When a South African owner says “we have a guy”, they usually mean break-fix: a technician who is paid when something is already broken. When they say “we have an IT company”, they might still mean the same thing with a nicer invoice. Managed IT is a different commercial relationship. You pay every month for work that is supposed to happen even when nothing is on fire.
Break-fix: what you are actually buying
Break-fix is honest if both sides admit the terms. You call. Someone arrives or remotes in. You pay labour, travel, and parts. There is no obligation to patch the rest of the estate, test restores, or remove a leaver from Microsoft 365. The incentive is the next emergency. That can be fine for a one-person practice with a single laptop. It is a poor fit for a school lab, a retail chain, or a professional firm that cannot lose a day of mail.
Travel time in Limpopo is not the same as a Sandton basement parkade. A “call-out” that looks cheap on paper becomes expensive when the site is Musina or a lodge with a VSAT dish. A managed plan that already includes catchment visits is easier to budget than surprise kilometres.
Managed IT: what the monthly fee is for
The fee is for accountability: a helpdesk, monitoring, patching, a named contact, and an SLA you can point at. See what managed IT support is and the package comparison. If those items are not in writing, you are still on break-fix with a retainer sticker.
Managed does not mean “unlimited everything”. On-site outside the catchment, after-hours P1, and large projects are usually extra — and they should be. A provider who pretends otherwise either under-delivers or invoices the difference later.
A third option: the project
Some work should never be hidden inside a monthly ticket queue. A fibre cutover, a warehouse wireless overlay, or a PABX port is an IT project: scope, window, rollback, handover. After go-live you can stop, or fold the environment into support. Mixing a project into “the usual guy will sort it” is how offices go live on a Friday with no documentation.
A simple way to choose
- Fewer than a handful of devices, no shared mail, no till line — break-fix or a light Essential plan may be enough.
- Staff, Microsoft 365, a network, and someone who must answer during business hours — managed IT.
- A build, a move, or a cutover — a project, with or without a plan afterwards.
- You already pay a provider who has gone silent — takeover assessment, not a second overlapping contract.
We will recommend the cheaper honest option. If the environment only needs a once-off repair, we will say so.
FAQ
Can we stay on break-fix and only buy projects?
Yes. A new office network, a VoIP cutover or a Wi-Fi rebuild can be a scoped project with a start and a finish. That is not the same as someone watching patches and backups every month.
Is managed IT always cheaper than break-fix?
Not in a quiet month. It is usually cheaper across a year that includes a ransomware scare, a failed backup, or a leaver who still has mailbox access. Ask for both a monthly number and a project quote if you are unsure.