Managed Services vs Break-Fix: Which Is Right for Your Business?

When it comes to IT support, Canadian businesses generally choose between two models: managed services and break-fix. Understanding the difference can save you thousands of dollars and prevent costly downtime.

Break-Fix Support

Break-fix is the traditional model — something breaks, you call someone to fix it, and you pay per incident or per hour. Typical rates range from $75 to $150 per hour in Canada. There is no ongoing relationship or proactive monitoring.

Break-fix works for very small operations (under 5 computers) with simple setups and no critical data. The risk is that problems are only discovered after they cause damage.

Managed IT Services

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) charges a flat monthly fee per user or per device — typically $100 to $250 per user per month. In return, they proactively monitor your systems, apply patches, manage backups, provide helpdesk support, and handle security.

The managed model prevents problems before they happen. Most MSPs guarantee response times through Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and many include 24/7 monitoring.

Which Should You Choose?

If your business has more than 10 employees, handles sensitive data, or depends on technology to operate, managed services almost always make more sense. The cost of a single major outage — lost productivity, data recovery, reputation damage — typically exceeds a full year of managed IT fees.

For sole proprietors or very small teams with simple needs, break-fix may be sufficient. But as soon as you have a server, handle customer data, or use cloud services, it is time to consider managed support.