IT support models
What is the difference between break-fix, managed IT, and co-managed IT support?
Three IT support models dominate the New Zealand SMB market: break-fix (pay-per-incident), managed IT (fixed monthly subscription), and co-managed IT (a hybrid model where an external provider works alongside your internal IT staff). The right model depends on three things: how many staff your business has, whether you already employ internal IT, and how much unplanned downtime your operations can absorb. This guide defines all three models, compares them side by side with NZ industry pricing benchmarks, and ends with a decision framework for choosing the right one.
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At a glance
Not sure which IT support model suits your business? Here is a direct comparison of the three most common approaches used by New Zealand SMBs, based on industry data from a survey of over 750 IT services firms.
| Service Model | Response Time | Cost Model | Monitoring before things break | Strategic IT Planning | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Break-Fix (Time & Materials) | No guarantee. Most firms offer 60-minute or 30-minute response during business hours only. No after-hours coverage unless separately arranged. | Per-incident. Billed hourly at $120-$240/hr with a one-hour minimum. Block-of-hours discounts of 5-20% may be available. Budgeting is unpredictable. One month costs nothing, the next costs thousands. | No. The provider is paid when things break, so preventing problems costs them money. | No. There is no roadmap and no quarterly review, and nobody links IT spend to what the business is trying to do. | Businesses that already have a competent internal IT person and only need occasional specialist project work (for example cloud migration, cyber security implementation). Not recommended for general day-to-day IT support. |
| Managed IT Services | SLA-backed. OxygenIT publishes its response targets in full: 15 minutes on a full outage with a 2 hour resolution target, 25 minutes when a group of users is affected, 30 minutes for a single user, and 1 hour for a service request. Support is staffed 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, excluding New Zealand public holidays. After-hours support is available as a paid add-on, with our United Kingdom team staffing the New Zealand night. | Fixed monthly fee. NZ industry averages often quote per device ($240-$480/server, $80-$120/desktop, approx. $7.50/mobile). OxygenIT uses four bands by team size instead. Predictable, no surprise invoices. Includes helpdesk, monitoring, security, and backup. | Yes. Monitoring runs continuously and flags problems before they become outages. Alerts are handled by the team during staffed hours. | Yes. A quarterly review covering IT budget, critical projects, compliance, cyber security, and recommendations for new equipment and upgrades. | SMBs with 10-100+ staff who need a fully outsourced IT department. Covers helpdesk, on-site support, cyber security, backup, and strategic planning. Not cost-effective to hire internally until you reach approximately 100 employees. |
| Co-Managed IT | SLA-backed for escalated issues. Your internal IT handles first response for routine tasks. OxygenIT covers escalated issues for capacity, specialist skill, and after-hours gaps. | Hybrid. Fixed monthly fee scoped to the specific services your internal team needs help with, usually lower than a full managed rate. Fills gaps rather than replacing your IT staff. | Yes. Shared between your internal IT team and OxygenIT. Access to our monitoring toolset and ticketing system. | Yes. We work alongside your IT manager. We provide specialist expertise, project support, and a second opinion on major technology decisions. | Businesses with 1-2 internal IT staff who need specialist backup for escalations, after-hours coverage, infrastructure projects, or expertise their in-house team does not have (for example cyber security, cloud architecture). |
Pricing figures are NZ industry averages based on a survey of over 750 IT services firms and do not reflect specific OxygenIT pricing.
Four quick questions and then a 15 minute call with the founder. Every OxygenIT price is already published.
What is break-fix IT support?
Break-fix IT support is an hourly, pay-per-incident model where a business calls an IT provider only when something breaks. Nobody watches your systems, nothing is maintained on a schedule, and there is no ongoing relationship between incidents.
In New Zealand, break-fix typically bills at $120 to $240 per hour with a one-hour minimum charge per call-out. Some providers offer block-of-hours discounts of 5 to 20% if the business pre-purchases a set number of hours.
Break-fix suits very small businesses (1 to 5 staff) with simple IT setups and a high tolerance for downtime, or larger businesses with a competent internal IT person who only need occasional specialist help (such as cloud migrations or security implementations). It is rarely cost-effective for general day-to-day IT support in any organisation with more than five staff.
The structural weakness of break-fix is the misaligned incentive: the provider earns revenue when systems fail, so they have no commercial reason to prevent failure.
What is managed IT support?
Managed IT support is a subscription model where a business pays a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope: continuous system monitoring, automated patching, helpdesk access, security tooling and IT planning. At OxygenIT the helpdesk is staffed 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, and after-hours cover is an add-on run by our team in the United Kingdom. The provider is paid the same amount regardless of how many issues arise, so the commercial incentive is to prevent problems rather than respond to them.
Managed IT pricing can follow a team-size band or a device-based structure:
- Fixed monthly fee by team size: OxygenIT uses four bands set by team size. Most NZ providers quote a rate per person, typically $75 to $180 a month (Service Leadership 2024). OxygenIT does not. Managed IT is four bands set by team size, from $750 a month for a team of up to ten, and the band price is the price.
- Per-device fixed monthly fee: $240 to $480 per server, $80 to $120 per desktop, approximately $10 per mobile device (NZ industry averages, common in asset-heavy environments)
Managed IT suits SMBs with 10 or more staff who need a fully outsourced IT department covering helpdesk, on-site support, cyber security, backup, and strategic planning. Hiring a single internal IT person typically becomes more cost-effective than managed IT only once an organisation reaches approximately 100 employees, because below that threshold a single hire cannot reasonably cover the full skill range required.
What is co-managed IT support?
Co-managed IT support is a hybrid model where an external IT provider works alongside existing internal IT staff at the business rather than replacing them. The internal team handles routine, business-specific work; the external provider fills gaps in capacity, expertise, or after-hours coverage.
In New Zealand, co-managed pricing is hybrid: a fixed monthly fee scoped to the specific services the internal team needs help with, usually lower than a full managed rate. Common scopes include after-hours and weekend support, escalated network or security issues, infrastructure project delivery, vCIO or vCSO (vCISO) advisory, and access to enterprise-grade monitoring and ticketing tools.
Co-managed suits businesses with 1 to 5 internal IT staff who need specialist backup or coverage their in-house team cannot reasonably maintain alone. The most common reasons NZ businesses adopt co-managed are cover outside business hours, cyber security expertise (particularly ISO 27001 or cyber security framework alignment), and cloud architecture for projects beyond the day-to-day work of their internal team. Support is staffed 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, excluding New Zealand public holidays, with after-hours support available as a paid add-on.
The comparison in At a glance uses New Zealand industry averages from a survey of over 750 IT services firms (Service Leadership 2024 SMB IT Pricing Index). OxygenIT prices managed IT in four bands by team size across four service levels, from $750 a month for a team of up to ten, and the band price is the price. That table includes co-managed IT for direct comparison.
Which IT support model is right for your business?
Use these three questions to identify the model that fits your business.
1. How many staff do you have?
| Staff size | Existing internal IT | Recommended model |
|---|---|---|
| <5 | None | Break-fix is acceptable |
| 5 to 100 | None | Managed IT |
| 5 to 100 | 1-2 internal IT staff | Co-managed IT |
| Over 100 | Internal IT department | Internal IT + managed or co-managed for specialist gaps |
2. What is the cost of one hour of unplanned downtime to your business?
If unplanned downtime measurably costs revenue, customer trust, or compliance standing, the monitoring built into managed and co-managed IT pays for itself. Break-fix is only viable if downtime is genuinely tolerable.
3. Do you have compliance or security requirements?
| Requirement level | Recommended model |
|---|---|
| No formal requirements | Any model |
| Industry standards and legislation (cyber security frameworks, Privacy Act 2020) | Managed or co-managed IT with cyber security included |
| Formal certifications (ISO 27001) | Managed IT delivered by an ISO-certified provider |
If two or more of the three answers point to managed or co-managed IT, break-fix is almost certainly costing you more than a fixed-fee model would.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between break-fix and managed IT?
Break-fix is pay-per-incident: you call when something fails and you are billed by the hour. Managed IT is a fixed monthly band for a defined scope that includes monitoring, helpdesk, security tooling and planning. The commercial incentive flips from repairing failures to preventing them.
How much does managed IT cost at OxygenIT?
OxygenIT prices managed IT in four bands by team size. Remote IT Support starts at $750 a month for a team of up to ten. Managed IT Support starts at $1,200 for the same band. Fully Managed starts at $3,600 and Complete IT at $5,800. The band price is the price. Every band is published on the managed IT pricing page.
Does OxygenIT provide support outside business hours?
The helpdesk is staffed 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, excluding New Zealand public holidays. After-hours support is a paid add-on, staffed by our United Kingdom team covering the New Zealand night. Continuous monitoring still runs outside staffed hours; alerts are handled when the team is on.
When is break-fix still a sensible choice?
For a very small business with simple IT and a high tolerance for downtime, or where a competent internal IT person only needs occasional specialist project help. It is rarely cost-effective for day-to-day support once you pass about five staff.
What is co-managed IT?
A hybrid where an external provider works alongside your existing internal IT staff rather than replacing them. OxygenIT fills gaps in capacity, specialist skill, or after-hours cover.
Talk it through
If you would like to talk about your setup, book a 15 minute call. Support hours are 8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. Existing clients can call the support line on 0800 101 095.
