You'll find out the different IT maintenance types available in Singapore market.
In the last decade, Singapore has cemented itself as one of the technology capitals of the world. Many major tech firms have moved into the country recently.
You may find yourself wondering, "what kind of IT maintenance strategy is right for me?" It can be overwhelming to pick an IT vendor, but knowing which type is right for you makes it much easier.
It's important that when something goes wrong you have a trustworthy vendor to call. Continue reading to discover which different types of maintenance is best for you.
1. Ad Hoc Maintenance
Ad hoc maintenance essentially means "as needed."
With Ad hoc maintenance, you call someone when your device breaks. You don't have a contract with them, and the cost is usually $90 an hour or more. They often also come with 2 hour minimum. As the billing is time based, such arrangement can be expensive for minor repair and tedious tasks.
Ad hoc maintenance is performed by freelancers or small IT firms. You are reliant on them to have time for your problem, and there are no response guarantees. It's high risk when you need support urgently.
Ad hoc can be a good choice if you only need help rarely and are not on a tight schedule.
2: Break-Fix Maintenance
Break-fix maintenance is the next step from ad hoc. It involves a contract, usually for a year, that offers a certain amount of hours or calls.
It works like it sounds: when something breaks, you call an engineer to come fix it.
This corrective maintenance offers a 4 hour onsite response time. Break-fix does offer a guaranteed response, which is a big upgrade from ad hoc.
However, you may still run over your allocated hours and get charged extra. Break-fix is a very reactive maintenance plan. It could be a good choice for you if you're looking to save money and are confident you won't need much support.
3. Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance gives great flexibility and quality. Like break-fix, you sign a yearly service contract and have a guaranteed response time. It's usually billed monthly from $500 onwards. Unlike break-fix, you aren't limited to a certain amount of time.
When an issue arises, your vendor fixes it at no extra charge. Preventive maintenance also comes with the added bonus of better coverage and monthly planned on-site visits. During these visits, a technician will look over your equipment or network system to prevent issues before they arise.
For example, engineer discovers a 'ticking' sound coming from hard disk. He changes a new storage quickly before the data lost.
This means you can save time by avoiding problems that might have stopped work, which saves you money. Preventive maintenance offers a good combination of quality, cost, service, and reliability.
4. Managed Maintenance
Managed maintenance are a proactive approach, and they allow engineers to fix small problems before they become big ones. The cost is usually higher.
Instead of a fixed response time, it will vary based on how critical the issue is. Emergencies are handled within two hours, and trivial issues are fixed the next day.
Managed maintenance requires an installed software agent on devices that monitors for real time problems. Unlike preventive maintenance, you may not see on-site maintenance teams very often. Instead, remote solutions will be most common.
Having a monitoring agent reports issues very quickly, though some people may not want agents on their machines. It can in some cases cause your computers to run slower.
More advance software agent gives a predictive maintenance. How does it work? Based on your usage behavior, agent informs engineer in advance on what to do. For example, to refresh certain hardware parts before they breakdown.
Conclusion
As business depends on technology, it's important to pick a reliable Singapore IT maintenance firm. IT failure results in downtime and cost money.
Adhoc is out. Most companies are moving away from the traditional break-fix model in favor of proactive and preventive solutions.
With break-fix, engineers are often rushed and the client watches the clock, causing tension. This can cause billing issues and quality dissatisfaction.
Managed maintenance is the more modern of all the IT maintenance types. It offers quality and systematic process. However, if you don’t want an agent installed on your computer, preventive maintenance might be better.
Now I’d like to turn it over to you:
What's the experience do you have so far? Or maybe you have a question about something you read. Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.
