What you need to know
Break/fix support is normally purchased when a fault occurs. A managed service provider (MSP) delivers an agreed set of ongoing services, which may include monitoring, updates, backups, security controls and user support. Neither model is automatically right for every organisation; the contract and service scope matter more than the label.
Key facts
- ✓Reactive support can suit organisations with simple systems and enough internal knowledge to manage routine maintenance and risk.
- ✓Managed support can make costs and responsibilities more predictable, but only when the agreement clearly defines included systems, support hours and exclusions.
- ✓The National Cyber Security Centre recommends checking a provider’s security practices, incident management, subcontractors, data handling and exit arrangements.
- ✓Responsibility remains shared: outsourcing technical work does not remove the customer organisation’s need to govern access, data and risk.
- ✓A fair comparison should include downtime, staff time, documentation, monitoring, security maintenance and supplier coordination rather than comparing only monthly fees with an hourly repair rate.
- ✓Managed support is most valuable when responsibilities, response targets, exclusions, escalation routes, data handling and exit arrangements are written clearly into the agreement.
- ✓Break-fix support can remain appropriate for low-dependency environments, but the customer retains more responsibility for maintenance, asset records, backups and identifying risks before failure.
Recommended actions
- ✓Create an inventory of users, devices, services and business-critical systems before requesting quotations.
- ✓Ask for measurable response and resolution targets, escalation routes, reporting, backup responsibilities and disaster-recovery arrangements.
- ✓Confirm who owns administrator accounts, documentation, licences and data, and how they will be returned when the contract ends.
- ✓Compare the full annual cost with the likely cost and disruption of faults, maintenance and security work under a reactive model.
- ✓List the systems the organisation cannot work without and estimate the operational cost of losing each one.
- ✓Ask prospective providers who owns documentation, administrator accounts and configurations, and how these will be returned at contract end.
- ✓Compare a defined twelve-month scenario that includes routine maintenance and at least one realistic incident.
Expected benefits
✓Clear ownership and escalation routes
✓A support model matched to business risk
✓Fewer contractual surprises