When a trades company in Surrey talks about "IT support," they usually mean one of two things. Either you call someone once email or a laptop has already stopped working and pay by the hour, or you pay a monthly fee so someone is looking after your systems all the time.
That's the choice between break/fix and managed IT (from an MSP, or managed service provider). For a company whose day moves between the shop, the truck and the job site, the difference shows up as lost drawings, crews standing around and bills you only see after the fact.
Running an office instead of crews? Read our office version.
Here's a straight comparison, including where break/fix still makes sense. If you want a one-page version to share with a partner or office manager, we also keep an MSP vs break/fix comparison in our resources.
What break/fix IT support means
Break/fix means you call a technician when something is broken. There's no ongoing contract. You pay for the visit or the remote session, usually by the hour, and when the ticket is closed, so is the coverage.
For a small office that can look cheap in a quiet month. For a trades company, "broken" usually means something like:
- The estimator can't send quotes while a crew waits on a site in Langley
- A laptop with the week's drawings won't boot after a rough ride in the truck
- Job photos and permits are on a phone that's with someone on another site
- Nobody knows if backups ran last week, because nobody was checking
With break/fix, nothing gets patched, monitored or backed up between calls unless you arrange it separately.
What managed IT includes
A managed service provider looks after your IT for a flat monthly fee: monitoring, updates and a help desk, plus backup, Microsoft 365 administration and on-site visits on the fuller plans.
For trades, that coverage has to work beyond the office. The crew needs someone to call, job files need backing up, people need secure access to files from site, and someone needs to be watching systems between problems. That's how we set up managed IT for electrical contractors and other trades.
Managed IT doesn't mean nothing ever breaks. It means fewer surprises, and someone is paying attention in the weeks when everything looks fine.
Side-by-side comparison
| Break/fix | Managed IT | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | By the hour, after something fails | A fixed monthly fee per user |
| Monitoring between calls | None | Included |
| Updates and patching | Only when you ask | Included |
| Backup of job files | Arranged separately | Included on fuller plans |
| On-site visits | Billed separately, when available | Included on our Professional and Premium plans |
| Best fit | Very small setups and one-off jobs | Crews, several sites, files that need to survive a lost phone |
Break/fix usually costs less in a quiet month. Managed IT tends to pay off once downtime costs more than the monthly fee, which happens quickly when crews are spread across several sites.
When break/fix still makes sense
Break/fix isn't wrong for everyone. It can work if:
- You're a very small shop with one or two computers and not much changes
- You already have good backups and someone in-house who keeps things updated
- You just need a one-time project, like moving a mailbox or replacing a network switch
It stops working when the business outgrows the setup: more trucks, more company files on personal phones, more "can you email me that PDF" from site. If you're not sure which side you're on, an assessment will tell you.
How our Essential, Professional and Premium plans compare
Our managed IT prices are published. All prices are per user per month in Canadian dollars, plus 5% GST. Hardware and software licences (such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) are quoted separately, and the first three months are month to month.
Essential, $80 per user per month. Remote help desk (Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, and Saturday, 7am to 2pm), 24/7 monitoring and alerts, automatic patching, antivirus and endpoint protection, a monthly health report, and email and phone support. It doesn't include on-site visits, advanced security or backup.
Professional, $120 per user per month. Everything in Essential, plus unlimited remote and on-site support, cloud backup and disaster recovery, Microsoft 365 administration, dark web credential monitoring, a quarterly IT review, 4-hour priority response and help buying hardware. Most growing trades companies land here, because it covers backup and someone who can come to the shop.
Premium, $160 per user per month. Everything in Professional, plus advanced endpoint detection and response, security awareness training, PIPEDA compliance support, IT planning and budgeting, 2-hour response, hardware lifecycle management and a dedicated account manager.
Even Essential is managed IT rather than break/fix, because your systems are monitored and your team has a help desk. The full comparison is on our pricing page.
Four questions before you choose
These are worth talking through with the office and a couple of your leads:
- When email or the shop network goes down, who do you call, and is anyone watching those systems the rest of the time?
- If today's drawings and permit photos are on a personal phone, what happens when that phone is lost?
- Can the crew get to the files they need from site without someone at the office emailing them?
- Would you rather have a predictable monthly cost, or are you fine with hourly bills after an outage?
If your answers lean toward surprise downtime and files on personal devices, a cheaper hourly rate won't fix it.
We're a Surrey IT company working with trades across the Lower Mainland. Book a free IT assessment, and we'll look at your devices, backup and job-site access and tell you which option fits.
FAQ
What's the difference between managed IT and break/fix?
With break/fix you pay after something fails, usually by the hour, and nobody monitors your systems between calls. With managed IT you pay a monthly fee that covers a help desk, monitoring and updates, and on fuller plans, backup, Microsoft 365 administration and on-site support.
How much does managed IT cost in Surrey?
Our plans are $80, $120 and $160 per user per month in Canadian dollars, plus 5% GST. Hardware and software licences (such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) are extra. The pricing page lists what each plan includes.
Should a small trades company start with break/fix?
If you're very small, have solid backups and rarely have IT problems, break/fix can be enough. Once you have several people, trucks and job sites, and company files on personal phones, managed IT is usually the better fit.
Related service: Managed IT and Help Desk · Surrey and Lower Mainland IT