Managed IT vs Break Fix for Surrey Offices

If you run a small law office, accounting practice, insurance brokerage or clinic in Surrey, someone has probably asked you which kind of IT support you have. Usually the honest answer is "we call someone when it breaks." That is break fix. The other option is managed IT, where a provider looks after your systems every month whether anything is broken or not.

Neither model is wrong. They suit different offices. This post walks through what each one covers, where each one tends to fall short in a professional office, and how to decide.

We wrote an earlier comparison aimed at trades companies. If you run crews and job sites, that version fits you better. This one is for offices where the work happens at desks, in client files and in email.

What break fix means

You call a technician when something stops working. They fix it, you pay for the time, and the relationship ends until the next call. There is no contract and no monthly fee.

Break fix works fine for some offices. If you have two or three people, your email and files already live in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and one person in the office keeps an eye on updates and backups, paying by the hour can make sense.

The gap shows up between calls. With break fix, nobody is responsible for:

• Checking that last night's backup ran and can be restored
• Installing Windows and application updates on every computer
• Removing a former employee's access to email and shared files on their last day
• Reviewing who has admin rights in Microsoft 365
• Watching for sign-ins from places your staff have never been

Those jobs still need doing. In a break fix office they fall to whoever has time, which usually means nobody.

What managed IT means

A managed IT provider takes ongoing responsibility for your systems for a monthly fee, usually priced per user. The work happens whether or not you call. Typical pieces include patching, endpoint protection, backup checks, a help desk your staff can call or email, user setup and removal, and Microsoft 365 administration.

The point is that someone owns the list above. When a new hire starts on Monday, their account, laptop and permissions are ready. When someone leaves, their access is closed the same day.

Managed IT is not automatically better. A contract that does not say what is included can leave you paying monthly for the same reactive service you had before. Read the scope.

Why professional offices feel the difference

Law firms, accounting firms, insurance brokerages and clinics hold personal information about clients and patients. In British Columbia, private sector organizations fall under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Section 34 of PIPA says an organization must protect personal information in its custody or control by making "reasonable security arrangements" against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal (BC Laws, PIPA).

PIPA does not list specific technical controls. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC describes reasonable security as layered physical, technical and administrative safeguards, and publishes a security self-assessment tool for organizations to check themselves.

Some professions have their own rules on top of PIPA. The Law Society of BC, for example, points lawyers to Rules 10-3 and 10-4 on records and security of records, and publishes a cloud computing checklist for firms putting client data in cloud services.

With break fix, you can still meet these expectations. You just have to do the ongoing work yourself, or remember to book it.

A quick way to decide

For a one-page side by side you can hand to a partner, see our MSP vs break fix comparison.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security baseline controls for small and medium organizations make a useful yardstick. They include an incident response plan, automatic patching, security software, secure device configuration, strong authentication, staff awareness training, backed up and encrypted data, and access control.

Go through that list and ask, for each item, "who in our office does this, and when did they last do it?"

Break fix is probably enough if:

• You have a handful of staff and very little on local computers
• Someone in the office has the time and the know-how to own updates, backups and accounts
• A day without email or files would be annoying, not a problem for clients

Managed IT is probably worth it if:

• Nobody can answer "who does this" for most of the list
• A day without email, your practice software or client files means missed deadlines or rescheduled appointments
• You handle sensitive personal, financial, legal or health information
• Your cyber insurance application asks questions about MFA, backups and patching that you cannot answer with confidence

What to ask any provider

Whether you pick managed IT or a break fix shop, get these answers in writing:

1. What exactly is included in the monthly fee, and what is billed extra?
2. What are your support hours and response times?
3. How do you check that backups can be restored, and how often?
4. Who has admin access to our Microsoft 365 tenant, and do we keep a global admin account of our own?
5. What happens to our data and passwords if we end the agreement?

We publish our plans and support hours on our pricing page, so you can compare before you call anyone.

How we handle it at Astro

Astro Developments is a Surrey, BC IT company. Our Full IT agreement covers the ongoing work above for small offices: help desk, patching, endpoint protection, backups, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration and offboarding when staff leave. We also help you write down your setup and put an incident response plan in place. Our plans include 24/7 system monitoring and alerts. You can read the details on our managed IT page.

Offices that sign a 6-month Full IT agreement get a new website built at no charge. Our standard plans stay month to month for the first 3 months (pricing).

Email [email protected] or book an IT assessment. We will look at your current setup with you and tell you plainly whether break fix or managed IT fits your office.