Affordable” is a popular word on Google.
If you landed here, chances are you just Googled “affordable computer repair services for businesses.”
Who doesn’t crave affordability?
Anyone who has read “The Millionaire Next Door” or listened to Dave Ramsey understands the importance of prioritising your spending.
About twenty years ago, Dave inspired me to reevaluate my twice-daily visits to Starbucks.
So I quit drinking Grande Caffè Mochas. Six months later, I was out of my apartment and into a brand-new Condo.
The purpose of this article is two-fold:
- Apply similar thinking and critical analysis to the concept of “affordable computer repair.”
- Suggest some updated terminology to shift your thinking to a bigger, longer-term, more cost-effective picture.
1 – Computer Repair
Putting the word “affordable” in front of “computer repair” seems like clickbait and an outdated service category just got married, especially if you’re running a business.
The search results I reviewed featured advertising with dubious claims like “one call fixes it all” as well as break-fix home computer services and vendor rankings on Angie’s List.
Most of the options were offered by very small businesses, targeting residential users and other very small businesses with transactional services based on trip charges and hourly fees.
The following questions quickly spilled into my brain:
- Can they fix it?
- Is the equipment worth fixing?
- Do they have the tools to fully understand how the device is connected to a larger IT system?
- How can they afford to offer “affordable” services?
- What is the security, regulation, and compliance risk?
If companies like Solar Winds can be hit by a consortium of state-backed, Russian hackers, an hourly IT repair technician tinkering with your workstation and system settings is probably not worth the gamble.
Learn More: The Solar Winds Hack
Strong opinion alert. Computer repair is dead. The assets simply don’t last long enough to justify band-aids.
Around year three, you should be considering a new laptop. You can put this off until it’s four years old unless the device is constantly used in transit, where it gets beat up in planes, trains, and automobiles.
If you have a desktop, you should be visiting the websites of Apple, CDW, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, around year four.
Furthermore, both laptops and desktops from the major manufacturers come with warranties and reasonably priced extended coverage plans.
Warning: each coverage plan becomes less reasonable and advisable once the device is past its useful life.
I recommend engaging with established companies and well-known brands before initiating quick fixes with the mom and pop vendors in the Johannesburg or Cape Town area.
When you consider average hourly minimums for site visits of R650.00 to R2000.00, the fees from two service calls are close to the cost of a new workstation.
And remember, they only get paid to try. They can’t offer any guarantees.
At the risk of sounding bossy and scarred by Murphy’s Law (I can’t help it), you’re better off scrapping the unit and making an upgrade.
2 – Managed IT Services
You may not be looking for any of the following company types or service categories:
- Managed IT Services
- Managed Services Providers
- MSPs in South Africa or Namibia
- Backup and Disaster Recovery
- IT Services in Gauteng or Windhoek or Cape Town
- IT Support near me
- Cloud Services
- Software as a Service
- Managed Security Services
However, I bring them to your attention because their search engine results will help you to start thinking beyond computers and more about the significance of the applications and the support you need to excel at your job.
Hardware is increasingly disposable and should never be a potential point of failure when your business (and everyone else’s) will be increasingly reliant on Software as a Service (SaaS).
Managed Services Providers (MSPs) can partner with you to monitor, manage, support, secure, and procure, everything you need to maximize the effectiveness of your IT systems and users.
This is on ongoing strategic relationship versus one based on break-fix transactions.
While your MSP can certainly assist with “affordable computer repair services,” they have systems in place to minimize the need for this particular activity.
Remediation is expensive and time-consuming which is why professional IT services firms focus on finding best-in-class, standardized workstations that fit hand in glove with your IT system architecture.
They will also follow strict guidelines and employ volume discounts to make sure every machine in your digital estate is up to the task and fiscally justified.
MSPs don’t make a lot of money procuring hardware and software. They make a bulk of their revenues from management fees.
In many cases, technology procurement is a loss leader. However, the right technology reduces breakdowns and noise in client environments.
And with all endpoints and systems quiet and maximized for uptime, the MSP can focus on higher-value strategic initiatives to help their clients grow and innovate.
What’s Next?
I referenced Dave Ramsey and Starbucks at the beginning for a very pointed reason.
I eventually sold my condo at a premium and bought the townhouse of my dreams.
One small adjustment catapulted me from a money-wasting renter (getting way too much sugar and caffeine) into an equity-building homeowner.
I hope I triggered something equally transformational for your business.
The MULTi IT team has decades of experience, and we look forward to guiding you.
Get in touch to discuss with us Today
Johannesburg – +27(0)11 435 0450, [email protected]
Cape Town – +27(0)21 879 1950, [email protected]
Durban – +27(0)31 331 0735, [email protected]
Namibia – +264(0)84 000 8310, [email protected]