Weighing the Costs—Break-Fix vs. MSP
The primary goal for many organizations is to keep costs down, and one of the first places they look to cut costs is the technology department. But choosing between a managed services model and break-fix IT model isn’t as straightforward as you may think. There are a few key questions you should ask yourself:
- How much downtime can you experience before you’re out of business?
- Can you afford to put off maintenance?
- Are you willing to pay a monthly fee to prevent fiascos from happening?
Only you know what your budget can handle. We’ve broken down the pros and cons of both options so you can be well informed and find the right fit for your organization.
The Break -Fix Approach
With break-fix, you manage your hardware and software needs on your own. If something breaks or goes wrong, that’s when you’ll enlist the help of a professional. Some companies have a tech-savvy employee fix minor IT issues, but it’s nearly impossible for him to completely focus on his job while still keeping up with the ever-changing technology landscape. So, it’s likely you’ll run into more problems and face unpredictable charges for repairs, consultations and hourly labor. Your system is also likely to be down longer because the technician won’t have in-depth knowledge of your system.
The Managed Services Approach
Outsourcing the daily management of your system to an MSP gives you the advantage of preventative care. MSPs work to identify potential challenges and threats to your IT systems and solve them before they disrupt your operations. If an issue does occur, you can rest easy knowing you have 24/7 technical support and help desk services from a professional who is already familiar with your system. It’s also easy to budget your IT services because you’re billed a set rate monthly without hidden charges or hefty fees.
We recognize that saving money is an important part of achieving your goals—and we can help. Through November 30, we’re offering a free, no-obligation IT cost-savings assessment. We’ll take a look at your current infrastructure and make suggestions to help you save money. Contact us today to learn more and get your business moving in the right direction.
Disaster Recovery Doesn’t Have to be Scary
According to a Nationwide Insurance survey, more than 75 percent of small businesses don’t have a disaster plan simply because it’s not a top priority. However, since January 2013, Nationwide has processed more than $417 million in catastrophe claims related to small businesses. Obviously, something needs to change so businesses don’t go unprotected.
It’s not so scary if you know what steps to take. If you want to backup your data and services and be able to recover them quickly, here are a few key things you need to know:
- Where is your data stored and what services are involved?
- Which data and services absolutely must be online first?
- How long can you go without critical and noncritical data and services?
- How much does downtime really cost you?
Once you have answers to all of these questions, you’ll be able to determine how to protect and restore all your data and services and do so in the most efficient, priority-first order.
One big bonus of going through this process is it gives you the opportunity to dust the cobwebs off idle or underutilized resources, such as servers, and put them to better use. Asking these questions and evaluating things from the perspective of backup and disaster recovery will help you consolidate servers, prioritize and organize data and applications, and ultimately streamline your process and procedures.
If you’re still a bit squeamish when it comes to improving your disaster recovery situation, you don’t have to go it alone. Now through October 31, 2016, get a free, no-obligation disaster recovery assessment. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you gain back complete confidence, boost efficiency and ensure business continuity.
Top 4 Ways to Keep Your IT Costs Down
Cutting costs is the primary goal for most business owners. They’ll scour their books looking for areas that offer a little wiggle room and decide what’s important and what’s a luxury. The reality is, due to lack of time or expertise, nearly every business has hidden savings within their IT. Here are four major steps you can take to make better technology decisions that improve your bottom line.
#1 – Keep a Watchful Eye on Your Network
Proactively monitoring a network’s device data lets you identify abnormal activity in real time, giving you the ability to act before small hiccups snowball into large problems. Plus, it reduces downtime and investigation time, saving you time and money when problems do occur.
#2 – Look at Downtime Differently
You can spend thousands to protect your company, but no form of technology is completely fool-proof. All businesses experience some form of downtime. The reason companies pay so much for networks isn’t to ensure they’re up 99.9 percent of the time but to make sure the .1 percent they’re not available doesn’t bring your operation to a screeching halt. What does your businesses continuity plan look like? How long can you be down? How will you access your data if your servers crash? Will your business survive? Preventing downtime is important but having an action plan that kicks in when downtime takes place is imperative.
#3 – Prepare for Growth
The biggest costs that often get overlooked are in predicting the pace of business and change. Growth is the reason you’re in business, but it’s tough to anticipate costs when it happens fast. You need scalable, flexible technology solutions. Look to the cloud to meet your currents needs with the ability to scale up or down while also removing the costs of increasing physical hardware and software licensing.
#4 – Ask Questions First
Advice from a professional is the best way to ensure you don’t overspend on IT. Too many businesses jump into making hasty, uniformed decisions about technology investments and network infrastructures and end up paying too much. By talking with a managed service provider like us, you get all the facts and understand the cost associated with each potential decision.
Technology is essential for your success, but you have a lot of balls in the air, so it often takes a backseat or doesn’t get the right focus—leading to costly decisions. Now’s the perfect time to get some expert advice. Through September 30, get a free, no-obligation IT cost reduction assessment. We’ll take a look at your current situation, make recommendations on where you can save and offer affordable options for the future. If we can’t save you money, we’ll give you $100. We’re here to help.
How much downtime is too much?
According to an IHS study, outages cost enterprises $700 billion a year. Though this statistic is alarming, it doesn’t quite hit home for many businesses. But, doing the math for your specific organization and calculating your true cost of downtime is critical to understanding how much you can really afford.
Break Out the Calculators
Determining the cost of downtime is simple. Begin by multiplying your employees’ hourly salary by the number who are unable to work. Then, add the cost of recovery and the cost of managing each unavailable application per hour. Even if you’re a one-person shop, what’s your hourly bill rate? Think about how many hours you can survive without revenue coming in the door.
What you end up with is a number much larger than you expected and sweat buds beginning to form on your forehead. The good news is, the cost of preventing downtime is drastically less expensive than experiencing it.
The Biggest Culprits
Downtime has a way of sneaking up on you and can happen in many different forms. Network interruptions are the biggest contributing factor, with other equipment problems contributing up to 40 percent of all reported downtime. Plus, server provider problems and internal human errors make up nearly 25 percent of downtime.
Prevention is the Key
While it seems like many factors are working against you and your technology, you can dodge the downtime bullet by investing in a managed IT services provider like us to protect your data and support your business-critical applications. Contact us today to get a free assessment and learn more about how we can help you prevent downtime and keep your technology running more efficiently than ever before.