Award Winning
IT & Comms
Since 2005
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Award Winning
IT & Comms
Since 2005
Global Reach, Local Support
Empowering SMBs and SMEs through IT & Comms Solutions Excellence…
How much should you be paying for your Managed IT Solution?
When businesses evaluate a potential purchase or investment, cost is always a key consideration. However, opting for the lowest price can often lead to false savings, especially when selecting an IT support provider. In this industry, choosing a bargain option may expose your business to unnecessary risks. It’s essential to remember the old adage: “If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is”.
What is a Good Deal? £25 per user, per month, for a Managed IT solution that includes proactive monitoring, “cyber protection” and unlimited support – that sounds like a great deal, right?
Consider a small business with 15 users, and at £25 per user that’s £375 a month for a ‘Managed IT’ service – a good investment? But what does that £375 actually get you? A traditional ad-hoc IT support service typically costs £80 to £120 per hour – an MSP will use the same skilled technicians, so their rates are calculated on comparable labour costs, albeit assumed, plus any labour costs associated with ‘Monitoring’ an organisation, as well as any ‘Proactive Support’, plus any ‘Cyber Security’ software included in that £25 price point.
Assuming they have the appropriate resources, that £375 equals a maximum of 4 hours support over the entire month, with at least a couple of hours needed for reactive support. And whilst the cost of their supplied software can vary, we’ll assume they’ve invested an appropriate amount to ensure your organisation is protected? So what’s left from that £375 to ‘proactively monitor’ and ‘maintain’ your organisations IT infrastructure, as well as further support and give you the confidence your IT and your business is in safe hands?
At this point, you might be reconsidering whether that £25 per user is really such a ‘great deal, and whilst not every business needs the full suite of services that an enterprise-level MSP offers, there are budget-friendly, co-managed options. However, whoever you choose as your MSP, you’re selecting a partner—not just making a cost-saving decision. Even if you’re not using all their services, knowing they have the skills and resources in place (and you’re being billed appropriately) should give you confidence in their support.
Let’s explore a little more why cutting corners on IT support could ultimately cost you more in the long run…
Cheap Service or Genuine Partnership?
A low-cost Managed Service Provider (MSP) usually reflects the quality of service they can offer. Just because two MSPs claim to offer managed services doesn’t mean their offerings are equal. Take the time to dig deeper into what you’re really getting. A true IT partner will provide more than just basic support—they’ll be aligned with your business goals and work proactively to enhance your operations.
Lack of Resources Hurts Your Growth
Is the MSP a one-person operation? While small businesses can certainly deliver excellent services, they may not have the capacity to fully support a growing client base. There are only so many hours in a day, and insufficient staffing could limit their ability to address your needs promptly. You need a provider with the right resources and expertise to not only solve problems quickly but also contribute to your business’s long-term growth, not slow it down.
Proactive Protection Is Essential
A cheap MSP often lacks the infrastructure to proactively monitor and protect your business. While having a helpdesk for reactive support is useful, it’s far more important to have systems in place to prevent issues before they occur. The best IT support companies invest in top-tier monitoring and security tools that detect and address potential problems early—often resolving them before they affect your productivity. Regular updates, patches, and security measures are crucial to ensuring your data is safe and your technology runs smoothly.
Outgrowing Your IT Provider
A low-cost MSP may struggle to keep up as your business grows. They often lack the resources and expertise to scale their services at the pace you require. You need an IT provider capable of evolving alongside your business, offering flexible solutions that meet your expanding needs.
Long-Term Value Over Short-Term Savings
Focusing solely on cost can lead to overlooking long-term value. While a cheaper MSP might save you money upfront, the hidden costs of downtime, security breaches, or inefficiencies can quickly outweigh any initial savings. A reliable IT partner, even if it comes at a higher price, provides peace of mind and better return on investment by helping your business operate smoothly, securely, and efficiently.
Investing in Expertise Ensures Stability
Your IT provider should be more than just a vendor—they should be an extension of your team. A provider with skilled technicians and proven expertise can ensure stable, uninterrupted business operations. They will have the tools, processes, and resources necessary to not just respond to issues, but to prevent them, so your team stays focused on what they do best.
Our ‘Enterprise’ Managed IT Solution ensures that Users are provided with a guaranteed level of support, as well as providing 24/7 Monitoring and protection for your systems and data, with our Pro, Essentials and Lite solutions also offering a range of features, ensuring the right fit for your business – and depending on your requirements, you can complement your Managed IT service with our Add-Ons.
Enterprise – Managed IT
Pro – Managed IT
Essentials – Managed IT
There is no such thing as too much support, but if you would prefer an un-managed solution that still enjoys Award Winning IT Support and a 24/7 Service Desk, we also offer a ‘Lite‘ support option – for more details take a look at our Lite option & Managed IT Add-Ons below
Lite – Unlimited Support
Cloud Suite ’24 (add-on)
Cloud+ Suite ’24 (add-on)
Cyber+ Suite ’24 (add-on)
Which bundle/Microsoft Plan is the best fit for your organisation? It really depends on your specific needs and priorities, but here are some factors to consider when making your decision:
Company size: If your organisation has between 10 and 300 users and requires a comprehensive productivity suite with built-in security and device management features, Business Premium (included as part of our Cloud+ Suite) is likely the better option. However, if you have more than 300 users or anticipate rapid growth, M365 E3 / E5 may be a better fit (as an upgrade to our Cloud+ Suite).
If you have less than 10 users and are not overly concerned about management features, our Cloud Suite (including Microsoft 365 Standard) should be adequate – and you always have the option of upgrading to our Cloud+ Suite if your requirements change…
Security and compliance needs: If your organisation has strict compliance requirements or needs advanced security features, Business Premium has a strong set of tools included, but E3 provides a more viable upgrade path to E5 security and compliance.
Budget: Business Premium is generally more affordable than E3, making it an attractive choice for cost-conscious SMBs. However, its worth checking the benefits of M365 E3’s advanced features against the additional cost to determine the best value for your organisation.
All Managed IT and Support plans are “per user” but include support for one registered device (workstation/laptop); additional devices can be added (e.g. a users laptop as well as primary workstation) for a supplement charge. Hot Desks would be treated as a single device per registered user – no discounts would apply for users sharing a workstation. Clients can add our Cloud Suite add-on to our Essentials, Pro and Enterprise Managed IT services, but our Cloud+ Suite and our Cyber+ Suite are only able to be added on to our Pro and Enterprise Managed IT Services. Companies using 365 Business solutions (including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Entra) will incur a supplementary ‘365 Management’ fee of £6 per registered user. However, this fee is waived if ‘Managed’ 365 licenses are purchased through ITCS Global, either as single licenses or part of our Cloud suites. All ‘unlimited support’ features within our Managed IT and Support contracts are based on a ‘fair usage’ policy with a ‘Custom Solution Surcharge’ applicable in the event a client has a particularly complex infrastructure, requires above average support for their users or subject to continued security-based issues due to a poor ‘Risk Mitigation Score’ (by not implementing recommended security solutions), which is reviewed quarterly – please note, 95% of our customers are NOT currently subject to a Custom Solution Surcharge as their support requirements fall within a generous ‘fair usage’ policy. *Plans that benefit from ‘Onsite Support Included’ are limited to 1 incident per week, per 10 users. Additional Onsite Support (and ‘Discounted Onsite Support’) is billed at 50% standard rates. For any ‘Onsite Support Included’ incidents in Central London, a supplement charge of £20/hour is applicable. Workstation Installations (e.g. upgrades and new users) are considered “projects” and (discounted) rates apply, unless carried out as part of available Service Days. Service Days (included in our Enterprise plan) are accrued at 0.5 days per 10 users, per month, up to a maximum of 1 day per week, and do not carry over each month. All onsite SLA response and resolution times are based on standard business hours/days. Standard Business Hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Extended Business Hours are: Pro Service – Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm; Enterprise Service: Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm. Advertised Phone Response SLA times and Ticket Resolution SLA times are estimated, and based on service measurements taken between January 2024 and October 2024, and are not guaranteed. Customers signed up to either our Cloud, Cloud+ or Cyber+ suites will automatically be moved over to the next Suite on its annual deployment (e.g. automatically moved from our “Cloud+ Suite ’24” to our “Cloud+ Suite ’25”), which may fall within an existing contract period and additional charges may apply. All Managed IT and Support Plans are based on a minimum 12-month contract, automatically renewing on its anniversary for a minimum rolling 3-month period. Any add-ons that included licenses subject to annual commitments (e.g. Microsoft 365) will remain in contract until the respective annual-commitment licenses expire, and in the event a Support plan is terminated, the respective license(s) will be billed at our standard standalone license rates. Managed IT and Support Plans are subject to a standardised annual price increase of (no more than) 15%, not in line with a contracts anniversary but with our cross-organisation annual pricing review (typically applied between January and March each year); new Managed IT or Support contracts are exempt from this annual price rise for the first 12 months of their contract. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the above.
