How Much Should You Spend on Managed IT Services?
As time goes on, technology spending continues to rise with organizations realizing the true power of digitization. But how much SHOULD you spend on managed IT services?
In today’s day and age, digitization is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge, keeping up with customer demands, and of course, operating as efficiently as possible. Businesses are taking technology more seriously than ever before – investing heavily in the reliability, performance, and security of their information systems. But how much SHOULD you spend on managing your environment? First and foremost, should you hire internally, call an outsourced company when something goes wrong or opt for a managed contract that gives you proactive monitoring, maintenance, and ongoing support?
A look at the cost differences between hiring internally, break/fix, and opting for a managed contract…
If you’re reading this, chances are, you’re strongly considering managed IT services. Just in case you’re on the fence about your decision, let’s review the cost differences between the most common technical support options:
- Hiring an internal person or department tends to be rather costly as you’re paying a salary, benefits, vacation time, overtime, and expenses associated with maintaining a workstation and equipment for them.
- Outsourcing to a break/fix company also tends to be rather costly as you’re only paying for support when issues happen without any sort of proactive monitoring or maintenance to prevent them in the first place.
- Outsourcing to a managed services provider tends to be the most cost-efficient option as you pay a flat-rate monthly fee for proactive monitoring, maintenance, and ongoing support that keeps you from experiencing expensive downtime.
Naturally, managed IT services makes the most sense – delivering the best possible value for your money.
What factors should you consider before you make an investment in managed IT services?
Although managed IT services deliver the most value for your money, it’s important to consider the following before making a decision:
- Your budget
- Your technology requirements
- Any financial and/or legal consequences of not meeting these requirements
Essentially, cost shouldn’t be the only consideration in terms of choosing to work with a managed services provider. If you have a small budget and very few technical requirements because you’re a 1-2 person shop that doesn’t operate in a regulated industry, you may not find value in managed IT services the way an organization that uses more complex software and must comply with various regulations will.
Remember, investing in your information technology infrastructure is about keeping up with the latest trends, staying productive throughout the day, and of course, maintaining compliance with the following:
- Industry-specific regulations
- Overlapping privacy laws
- Tariffs and trade policy
- Intellectual property rights
If you’ve deemed the investment into managed IT services valuable, what’s a fair price point?
Sure, you know you’ll be paying a flat-rate monthly fee… But what’s a fair price point to pay? First and foremost, the flat-rate monthly fee will often depend on various factors, including the following:
- The complexity of your network
- Any specific compliance requirements
- The number of users and/or devices
You may pay per-device or per-user, depending on the MSP you’ve chosen. Regardless, the flat-rate monthly fee will cover a range of services, such as:
- Around-the-clock monitoring
- Regular maintenance
- Cybersecurity
- Help desk support
- Data backups
- Business continuity
- And more
As a general rule, you can estimate anywhere between $75 per user/device, per month to $300 per user/device, per month. They will likely offer plans that start on the lower end – encompassing the basics like monitoring, maintenance, and support to the higher end – encompassing more complex requirements in terms of cybersecurity or business continuity.
Reach out to us via the chatbox if you have any questions about managed IT services pricing.
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