Break-fix IT vs
a managed IT retainer
Break-fix IT is paid work after something fails. A managed retainer is paid every month so someone owns the estate between those failures.
Break-fix IT support means you pay when something has already gone wrong. A technician attends, repairs the failed item, and invoices the visit. There's no monthly fee, and nobody is watching the rest of the estate between jobs. For a small setup with few incidents, that can be the cheaper and simpler arrangement.
A managed IT retainer is a monthly service. The provider monitors devices, patches software, runs a helpdesk and takes responsibility for the estate in quiet weeks as well as bad ones. You pay even when nothing has broken. Wanzo sells monthly retainers: AI + Managed IT starts at £1,250 a month. We'd still tell you to stay on break-fix if incidents are rare and someone internal already owns the day-to-day.
| Factor | Break-fix IT support | A managed IT retainer |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | You pay for the visit, the parts and the hours once something has failed. Quiet months cost you nothing from the supplier. | You pay a monthly fee in quiet months and busy ones. The cost is known in advance and covers monitoring, patching and helpdesk time. |
| Prevention work | Between visits, patching, backups and monitoring sit with you. A break-fix engineer isn't paid to look after systems that are still working. | Monitoring, patching and scheduled maintenance run as part of the monthly service. The provider is paid to catch problems before they stop people working. |
| Setup knowledge | The engineer often arrives cold. They spend billed time learning the network, the accounts and what changed last time, unless you kept records. | The same team already holds the asset list, the licences and the history. When something fails, diagnosis starts from that record rather than a blank sheet. |
| Response and cover | Attendance depends on who is free when you raise the job. There is rarely a written response time unless you already have a separate agreement. | A managed retainer usually names a response time in the contract. Wanzo's managed IT includes 24/7 monitoring and a four-hour response commitment. |
| A bad month | A quiet year stays cheap. Several failed devices, a mailbox outage or a line-of-business system down at once can produce a large, unplanned invoice. | The monthly fee does not jump because you had a bad week. Work inside the agreed scope is already paid for. Out-of-scope jobs are quoted separately. |
| What you buy | You buy a repair to a named fault. Hardware replacement, a one-off install or a short project can sit here without a long supplier relationship. | You buy ongoing ownership of users, devices and Microsoft 365. Cybersecurity, monitoring and planning sit in the same monthly relationship at Wanzo. |
When Break-fix IT support is the right call
- Your estate is small, incidents are rare, and someone on the payroll can handle the day-to-day.
- You need a one-off repair, a hardware swap or a short install, not an ongoing supplier.
- You already employ IT staff and only want overflow cover for a named job they cannot take.
When A managed IT retainer is the right call
- Nobody on the payroll owns IT, and employees need a helpdesk when email or devices fail.
- You want patching, monitoring and cybersecurity to run through the quiet weeks, paid for in the monthly fee.
- The monthly figure has to be known, and you want one team on users, devices, Microsoft 365 and security.
What we’d recommend
Stay on break-fix if you have few faults, a simple estate, and a named person who already looks after users and devices. Pay per visit for a one-off repair. Don't put a single failed laptop on a monthly plan. Choose a managed retainer once nobody owns the systems between incidents, staff need a helpdesk, or patching has to run without you chasing it. For a firm of 10 to 500 people without a named IT owner, we would recommend the retainer. AI + Managed IT starts at £1,250 a month and covers the helpdesk, monitoring and Microsoft 365 with the automation. If you only need a one-off fix, we'd do that job and would not sell you a retainer to win it.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between break-fix and managed IT?
Break-fix IT is paid work after a named fault. You raise a job, a technician repairs it, and you pay for that visit. Between jobs, patching, monitoring and the rest of the estate sit with you. A managed retainer is a monthly service. The provider monitors devices, patches software, runs a helpdesk and already knows your setup when something fails. Wanzo's AI + Managed IT plan starts at £1,250 a month. We would keep you on break-fix if you barely need a technician.
Is break-fix cheaper than managed IT?
In a quiet year with few incidents, break-fix usually costs less. You only pay when a technician attends. That picture changes if several devices fail close together, because each visit is billed and nobody was paid to prevent the pile-up. A retainer costs more in a quiet month and doesn't rise in a busy one, inside the agreed scope. Our managed IT sits in AI + Managed IT from £1,250 a month. Add up a year's repair invoices and the staff time spent chasing them before you decide.
When should I switch from break-fix to managed IT?
Move when nobody on the payroll owns patching, backups and Microsoft 365 between visits, or when staff wait on email and devices with no agreed response time. Stay on break-fix while a named person still has the time to look after users, devices and the quiet weeks between faults. Wanzo would put you on the retainer once that ownership is missing. AI + Managed IT starts at £1,250 a month. If the current arrangement still works, we wouldn't move you onto a plan to win the work.
Can I stay on break-fix if I have an IT person?
Yes. Break-fix is often the right overflow when you already employ someone who owns the systems. They handle the day-to-day, and you bring in a technician for a named job they haven't time to finish. A full retainer on top can be wasted if they already monitor, patch and support staff. Use a retainer when that person is overloaded, leaving, or never covered security and Microsoft 365. Wanzo can work alongside internal IT, or take a one-off job. We would ask what they already own first.
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