M.S. or B.S.? The Truth about Managed IT Services & If It’s Worth Your $$

One of the most commons questions we get from prospective business clients calling Capstone IT is “What do you guys charge for your services?” Since this is such a common question — and a very important one to address — I want to share with you the REAL question at hand when deciding between the various options out there for IT support.   

Instead of Asking An IT Services Company, “What Do You Charge For Your Services?” Instead You Should Ask, "What Will I Get For My Money?"

Here's a breakdown of the different IT Service models you'll find, and what you may ( or may not) be getting when you sign up for there services:

The first is what we call the Prayer model. As funny as it sounds, this is actually a quite common, and quite serious plan. This is where a business does little to nothing to protect and update their network, relying on luck or prayer to keep things safe and running smoothly. The owner trusts that hackers won’t be interested in their precious data or attack their system. What they may not know is that viruses and hackers don’t recognize size…but are looking for vulnerability anywhere. Big or small, a company that relies on the prayer model should know that it will take nothing short of a miracle to keep all dangers at bay, and all users and data safe .

The Do-It-Yourself model is when the business owner-or one of their internal staff- knows just enough about computers to be dangerous.  He or she tries to do all the maintenance to their network, and when there’s computer trouble, they have to STOP what they were hired to do…and put on their PC repairman hat. Truth is, it’s not their specialty, but someone has to do it! Unfortunately, we’ve seen a lot of added problems and time wasted from having a non-expert try to solve IT issues.

Next, is the One-Man-Band model.  In this situation the owner hires a full-time systems admin or has a quote/unquote “computer guy” to handle the business IT needs. This makes sense, until you think about the ever increasing information there is to know about technology and how relentless cyber criminals can be. Can one person stay current in all certifications and monitor PCs 24/7? In most cases, it’s not even cost-effective for companies with under 50 employees to hire a full-time IT person.

Break-Fix option, when a business pays an agreed-upon hourly rate for a technician to “fix” your problem when something “breaks.” Under this model, you might be able to negotiate a discount based on buying a block of hours, which is nice.  But what not nice is that while you or your employee is waiting for someone to show up to fix the problem, sales are at a standstill, work isn’t getting done, and salary is wasted. Just imagine it’s your server, not a PC. The whole company is down and everyone is getting paid…but nobody is working. Your choice is reacting to problems once they occur, not proactively stopping them before they effect your business.

Finally, the Managed IT Service model. This is when the service provider you partner with takes the on dedicated role of your “IT department”.  Being responsible for maintaining, monitoring and supporting all things technical in your business, from PCs to servers, from your phones to your alarm systems. A true Managed Service Provider's oath is to ensure the health, speed, performance and security of your computer network. This is what Capstone IT is all about.  In most cases, a consistent monthly investment is determined based on needs and budget, and both essential maintenance as well as support are included in that cost. 
**BEWARE** of what I call the managed service "knockoff" model! It looks and feels like a professional team of IT experts who can do anything and everything for your network at a very cheap price. You can’t believe the deal they’re giving you. But please remember, you get what you pay for.  It’s VERY easy for one IT services provider to appear far less expensive than another...UNTIL you look closely at what you are getting (or NOT getting, most likely). Nickel and diming  can be there specialty.

Out of all your choices you have, the two most often chosen by businesses looking for IT support are either Break/Fix and Managed Services.

Here’s a quick comparison of the two…

With Break-Fix, You’re basically waiting for problems and reacting once they occur. With the tools that a managed service provider provides, you’re proactively looking for errors and issues, then stopping them before they effect your business. Break fix usually means that other components of your network like antivirus, firewalls and disaster recovery are left for you to you to figure out. Falling behind in the updates for essential security like this greatly increase the odds that you’ll face a failure, IT outage, or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. With Managed IT Services, these things are taken care of for you, at times you agree on. Your engineer will be testing your backup and looking for errors, keeping your computers running at their best. And when there’s a problem to trouble shoot, you know who to call.

Let’s face it, today, no business can really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on Break-Fix because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system. A well-maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative. With proactive network monitoring, patch management, and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations… and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them.

Picking the right IT services company for your specific situation, budget and needs should be based on the VALUE the company can deliver, not just the price, high OR low. 

I encourage you to read more and make the best decision with information under your belt.  You can download my free eBook The Rochester Business Owner's Guide To IT Support Services here, https://www.capstoneitinc.com/loweritcosts/