Every successful business understands the importance of access to the right skills, and the importance of managing expenses effectively. Yet many companies struggle to get the IT support they need to set them up for success and to get a handle on IT costs. Choosing the right IT model can help.
There are various types of IT services that small businesses use:
» In-house: In this model, businesses try to run their IT themselves, which means hiring people with IT skills, setting up their own IT infrastructure and managing IT procurement internally. However, this can be an expensive endeavour and carries several risks to your business. Often, small businesses cannot afford to employ the full range of skills required or to keep up with shifting technology trends.
» Break/fix: Break-fix is also known as ad hoc IT support. In this model, you contact an IT technician when equipment or services have broken down, or you need a specific IT task managed. It has no recurring costs attached, so it might seem like it makes more financial sense. But if you start to experience recurring IT problems and have to use ad hoc services every time these occur, the costs can spiral out of control very quickly. Break/fix service providers are also not incentivised to look at your IT holistically or to fix systemic issues. In fact, this might take away future callouts. This means that nobody has sight of your overall IT system and needs, and there’s no insight into how to improve what you’re doing in the long term.
» Managed services: In this model, businesses outsource some or all of their IT to a managed service provider (MSP), which offers ongoing support at a fixed cost. A reliable MSP will help you identify and fix issues and then monitor your systems proactively to catch issues before they even manifest. With an MSP, the focus is on creating a stable, user-friendly, effective IT system that experiences fewer problems, and these problems can usually be addressed within the scope of work if and when they occur. Companies can choose from co-managed services (expert, on-demand IT skills and tools as a service) or fully managed services (complete, end-to-end outsourced IT management, consulting and support).
Some businesses avoid managed IT services because it means paying a fee every month. They hope to save on money and only have to spend on IT when things go wrong. But, when businesses do an actual cost comparison, managed services usually come up tops because they avoid the following issues:
» Downtime: IT breaks and outages tend to happen at the most inconvenient times, often when a business is at its busiest. This is when the system is under the highest stress and when you rely on it the most. When things go wrong, you need to have an IT team you can call on that can help you as quickly as possible. However, without a standing relationship, an IT firm may not be able to prioritise your problems and send technicians out as quickly as you need. This means more downtime, which can cost you lost revenue as well as the cost of fixing the IT problem itself.
» Nobody understands your IT system: Without a provider that you have an ongoing relationship with, you risk getting a different technician sent to you whenever something goes wrong. The new person then needs to get to grips with your system from scratch, every time. This results in extra billing hours for IT costs but also means more downtime for you.
» Security risks: Without a trusted partner who’s up to date on the latest cybersecurity issues and threats keeping an eye on your system, you are vulnerable to data breaches and loss. It’s also difficult to quantify quite how big the cost of recovering from a data breach disaster can be, with recent studies showing losses in the millions and many smaller businesses not able to recover at all.
» Short-term thinking: Employing a break/fix company means that you are only ever addressing IT issues through a short-term lens. The cost of this can be huge in terms of missed opportunities and efficiencies. Great IT can enable business growth, but it needs long-term thinking and strategy to work.
Partnering with a reputable MSP can help you improve productivity, reduce downtime, minimise risk and focus on your core business, while IT pros handle all your technology needs.
Contact us to find out how Numata Business IT can support your business goals, simplify your budgeting and keep your IT costs in check.