The 4 Different Types of Outsourced IT Service Providers: You Need To Know The Difference

There are a variety of different types of IT service providers, each one better suited to your unique business than another might be. Some IT companies provide a wide array of services to their customers and aim to act as their primary IT solution. Others offer specialized services that are better suited for project-based work, occasional emergencies or high-level maintenance.

Take a look at a few different types of maintenance and how they vary, so that you can determine the ideal type of service for your business.

Break-Fix vs. Proactive Maintenance

For some companies, they might not need (or have the budget for) comprehensive, all-inclusive, and overarching IT services. In this case, there are some IT service providers that offer break-fix solutions to their clients.

What Are Break-Fix Services?

These IT providers essentially operate as an off-site help desk, allowing companies to call and get assistance to remediate issues that affect day-to-day operations as they crop up.

What’s Proactive Maintenance?

IT Providers that offer Proactive Maintenance, on the other hand, are a bit more comprehensive. In addition to having some sort of help desk availability for their clients, they also provide routine maintenance to prevent issues from arising in the first place. Of course, they can’t prevent some issues that come up in the course of day-to-day operations due to human error or aging equipment, but they can work to ensure that the network and workstations remain stable and operative while also helping to plan for long-term goals.

Workstation and Infrastructure vs. Database and Software

IT - information technology - is a pretty vague phrase, don’t you think? Many people associate “IT” to a general definition meaning something involving computers, servers, and other physical devices, like cell phones or copy machines. But, there’s much more to it than that!

Within the actual technology industry, the phrase encompasses more than just what you can touch. It includes tools like apps, software, programs and databases to manage your IT environment.

For the most part, IT service providers tend to provide services to the infrastructure and devices, but there are some that also have specialists on staff to maintain databases and software. If your organization is looking for these types of services - or has an inkling that they might be important down the line - you’ll want to take that into consideration as you search for the right IT partner.

Conversely, if that’s not at all something your organization is concerned with, you’ll want to make certain that the partner you work with is stronger on the workstation and network side of things than the development side. You don’t want to make the mistake of assuming that someone who works in the IT field is a jack of all trades. Yes, service providers might have team members who can handle a variety of tasks, or some who specialize in certain things - but it’s rare that any one individual is going to be an expert in all things IT.

Making the Journey to the Cloud with the Right IT Service Provider

If you’re considering working with an IT service provider, start your partnership off on the right foot. To help you understand how it all works and what the first six months of a successful partner/client relationship looks like, we’ve written an eBook - What To Expect When You’re Expecting IT. Check it out today!