it wasn’t always. For the first couple of decades of IT for business, outsourcing was the only way you were going to get a piece of technology up and working again without massive capital investment. Below we'll take a look at the break/fix method to IT management and how it is far more expensive than you may be aware of.

Break/Fix Model
For the organization that relies on a number of different computers, networking equipment, and other technology, it can be difficult keeping all of it working for you over any period of time. Components fail, business’ needs change, and innovations in technology present different (often better) opportunities. When something breaks, you fix it. In IT this is called the break/fix model.

The break/fix model to IT management is the same method that you use with your car: your car breaks, you take it into the shop, they fix it, you take it home. Sometimes there is enough wrong with your machine, or the break/fix technicians are so busy, that you have to leave it at the shop for a few days. This is not ideal, obviously. It’s one thing to not have a car for a few days as there are certainly transportation options in which to get around while your car is in the shop. If you business’ server is broken, though, the time that it takes to get something fixed is all downtime; and, it is costly.

Downtime
Just how costly is downtime? There are all types of figures around, but the cost of downtime is specific to your organization. If you run a small six-chair hair salon and your point-of-sale computer goes down, it may impede your ability to conduct business as you normally would (for example: you may not be able to accept payment cards), but it's not going to stop you from cutting hair.

If you run a 30-person design firm and your server breaks, however, then you are in real trouble. If you don’t have a contingency plan, you might as well send everyone home for the day, because every dollar being spent on payroll is probably going to not yield much productivity.

You may be thinking, “What are my options? If technology is going to fail at some point anyway, how can I keep downtime from happening?” The answer is by outsourcing your IT management. Companies like Macro Systems can help keep your organization’s downtime to a minimum.

Outsourcing
When you outsource your IT, you aren’t reacting to broken technology any longer; you are being proactive. Macro System's technicians remotely monitor your network and infrastructure around the clock using state-of-the-art monitoring and management tools. With these tools’ built-in automation, we are able to keep a constant watch over all of your technology investments.

This offers a degree of foresight. There are very real signals when any piece of technology is trending toward failure. Most of the time, our certified technicians can make adjustments and keep your technology working properly, but if a failure is imminent, we know it. This gives you the time you need to put your contingency plan in action BEFORE you see any downtime.

Furthermore, our technicians are experts at dealing with IT for business. This puts them in the position to find you the right solutions at the right price, and the experience needed to implement major IT alterations proficiently. The best part is that this service is billed as a flat monthly rate. Instead of trying to scrounge up the money to pay for IT support, you have a figure that is predictable for a reliable service.

While it true that you are going be paying to fix your broken IT, partnering with Macro Systems can present you with many more options. We keep your technology working better longer, we reduce or eliminate downtime, and we provide all of this as a service. Call us today to start reducing your IT costs and downtime at 703-359-9211.