Not all small businesses want to manage or can afford their own internal IT team, so they look to outside help. Some have a “guy” they call or one tech-savvy employee to react to minor problems. More often, small businesses turn to Managed IT Service Providers (MSPs) to solve problems and provide proactive support. Curious about the benefits of proactive support? Let’s look at how it differs from reactive support.
What is reactive IT support?
Just as it sounds, reactive IT support is acting when something goes wrong. It’s also called break-fix support. Reactive providers typically bill hourly for services provided during a call or visit.
What is proactive IT support?
Proactive IT support is focused on prevention. An MSP will find and fix issues before it becomes urgent. With this model, the provider typically charges a flat monthly fee and includes 24x7x365 systems monitoring, security patch management, remote system maintenance, and access to help desk support services.
The benefits of proactive IT support over reactive support
- Shared responsibility of your IT—By paying a flat monthly fee, you incentivize the MSP to keep your network stable. Both you and the MSP benefit when your IT runs efficiently.
- Familiarity—Unlike break-fix providers, MSPs routinely interact with you and your systems. In turn, they become familiar with your business, which helps them resolve issues faster.
- Enterprise-level tools— MSPs invest in best-in-class tools and then provide them to you as part of their services.
- Predictable expenses— Reactive-only services are anything but predictable, especially when something breaks. A flat monthly fee makes for easier budgeting and controlled cost.
That all adds up to more uptime = long-term cost savings. The investment in proactive support saves money overall by preventing downtime and lost productivity. When you only react to problems, you’re at risk for more unexpected downtime and performance issues.
What makes sense for you?
If your company doesn’t rely heavily on IT and has a limited budget, you may find reactive support the most attractive option. However, managed IT services will help you grow by using IT to improve efficiency so your team can move faster.
Check out how WorkSmart’s plans meet your needs.
