Today, dealerships rely on their technology environment to sell and service cars and trucks. Dealership technology is mission critical to a dealership’s success. Yet many dealerships are still employing outdated IT strategies that can jeopardize their business as technology quickly advances and cybersecurity threats evolve.
An increasingly crucial decision that dealerships must make is whether to opt for a break/fix IT service model or embrace an adaptive and strategically proactive approach to IT.
Understanding the Models:
Break/Fix Service Model:
The break/fix model operates on a reactive basis, providing IT services as needed when issues arise. In this approach, dealerships only seek assistance after encountering a breakdown or other IT-related problem. The service provider then addresses the issue and bills the client for the applicable services. This model lacks a proactive strategy, often resulting in downtime, unpredictable costs, and a delayed response to emerging technologies and cybersecurity threats. In addition, this approach often fails to keep up with IT and cybersecurity best practices. As a result, dealership’s that employ this approach struggle to comply with regulatory standards.
The Pitfalls of Break/Fix:
1. Lack of Technological Integration
- Break/fix models struggle to keep up with the rapid emergence of new technologies.
- Long-term technology strategy and the installation of new tech are typically not included.
2. Unpredictable Budgeting
- Companies using a break/fix model have little control over their IT budget.
- The cost of resolving issues can be expensive for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
3. Incentives Misaligned
- Break/fix providers may have an incentive to prolong issue resolution to increase revenue.
- Limited motivation to invest in a client’s networks or digital infrastructure for future development.
4. Reactive vs. Proactive Support
- Break/fix IT-support is reactive, addressing problems after they occur.
- No preventive measures to stop issues from happening in the first place.
Adaptive & Strategically Proactive Model:
Contrastingly, with an adaptive and strategically proactive approach you continuously work to optimize your dealership’s technologies and processes. This way you prevent issues before they occur, stay ahead of the cybercriminal, and are always up to date when it comes to leveraging IT and cybersecurity best practices.
For many dealerships, an adaptive and strategically proactive approach is difficult to implement because their internal IT resources lack the expertise and bandwidth needed to carry out such an approach. This is where outsourcing your IT and cybersecurity can help. By outsourcing to an IT and cybersecurity Managed Service Provider (MSP) you offload the IT burden. For most dealership’s this is the best approach to today’s cybersecurity and IT challenges.