“Managed Services  vs.  Break-Fix?”

What is Break/Fix IT?

Break/Fix IT is a model of service that reacts when problems occur. Charges will include materials and an hourly labor rate. If you’re lucky, the materials needed for the repair are inexpensive and easy to acquire. If the material needed is something like a server, then the cost can be a big hit on cash flow and time.

One of the costs of Break/Fix IT is the decreased productivity or downtime that results from the problem. This can be huge if a whole department or the entire company is affected. Even if one or two users are impacted, the lost time can add up to many thousands of dollars very quickly as issues linger on and on.

When it comes down to deciding whether break-fix or managed services is right for you, the key question you should ask yourself is how long can you afford to be down? With the break-fix approach, it could be hours or days before you’re back up and data is recovered. A big advantage of managed services is that an MSP can spot and resolve small issues before they cause larger ones that could negatively affect your systems, productivity, and your clients.

What are Managed IT Services?

Managed Services have a proactive approach to Information and Technology. They offer services for a fixed monthly fee and focus on preventing problems from occurring in the first place. They utilize technology tools that monitor and maintain networks and systems including security and data backup.

Managed services are also a philosophical change in the way that a business deals with its technology. Instead of following the old-school tradition of break-fix (literally meaning wait until the server, desktops or other critical networking devices fail, then scramble to fix them), a business operating with a managed service focuses on the prevention of these issues before they disrupt employees, management and/or clients.

If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches, and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. For instance, if your Email server, customer relationship management system, financial application or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.

Managed IT Operations Program gives you:

Peace of Mind — Backups, security, servers. Let us handle your network while you focus on your core business.

Increased Productivity — Remote monitoring allows us to proactively head off any network issues, resulting in substantial cost savings and less downtime.

End User Support — We’re there when you need us, providing the level of attention your business requires.

Fixed-Fee Plan — For less than the cost of a single new hire, you’ll have access to our Service Desk and our experienced team of engineers and technicians.

Fast, On-Site Response – Reliable, on-site support is provided by experienced technicians.

Already have an IT department? No problem. We play well with others. Let us enhance your team with additional resources and efficiency while saving you money.

What are some typical Managed IT services?
IT infrastructure; network, server, PC, mobile device management.  Cloud and virtual server management. Helpdesk support management for your staff.  Management and monitoring of IT security services, backup, and disaster recovery services.

Why is Managed IT better for my organization?
You will immediately lower your IT operational and labor costs. Tasks will be assigned to the appropriate pay grade and you only pay for the time/resources you use.  Your IT staff will now be able to focus on your internal IT projects. Trained IT professionals using expensive IT management software will resolve your issues quickly.

How to find a Managed IT services company?
Look for a company with a wide-range of services.  If you have trouble managing IT projects and issues now, you don’t want to replace that with managing a number of Managed IT Service Providers for each type of IT service. Check references, look for longevity, look for an emphasis on services and not just promoting “partner” hardware and software.

What benefits should we see from Managed IT?
You should get access to more IT knowledge and experience.  You should free up IT staff time by no longer managing patching, upgrades and server issues.  You should get better IT security services.

The challenge of finding, retaining and training skilled IT security staff coupled with the high cost of purchasing and maintaining security software and hardware technology in-house puts IT security protection out of reach for many organizations.  Get the benefit of having someone that brings years of experience operating in diverse
IT environments to your business without having to pay for a full-time senior IT executive.

What is Colocation?
Co-location is a service in which a business can rent space for servers and other computing hardware.  We provide co-location hosting in a state-of-the-art datacenter (e.g. building, cooling, power, bandwidth and physical security) and you provide your equipment e.g. servers, switches, routers, etc.

Why should you allow Mobile Tech Support, Inc. the privilege to be your co-location host? 
Nothing but the best, no expense spared.

• Location, Location, Location. Our servers are located at IO Data Centers, Phoenix AZ.   I/O PHOENIX is among the world’s largest data centers.  They have access to 56MW of power, with their own dedicated, on-site sub-station.
• Security.  Access to our servers is restricted by biometric screening, 24×7 guard staff and a very impressive defensible perimeter (including those very cool rise-from-the-ground protective bollards barriers at the entrance.
• Redundancy. We have redundant power feeds, redundant internet connections, redundant mirrored router/firewalls with automatic fail-over.
• Speed. Do you want speed?  Tired of slow hosting?   Our server cage has enormous pipeline speed to the internet.
• Expandability. Need more space to grow?  We have it!  Talk to us, we can design a solution for your needs.
• Business Friendly Billing.  Hosting is billed on a quarterly basis.

To learn more about the datacenter we are in, please click here:  IO DataCenter Phoenix

Mobile Tech Support Cloud Virtual Server Hosting provides a virtualized environment with great scalability, agility and cost control.  Hosting with us allows you to reduce your capital expenditures by eliminating the need to expand your physical IT infrastructure.

Our hosting services are in a global datacenter and we offer redundant connectivity and customizable backup and disaster recovery solutions.  Secure, scalable, reliable.  Mobile Tech Support creates public, private, and hybrid cloud hosting solutions allowing you to grow your business.

Benefits of Virtual Machine Hosting

• Familiar Interfaces – Virtual environments are built to mimic physical ones, so you should never have any idea that you’re running on a virtual machine. Virtual networks include virtual NICs, virtual switches and so on. Other than being able to physically move a server, you’ll receive similar experience and performance on a virtual network that you would with physical servers.
• High Availability – By distributing load across virtualized machines, virtual hosts are able to ensure high availability of applications and data. Even if one server fails, another virtual machine can be spun up with minimal downtime or data loss.
• Scalability – Virtualized machines allow scalability on demand without adding physical resources, and they can be expanded much easier than in a physical machine. Adding additional RAM to a virtual machine can be done in a few minutes, while it can be up to a day’s work for a physical machine.
• Backup with Fast Recovery – Virtualization and cloud computing offer powerful solutions for data backup and recovery. Even if hardware should fail, virtual machines can instantaneously and accurately migrate data to working hardware with little or no downtime.
• Easy Cloning – Cloning a virtual machine takes just a few clicks and a matter of seconds, whereas cloning a physical machine can be a serious undertaking.

Need Help virtualizing your servers?  We can help, we offer Virtualization Services.

Call us today and allow us to give you a quote on hosting your virtual servers.

Servers are responsible for delivering all of the data that runs your company. Protecting and providing the security controls that grant or deny access to that data is everything.

When a server goes down, everyone in the company is affected, and business grinds to a halt.

Server and Networking services for your IT Infrastructure:

• Server installation, upgrade, and migration
• Network install, optimization, maintenance, and design
• Server or network to cloud migration
• Network-attached storage (NAS) setup / configuration
• Peer-to-peer network setup and repair
• Server backup, repair, restore or recovery
• WAN or Office-to-office network setup and VPN setup
• Remote Desktop solution/Terminal services (RDP)
• Router, Switch, Firewall installation and repair
• Broadband installation/repair (DSL, Cable, T1)
• Network Internet security monitoring and web filtering
• Server and network setup & implementation
• Wired and Wireless network setup repair
• Business or home server & network setup
• Servers and Workstations Configuration and Troubleshooting
• User Accounts Management
• Folder Access Security
• Group Policy Management
• Network Infrastructure Configuration, Monitoring, and Security
• Advanced Backup, Disaster Recovery Design, and Implementation
• Migration to Cloud Services
• Virtualization and Migration from Physical to Virtual Environment
• Managed IT Services
• Server installations and decommissioning
• Server support (diagnostic and troubleshooting assistance)
• Network cable installations and modifications
• Hardware upgrades
• Hardware installations
• And many more services…

Give us a call today to setup or troubleshoot your Virtual or Physical Servers, Network, VPN or RDP connection!

Thinking of moving to the cloud?

We can help:

• First, we virtualize your servers, then
• we move your virtual servers to the largest state-of-the-art data center, located in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Next, we create your own private, hybrid, or public cloud, and finally
• we make your data and applications accessible via a secured connection to your offices and mobile users.

Why Virtualize?

• Do More With Less – Consolidated servers with optimized workloads allow you to get more from existing resources.
• Reduced IT Costs – Less hardware and reduced IT administration efforts. Our clients save an average of 50-70% in overall IT costs.
• Business Continuity – Eliminate downtime, securely backup data without interruption and recover immediately from any unplanned outages.
• Increased Flexibility – Fast provisioning and dynamic load balancing for improved application performance.
• Fast Provisioning and Dynamic Load Balancing – for improved application performance.
• Reduced energy needs – fewer servers means lower electricity and cooling bills and a smaller carbon footprint.

Once upon a time, data was confined to expensive, bulky physical servers that took up huge amounts of office space. Today, thanks to innovation, technology has brought us virtualization, meaning space-eating infrastructure is now a thing of the past.  And with Mobile Tech Support’s virtualization solutions, we empower you to do more work with less hardware, and not to mention, maximize the value of your time and money.

The beauty of virtualization is that it is easy for businesses of all size to benefit from the high performance and availability of Cloud Services without the cost of running your own hardware. Reduce capital expenditures and the need to expand your physical IT assets by using a virtualized IT infrastructure.  Cloud Hosting Services in a virtualized environment provides greater scalability, agility and cost control.

Here is an illustration of the steps to migrate to the Cloud.

Why move to the Cloud?

1. Flexibility
   Cloud-based services are ideal for businesses with growing or fluctuating resource needs. For example, if you have greater bandwidth, memory, or hard drive demands, we can make those adjustments in moments. If your needs an increase in any type of resource, it’s easy to scale up your cloud capacity, drawing on the host server or datacenter for the increase. Likewise, if you need to scale down again, the flexibility is baked into our hosting service. This level of agility can give businesses using cloud computing a real advantage over their competitors.
2. Disaster recovery
   Businesses of all sizes should be investing in robust disaster recovery, but for smaller businesses that lack the required cash and expertise, this is often more an ideal than the reality. Being in the cloud is now helping more organizations buck that trend. We have 3 layers of backups running daily. Our goal is to keep your servers up and protected.
3. Automatic software updates
   We take care of software updates – including security updates – so you don’t have to worry about wasting time maintaining the system yourself. Leaving you free to focus on the things that matter, like growing your business.
4. Capital-expenditure Free
   Cloud computing cuts out the high cost of hardware. You simply pay for your monthly hosting and that’s it. No more buying or repairing servers.
5. Increased collaboration
   When your teams can access, edit and share documents anytime, from anywhere, they’re able to do more together and do it better. Cloud-based workflow and file sharing apps help them make updates in real time and gives them full visibility of their collaborations.
6. Work from anywhere
   With cloud computing, if you’ve got an internet connection, you can work for anywhere.
7. Document control
   The more employees and partners collaborate on documents, the greater the need for watertight document control. Before the cloud, workers had to send files back and forth as email attachments to be worked on by one user at a time. Sooner or later you end up with a mess of conflicting file content, formats and titles. When you make the move to cloud computing, all files are stored centrally and everyone sees one version of the truth. Greater visibility means improved collaboration, which ultimately means better work and a healthier bottom line. If you’re still relying on the old way, it could be time to try something a little more streamlined.
8. Security
   Lost laptops are a billion dollar business problem. And potentially greater than the loss of an expensive laptop is the loss of the sensitive data inside it. Cloud computing gives you greater security when this happens. Because your data is stored in the cloud, you can access it no matter what happens to your machine
9. Competitiveness
   Wish there was a simple step you could take to become more competitive? Moving to the cloud gives access to enterprise-class technology, for everyone. It also allows smaller businesses to act faster than big, established competitors. Running your business from the cloud means small outfits can run with the big boys and disrupt the market while remaining lean and nimble.
10. Environmentally friendly
    While the above points spell out the benefits of cloud computing for your business, moving to the cloud isn’t an entirely selfish act. The environment gets a little love too. When your cloud needs fluctuate, your server capacity scales up and down to fit. So you only use the energy you need and you don’t leave oversized carbon footprints.

Focus on your business, not your infrastructure.
Call us today for more information on how we can move you to the Cloud.

Need to host your virtual servers in a state-of-the-art datacenter?  We can help, we offer Virtual Server Hosting.

Our friendly and experienced technicians can resolve 80-90% of the issues remotely.

We are able to offer fast and convenient remote computer repair and support right through the internet. This allows you to get back up and running faster because there’s no downtime of waiting for a technician to arrive at your home.

Although some services cannot be done remotely, we pride ourselves in being able to troubleshoot, diagnose and repair most common software problems over the phone through our remote support software.

We understand the importance of security when it comes to remote support, we are a U.S. based company located in the Phoenix area and never outsource any of our services. We are proud to say that we have been in business for over 20 years. Our technicians have over ten years experience in the computer service industry.

When we remotely connect, you can have confidence knowing that you are dealing with a company you can trust.

Considering using our Remote Services?

Remote Services is when an IT technician is able to connect to a remote computer via the internet and provide tech support and services.

Most of the services listed above are offered via our Remote Services.  As a matter of face, 80-90% of issues that we face On-Site can be resolved remotely.  And here is the best part, you don’t have to disrupt your day waiting for somebody to arrive, we just remote in and fix your issues.

How It WorksHow It Works

Step 1     Once you are on the phone with a member of our support team and ready to begin your session, click Continue.

Step 2    On the next page, you will enter your name and a unique session code that your support technician will provide. You will then review the terms and conditions. After reading and accepting the terms and conditions, you will initiate the screen-sharing session.

Step 3     You will be prompted to download a small virus-free client.

Step 4     With your permission, your support representative will view your screen and share control of your mouse and keyboard.

You will be in full control of your computer at all times.
You can always override control of your mouse and keyboard, and you can end the screen-sharing session at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:     How does this service work?
A: Your support representative will give you a 9-digit code. Once you’ve entered the code in the box and connected to the service, you’ll be prompted to download a small application. This application will allow one of our support representatives to help you with your problem or question by sharing your mouse and keyboard for quick, easy service. You can retake control of your computer at any time simply by moving your mouse or using the application’s pause function to pause the session. You can have our support representative solve a problem for you while you watch, or you can have the support representative tell you what to do step-by-step. You will be in charge at all times.

Q:     Can a support representative look through files on my computer without my knowledge?
A: Absolutely not. Your representative sees only what you see and whatever you decide to show him/her on your screen. The only way for a support representative to work with your computer is through your explicit request for service.

Q:     Is it true that my support representative can see everything on my screen?
A: Yes, but before your support representative views your screen, he or she will first ask your permission and request that you close all documents containing private information. Let’s say you’re having trouble finding an updated video driver on the Web. A support representative can tell you what to do, or he or she can do it for you using your mouse and keyboard remotely while you watch and learn. It’s like having your own personal support representative sitting right next to you.

To see some of the services we offer, click here: Residential Services

Our Mission:
To provide quality service above and beyond that which is expected by the customer at a competitive price.

When you need quick, convenient in-home computer service, Mobile Tech Support is the company for you. When you need a technician to come to you, Mobile Tech Support provides fast, efficient onsite computer repair at your location anywhere in the greater Phoenix area at a reasonable price.

We provide onsite visits in response to your call and dispatch high-quality technicians who have the education and experience to get the job done right the first time. Our technicians have over ten years experience in the computer service industry. We are proud to say that we have been in business for over 20 years.

To see some of the services we offer, click here: Residential Services

Why should you allow Mobile Tech Support, Inc. the privilege to be your valuable web site?  
Nothing but the best, no expense spared.

Location, Location, Location. Our servers are located at I/O Data Centers, Phoenix AZ.   I/O PHOENIX is among the world’s largest data centers.  They have access to 56MW of power, with their own dedicated, on-site sub-station.

Security.  Access to our servers is restricted by biometric screening, 24×7 guard staff and a very impressive defensible perimeter (including those very cool rise-from-the-ground protective bollards barriers at the entrance.

Redundancy. We have redundant power feeds, redundant internet connections, redundant mirrored router/firewalls with automatic fail-over.  On top of that our web servers are mirrored hourly and can be fired upon another server within minutes if the need ever arises.

Backups. We’re paranoid about your data so you don’t have to be.  We have multiple levels of backups on-site, and off-site.  We backup your website, your databases, we even back up your email users.

Speed. Do you want speed?  Tired of slow hosting?   Our web servers are hosted on blistering fast SSD drives, with an enormous pipe to the internet. We host mainly business websites.  We don’t overcrowd our servers with thousands of personal websites, running unnecessary SQL databases.

We don’t tolerate abusers.   We won’t host porn sites.   We don’t tolerate SPAM hosting.   We think our hosting quality speaks for itself.

Expandability. Need dedicated database servers?  Front-end caching proxy server?   Talk to us, we can design a solution for your needs.

Spam Filtering. We pre-process all emails through our anti-spam server to reduce the volume of SPAM emails you receive by up to 90%.  Got an Exchange server?  We can pre-process your email through our anti-spam servers and send the results to your existing email server!

All domain hosting, parking, and email accounts must agree to the Mobile Tech Support, Inc.’s standard Terms and Conditions, as listed at www.mobiletechsupport.com/terms.  Domain registration is available.  Hosting is billed on a quarterly basis.

We know that your data needs to be protected and systems need to be maintained to assure 24/7 up-time.  Your servers are the hearts of the IT infrastructure.  If you’re like most businesses in today’s fast-paced business climate, downtime is simply not an option.  Thus, you want to know that your server’s backups are protecting your business from something as simple as failing hard drives to something as tragic as natural disasters or theft.

Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Assessment

• Do you have a convenient, automatic backup system in place to ensure that you won’t lose data if something goes wrong?
• How often do you backup your critical data?
• Do you check your backups to make sure data is being transferred in a non-corrupt fashion?
• Do you have offsite backups of your critical data?
• Do you have backups of your software offsite?
• How well prepared are you for a disaster such as electrical outages, fire or flood?
• Do you have a formal disaster recovery plan? Has it been tested?
• Are your systems “inoculated” from viruses and their consequences?
• Are your systems optimized to avoid crashes, data corruption or loss?

Fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, blackouts, and other natural and man-made disasters can keep your office doors closed. With a strong disaster recovery plan, closing your doors doesn’t have to mean closing your business. Please call us and we can set up an evaluation and help you protect your business.

Even though a lot of support can be done remotely, we still think it is important to provide business onsite IT support.  Being able to quickly resolve problems remotely is not the only IT support your practice may need.  We send our technicians onsite to interact with the users and to resolve issues that cannot be resolved remotely. With a combination of remote managed services and onsite IT service when necessary, your practice will be covered for any problems that may arise.

To see some of the services we offer in and around the Phoenix area, click here: Business Services