Managed IT Services (MSP) Pricing Calculator
Do you need to outsource part of all of your IT services to a Managed Service Provider? Use our MSP Price Calculator tool to get a free budget estimate.
IT pricing shouldn’t be a mystery.
We know it can be frustrating trying to figure out how much IT outsourcing will cost your organization. If a new client asks us to give them a ballpark figure before we’ve had a chance to assess their IT infrastructure, we are faced with a dilemma: There are many variables that can influence how much we need to charge to ensure our clients’ systems are running efficiently and securely. But replying with, “Well, it depends…” is not a satisfactory answer..
To help prospective Ubisec clients understand how much our managed IT services will cost, we’ve created this pricing calculator. Simply enter a few basic details about your organization. If you’re looking to get a more specific quote on brands like Cisco, and their various Cisco Umbrella or Cloud computing solutions, we’d be happy to guide you through that process on a quick discovery call here. Get your estimate now or read on to learn more about the pricing of managed IT services.
IT pricing shouldn’t be a mystery.
We know it can be frustrating trying to figure out how much IT outsourcing will cost your organization. If a new client asks us to give them a ballpark figure before we’ve had a chance to assess their IT infrastructure, we are faced with a dilemma: There are many variables that can influence how much we need to charge to ensure our clients’ systems are running efficiently and securely. But replying with, “Well, it depends…” is not a satisfactory answer..
To help prospective Ubisec clients understand how much our managed IT services will cost, we’ve created this pricing calculator. Simply enter a few basic details about your organization, and it will provide a reliable ballpark estimate of your monthly IT spend. Click here to get your estimate now, or read on to learn more about the pricing of managed IT services.
How much do managed IT services cost?
Expect a monthly spend of $100 to $500 per person. The large price range reflects the many variables that impact the cost of managed IT services. These variables include:
- Number of supported end users
- Number of workstations (desktops, laptops)
- Number of servers
- Number of firewalls, switches, routers
- Number of software licenses
- Number of other networked devices (phones, tablets, printers, etc.)
The price is further impacted by your processes and practice. For example:
- What are the security and compliance requirements?
- What level of expertise is required to manage your systems?
- Is there an internal IT team?
- Are there branch offices or remote workers?
- Is there a BYOD policy?
- Are servers on site, in the cloud, or both?
An IT services provider will conduct a thorough assessment of your infrastructure to clarify these variables and then determine an accurate monthly cost. The cost is usually expressed as per user, per month.
Managed IT Services Price Calculator
What are the different ways of pricing managed IT services?
Managed services providers price their services several different ways. The first determinator is whether the services are co-managed or fully managed. In other words, whether the provider is supporting an in-house IT team or replacing it altogether.
Within co-managed, a variable is the nature of the support: Is the provider coming in for relatively short-term, intense work on a project? Are they coming in long term to provide daily help desk support, freeing the internal team to focus on other responsibilities? Or is it the reverse, and the provider is coming in to handle complex tasks, which leaves the internal team free to deal with daily IT issues?
The second determinator is the actual pricing model. IT services providers usually rely on either per-device pricing, per-user pricing, or a combination of the two. There is also the break/fix model, which we’ll discuss later. Here at Ubisec Systems, we primarily focus on per-device pricing. The number of end users can affect the total service plan cost, but the per-device model has two distinct advantages: security and agility.
Security
The biggest threat to any organization today is cybercrime, specifically internet-based cyberattacks like ransomware or IP theft. This makes any device that’s connected to the internet a vulnerability. The shift to remote work has only made this situation more urgent.
As experts in both cybersecurity and network management, we are able to remotely monitor all the devices on a network. We can apply proactive updates and patches, and take reactive measures like lockouts and wiping should a device come under attack. And these actions can all be done remotely. Our ability to mitigate the risks posed by networked devices means our clients are protected against the most serious threats.
In contrast, with the per-user pricing model, the end users — humans — are the focus of the service plan. They are also the security weak points. Securing an organization becomes much more about these people and their ability and willingness to be vigilant against cyberattacks like phishing. Cyber vigilance requires awareness and extensive training, otherwise people will allow their devices and the accounts they access to endanger the network. This is a riskier approach, since the vigilance of an individual is less reliable than our ability to secure a device. In our experience, the risk is unacceptable.
Agility
In this time of rapidly changing technologies and growing BYOD (bring your own device) practices, businesses need to be able to easily replace old devices and move to new applications and platforms. Our per-device focus makes these transitions more efficient, for the simple reason that devices are easier to monitor and manage than people. If your organization intends to scale your IT infrastructure or headcount or both, it will always be relatively simple to add new devices your users need and remove those they do not.
Finally, a word about the break/fix service model: This is where you call on an IT services provider to come to your aid in the event of device failure, network downtime, a cyberattack, et cetera. These services are reactive — dealing with issues after they arise rather than preventing them from happening in the first place. An advantage of the break/fix model is you pay for only the services you use. If you have an in-house IT team and your IT infrastructure is small-scale and relatively stable, this can seem like a reasonable solution.
However, break/fix service providers make their money when things go wrong, so they are usually not motivated to implement proactive maintenance and upgrades. They are usually not in the business of preventing problems. Worse, they usually do not monitor their clients’ systems. This means a technical failure or cybercrime incident can reach devastating proportions before action is taken to address it. Again, in our experience, this is an unacceptable level of risk.
Which industries can benefit from managed IT services in Orange County and Los Angeles?
Distribution, transportation, and logistics
Business is booming from eCommerce sales, but for many in the distribution and logistics sector, their technology simply can’t keep up. If a business is growing, its technology infrastructure needs to grow with it. As the business expands to multiple sites, the existing IT framework may struggle with manual fixes and workarounds to support a more interconnected environment that it wasn’t designed for.
These industries are so competitive that companies can’t do without cutting-edge IT solutions to reduce costs and boost operational efficiency and security. For example, customers expecting shipments no longer tolerate delays, so specialized distribution solutions can ensure orders move quickly and can be tracked in real time from any device.
Financial services and insurance
Technology is the lifeblood of the financial services sector. Uptime means dollars, and for most firms, downtime is a cost that is simply too great to bear. Network slowdowns, hardware failures, and compliance issues can cause all sorts of problems across an entire firm. The inability to solve technical issues will eventually lead to lost business, damaged reputation, or worse, security breaches or data loss events.
Employees can become frustrated with daily issues and the workarounds they have to use to get their jobs done, and clients can feel let down by the level of service they’re receiving. Meanwhile, the company’s IT staff — stuck in a never-ending cycle of complaints and reactive fixes — feel demotivated. Offloading these technology burdens to a firm that specializes in handling them is the logical solution.
Real estate
As the Southern California real estate industry becomes ever more competitive, one of the key factors in gaining a competitive edge is the integration of technology with an agency’s product offerings. There’s a growing expectation for commercial buildings to be more connected, so it’s essential for real estate firms to leverage more advanced solutions in order to improve their building management and resident services. If the firm can’t continue to advance their market offerings, they stand to lose revenue and reputation while exposing themselves to significant legal action by putting their residents at risk of cybersecurity threats.
Frequently Asked Questions
This calculator is designed to provide an estimate: a reliable ballpark figure of managed IT services, in general. It will give you an idea of what outsourcing your IT support is going to cost given your IT infrastructure and headcount. If you decide to move forward, we’ll conduct a more formal assessment of your IT infrastructure (free of charge) and propose a detailed plan for getting your technology in line with your goals. This will include an official quote.
At Ubisec systems, we offer a simple way for you to get clarity on your technology challenges and opportunities. It begins with a conversation with our advisory team. This isn’t a sales call. We’ll take the time to understand your business, the areas you’re experiencing problems, and work out whether our services are the right way to fix them. If they are, we’ll determine which solutions best fit your business needs and propose a roadmap.
Note that we always make sure our services are appropriate for our client’s business. If our solutions aren’t right for you, we’ll happily refer you to a more suitable provider.
Not with Ubisec Systems. Our team will be there to augment yours with any knowledge, resources, or tools that they need in order to improve your IT infrastructure and processes.
Not unless you needed it anyway.
As close to zero as possible. At Ubisec, our goal is for you to be free to focus on your business without having to invest time and resources into your IT management. Our role is to be there to continually optimize, safeguard, improve, and support the needs of your organization long term. Ideally, your only time spend will be reviewing our reports.
Over the years, Ubisec Systems has worked with many clients who are in heavily regulated industries. We have developed our solutions and processes to adhere to all known compliance requirements, from cybersecurity and data protection protocols to documentation and reporting.
Not with Ubisec Systems. We offer monthly contracts for ongoing support. This ensures our clients are always able to assess the value of our partnership. For projects that require more than a month, we offer commensurate multi-month contracts.
Yes, money and time. Hiring an internal IT professional costs much more than just their salary, insurance, and benefits. There is the time it takes to train them, and the time they need to regularly retrain to keep their skills up to date. And this is for one person, with one person’s expertise in the complex and rapidly changing world of IT.
With an experienced managed IT services provider, you are hiring an entire team — multiple individuals covering a wide range of specialties. Larger firms like Ubisec are also able to constantly retrain and upskill our engineers, so that our clients are always protected from the latest security threats and always leveraging the latest, most productive tools. To learn more about IT outsourcing, click here.
