Signs that paying per fix has stopped working
Calling someone when a computer breaks is a fine way to run a small office, right up until it isn't. The change is gradual, so it helps to know what it looks like.
- The same problems come back. The fix holds for a month and then you're on the phone again.
- Computers sit on old versions of Windows or macOS because nobody's job is to update them.
- You find out the backup stopped working on the day you need it.
- Staff have quit reporting small problems and just work around them.
- Your IT bill swings from nothing to a lot, and you can't predict which month it'll be.
- An insurer, a bank or a larger client has sent a security questionnaire and you can't answer half of it.
- One person in the office has become the unofficial IT department and it's eating their real job.
Two or three of these together usually mean the office has grown past the point where waiting for breakage is the cheaper option.
What a managed plan covers
Our plans are built from four parts. Each one is plain work, done on a schedule, by someone whose job it is.
Monitoring
A small piece of software on each computer and server reports back on the things that predict trouble: a hard drive filling up or starting to fail, protection software that's been turned off, a backup that didn't run, a machine that hasn't checked in. The idea is that we hear about it before you do.
Helpdesk
Your staff contact us directly when something isn't working. They don't have to find the office manager first, and the office manager doesn't have to decide whether a problem is worth a service call. A lot of these requests are handled over a secure remote connection while the person stays at their desk.
Patching
Windows, macOS, browsers and the common office programs all release security fixes constantly. On a managed plan we push those updates on a schedule and check that they actually installed. This is dull work. It's also the single most skipped job in small offices, and old unpatched software is how a lot of break-ins start.
On-site response
Some things can't be fixed from a distance: a failed switch, a dead workstation, a new employee's desk, a printer that's lost its mind. When that happens, we come to you.
What's included in each plan, what counts as extra and what it costs are all listed on our main site. For current plans and pricing, see the business IT page on pdgeeks.com.
Managed IT versus paying per fix
Both models are honest ways to buy IT help. They differ in who's responsible for noticing problems.
Paying per fix (the trade calls it break-fix) means you call when something stops working and pay for that visit. You carry no monthly cost. The catch is that nobody is looking at your systems between calls, so problems are found by whoever trips over them, usually at a bad moment. Updates and backup checks happen only if someone in your office remembers.
Managed IT means you pay a set amount each month and we take responsibility for the routine work: watching the machines, keeping them patched, answering staff questions and showing up when hands are needed. Your costs get more predictable. In exchange you're paying in quiet months too, which is the whole point, since the plan is what's supposed to keep them quiet.
There's one more difference that owners don't always think about. Under break-fix, a provider earns more when more things break. Under a managed plan, we do better when your office runs without trouble. We'd sooner be on that side of the arrangement.
Managed IT is not a promise that nothing will ever fail. Hard drives die, internet providers have outages, and people click on things. What changes is how early a problem gets caught and whether someone already knows your setup when it does.
How getting started goes
We don't sell a plan to an office we haven't seen. The start looks like this:
- A conversation. You tell us how many people and computers you have, what software the business runs on and what's been going wrong. If a monthly plan doesn't fit, this is where we say so.
- An assessment. We look at the computers, the network, the backups, the email setup and who has access to what. You get a written summary of what's fine and what isn't.
- Cleanup first. If the assessment turns up real problems (no working backup, a computer too old to update, shared passwords), those get quoted and fixed before or alongside the plan. It makes no sense to monitor a mess.
- Onboarding. The monitoring software goes on each machine, admin access is organized and written down, and your staff are told exactly how to reach the helpdesk.
- Steady state. Patches go out, alerts get handled, requests get answered. Periodically we sit down with you to go over what happened and what's coming, such as computers reaching the end of their useful life.
If you're switching from another IT company, the handover of passwords and admin accounts comes first. We describe that process on the small business IT support page.
What a plan doesn't replace
A monthly plan keeps computers healthy. It isn't the same thing as a security program. Monitoring and patching are a strong start, but multi-factor authentication, email filtering and a backup with tested restores are separate layers, and each one has to be set up on purpose. Those are laid out on our cybersecurity and backup page.
It also doesn't cover big one-time projects by default. A new office build-out, a move to a different email provider or a server replacement is quoted as its own job. Medical and professional offices, like the ones we write about in the Rancho Mirage guide, often start with a project like that and move to a plan afterward.
Small offices and our smaller plans
Our smaller plans are built for small businesses, so a small office isn't too small for managed IT. Whether a plan earns its keep depends less on headcount than on what a bad day costs you: a missed deadline, a closed register, records you can't get to.
With a plan or without one, every small office needs this short list in place:
- Automatic updates turned on, and a habit of restarting when the computer asks.
- Multi-factor authentication on email and banking.
- One backup you've actually tested.
- An owner who holds the admin logins.
- Someone to call when something breaks.
We're happy to be that someone to call, with a quote before any work starts. Many of our business customers work with us that way and never move to a plan.
The answer changes when you add people, add a server or a specialty program the business can't run without, start handling regulated information, or notice that downtime now costs you real money by the hour. At that point the math flips, and it's worth having the conversation.