Out with the old and in with the new! For far too long, small businesses have taken an old-school approach to IT services and security. In other words, they wait until something goes wrong before they call an IT services company and request help.

Back in the day (think 1990s and early 2000s), this approach worked, more or less. External threats, such as hackers and viruses, were still few and far between. A data breach wasn’t on anyone’s mind. So, it made sense to wait until something went wrong before taking action.

In IT circles, this is known as the “break-fix” approach. Something breaks, so someone has to come in to fix it. And they charge for their services accordingly. If something small breaks and it takes a short time to fix, you could expect a smaller bill. If something big breaks, well, you can expect a pretty hefty bill.

In these challenging times that we are now operating in, some business leaders may be considering going back to this on-demand model with the allure of what appears to be a lower IT expenditure.

Keep in mind that the break-fix approach is 100% reactive. Many businesses have learned, especially in more recent years, as the number of threats have skyrocketed, it can get very expensive. IT specialists are an in-demand field. With just about every business relying on the Internet and Internet-connected devices in order to operate, there’s a lot of opportunity for something to go wrong.

This is exactly why you can’t rely on the reactive break-fix model. If you do, you could be putting your business at serious risk. In some cases, the mounting costs and damage done could put you out of business.

If you’re hit by a data breach or if a hacker infiltrates your network (which is a common occurrence), what’s next? You call your IT services partner – if you have a partner – and tell them you need help. They might be able to restore lost or ransomed data… that is if you have a backup system that actually works consistently.
You don’t want to find yourself in this position.

And you don’t have to.

Instead, take a proactive, managed approach to your IT support and security. This is the right way of doing things! It’s also known as managed services – and Expera is an award winning, world-class Managed IT Services partner to hundreds of business across Canada.

If you work with an IT services company that only comes out when something breaks, it’s time to get them on the phone to ask them four big questions. These are questions they absolutely need to say “yes” to.

  1. Do you monitor our network and devices for threats 24/7?
  2. Can you provide expert IT support to my team on-the-spot when needed the most?
  3. Do you make sure all our data, both onsite and in Microsoft 365 is backed up AND secure?
  4. Do you keep our network protected with up-to-date AI-based protection solutions, firewalls and web filtering?

If your IT services partner says “no” to any or all of these questions, it might be time to look for a new IT services partner.

Far too many small businesses don’t bother with proactive support because they don’t like the ongoing cost (think of it as a subscription for ongoing support and security). They would rather pay for things as they break. But these break-fix services are more expensive than ever before. When things go wrong, and these days, things will go VERY wrong, you’ll be left with the bill and all of the disruption and chaos that comes with it – You’ll be left wishing you had been more proactive

“When things go wrong, and these days, things will go wrong, you’ll be left with the bill and all the disruption and chaos – You’ll be left wishing you had been more proactive!”