What is break-fix IT?
Q: What is break-fix IT?
A: Break-fix IT is a reactive support model where you only contact IT after something fails. There is typically no continuous monitoring, patching, or preventive maintenance. You pay per incident, which can look cheaper short term but often creates higher downtime risk and less predictable total cost over time.
Break-fix IT is a reactive support model where you pay only when something fails.
Intent: informational · Keyword: what is break-fix IT
Break-fix can seem cost-effective in quiet months, but risk accumulates between incidents because systems are not being proactively maintained.
How break-fix differs from managed IT
In managed IT, monitoring, patching, and support are continuous. In break-fix, those controls are typically ad hoc and triggered by failures.
If downtime or data loss would materially impact your operations, a proactive model usually produces more stable outcomes than incident-only support.
From our experience
- In small-business environments, reactive-only support models usually create higher operational volatility once shared systems become business-critical. See case study
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