Break-fix IT feels lean. You only pay when something breaks, right? In practice, for any business with 5+ employees or a server, the math almost always runs the other way once you count what break-fix doesn't include.
What Is Break-Fix?
Your IT person shows up when something breaks and charges $125–$200/hour to fix it. Nothing happens between visits — no monitoring, no maintenance, no prevention.
What Is Managed IT?
A managed IT provider monitors your systems continuously, handles your helpdesk, applies patches automatically, and prevents problems proactively. You pay a flat monthly fee — typically $75–$150/user — and they're incentivized to keep things running because they don't earn more when things break.
Real Cost Comparison — 10 Employees, 1 Year
Break-Fix: 2–3 calls/month × $300 avg = $600–$900/month. One server emergency: $3,000–$8,000. One ransomware incident: $15,000–$50,000+. Productivity loss per incident: $1,920. Annual total: $25,000–$65,000+
Managed IT: $100/user × 10 = $1,000/month = $12,000/year. Proactive monitoring, automatic patches, helpdesk included. Ransomware incidents are rare. Annual total: $12,000–$15,000
The average ransomware cost for a Canadian small business in 2024 was $47,000. Managed IT clients almost never experience ransomware — patches are applied automatically and backups are monitored daily.
Hidden Break-Fix Costs Nobody Mentions
- Emergency/after-hours rates: 1.5–2× standard billing
- No accountability: A sloppy fix means a callback — and more billing
- No documentation: When your tech isn't available, nobody knows your network
- Compliance gaps: No one ensures PIPEDA, PCI, or security standards
- Outdated software: Systems stay unpatched and vulnerable for months
When Break-Fix Still Makes Sense
It's the right call if you're a solo operator with one laptop, no server, no client data, and can tolerate 1–3 days of downtime. Otherwise, managed IT wins on total cost almost every time over a 2–3 year window.
Making the Switch
At Starcomm, we start with a network audit, document your environment, and transition you onto our monitoring platform within 1–2 weeks. Most clients notice the difference in the first month as small issues start getting caught before they cause downtime.