SAS ITThe Real Comparison
Break-fix looks cheap until you have a critical failure at 3 PM on a Friday. Then costs spike and you wait hours or days for a repair.
Maintenance contracts cost more monthly but eliminate surprise costs and provide faster response.
Real-World Example: 20-User Dubai Office
Break-Fix Reality (Typical Year):
- Routine support calls: AED 2,000 to 4,000
- Hardware failures (2 per year): AED 5,000 to 10,000
- Software licensing help: AED 1,000 to 2,000
- Emergency repair (after hours): AED 3,000 to 8,000
- Lost productivity (5 hours downtime): AED 8,000 to 16,000
- Total annual cost: AED 19,000 to 40,000
IT AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract):
- Fixed monthly fee: AED 1,500 to 3,000 × 12 = AED 18,000 to 36,000
- Includes helpdesk, preventive maintenance, patches, monitoring
- No emergency fees
- Faster response (30 min remote, 4hr on-site)
- Total annual cost: AED 18,000 to 36,000
When Break-Fix Works
- Fewer than 5 staff
- Minimal IT dependency
- High risk tolerance for downtime
When Maintenance Contracts Make Sense
- 5 to 50+ staff
- Cannot afford downtime
- Want predictable IT budgeting
- Need proactive security updates
Hidden Costs in Break-Fix
- Premium pricing for emergency out-of-hours
- Lack of preventive maintenance → more failures
- No cost control — you never know the monthly bill
- Delayed responses during busy periods
SAS IT AMC contracts fix costs and prevent emergencies. Get a free quote | +971-526716178
Related: IT AMC Dubai | IT Support Dubai | Managed IT Services Dubai
Tags
About the Author
Reviewed by Mustafa Husain, Founder of SAS IT Services, with 10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, networking, and security — alongside the same engineers who design, install, and support the work described on this site. SAS IT Services was founded on 22 February 2020 in Dubai and has since delivered 500+ projects for businesses across the UAE.
We specialize in Fortinet, Cisco, and Microsoft, among 17 vendor product lines we regularly install, configure, and support across networking, cybersecurity, CCTV, and cloud infrastructure — hands-on experience that informs the technical guidance in our articles.
Our work is independently rated 5.0 out of 5 from 17 verified Google Reviews. Every article is reviewed internally for technical accuracy before publishing and reflects practices we apply on real client deployments in Dubai and the UAE.
SAS IT Services — Dubai
Need expert IT support?
Our experienced engineers cover all of Dubai & UAE with same-day response and 24/7 support contracts.