How Much Is Bad I.T. Really Costing You?

Most small and mid-sized businesses with 5–60 computers should expect managed IT costs to fall into a customized monthly range, depending on security, compliance, and operational risk—not a flat rate.

For example, two businesses with the same headcount can see meaningful cost differences based on:

• Regulatory requirements (HIPAA, PCI, FTC, etc.)

• Cybersecurity risk exposure

• Downtime tolerance

• Internal IT involvement (fully managed vs co-managed)

> Request a Price Quote to receive a customized MSP pricing estimate based on your users, devices, security needs, and service scope or use the Free IT Cost Calculator to estimate baseline IT spending based on environment size and support requirements.

MSP pricing varies because no two businesses run the same way, face the same risks, or need the same level of support.

Here are the 4 variables that actually determine MSP cost.

1. Number of users and devices (i.e. 5–60 computers)
   Pricing scales with how many users, endpoints, servers, and cloud accounts require support and protection.

2. Security and compliance requirements
   Advanced cybersecurity controls, monitoring, and compliance needs (HIPAA, PCI, regulated data) increase service scope and cost.

3. Business uptime criticality
   Organizations that require high availability, fast response times, and minimal downtime need higher service tiers.

4. Managed vs. co-managed IT model
   Fully managed IT covers all support, while co-managed IT shares responsibility with an internal team, affecting pricing.

> Read the Co-Managed vs Outsourced IT Guide to determine which IT support model fits your team, budget, and growth stage or schedule a Free IT Strategy Call to validate assumptions, review findings, and align IT support with your business priorities.

Low-cost IT support often looks affordable up front, but it usually excludes the protections that prevent downtime, breaches, and surprise costs.

Hidden Cost Checklist

• No proactive monitoring
  Issues are fixed only after systems fail or users complain.

• No documented security controls
  Security exists “in theory,” not in enforced policies, tools, or logs.

• No compliance readiness
  There’s no preparation for audits, insurance requirements, or regulatory reviews.

• Reactive-only support
  No planning, no optimization, no prevention — just break/fix response.

• Surprise emergency invoices
  Outages, recoveries, and after-hours support trigger unexpected charges.

The lowest IT price usually shifts risk back onto the business. Lower cost does not mean lower risk — it often means higher exposure.

> Read the IT Buyer’s Guide to learn how to evaluate MSPs, compare service models, and avoid common purchasing mistakes or explore the Downtime Impact Calculator to quantify the financial and operational impact of IT outages on your business.

You don’t need a quote to build a realistic IT budget. You need a structured estimate, risk validation, and a final adjustment based on your environment.

Estimate → Validate → Customize

Step 1: Estimate baseline spend
Use a Free IT Cost Calculator to model expected IT costs based on users, devices, and service level. This gives you a realistic starting range.

Step 2: Quantify business risk
Use the Downtime Impact Calculator to understand how outages affect revenue, productivity, and operations — and why underbudgeting IT increases risk.

Step 3: Validate and customize
Confirm assumptions during a free strategy call and refine the budget based on your security needs, uptime requirements, and whether you choose managed or co-managed IT.

The IT Noise Calculator helps identify hidden inefficiencies that quietly inflate support costs.

Smart IT budgets are estimated with data, validated against risk, and customized to the business — not guessed.

Our process is designed to be transparent, practical, and pressure-free.

• 15-minute strategy call
  We review your environment, goals, and immediate concerns.

• Free cybersecurity or network assessment
  We identify gaps, risks, and improvement areas based on real data.

• Customized proposal aligned to real risk
  Recommendations and pricing reflect your users, security needs, and uptime requirements — not generic packages.

• No obligation, no pressure
  You decide if and when to move forward.

Pricing is available upon request after the assessment. It’s not withheld — it’s scoped accurately once your environment is understood.