A Guide to Managed Service Pricing

One of the many questions potential clients want to know is how much does Managed Services cost. This question is often not as simple of an answer “as $100 a user, $125 if you need email.” It boils down to quite a few factors, some include your current needs/wants, IT infrastructure, regulatory restrictions, and your willingness to accept risk.

Let’s start by talking about the current wants and needs of your business. Do you want people to work from home? Then you will likely need a VPN with a purchased license. Do you want remote workstations for your users to log into from personal devices? Do you already have this hosted with another cloud platform like Azure or AWS?

Is this something being done by your previous MSP (Managed Service Provider)? If so, are they willing to migrate it off their equipment and into yours? 

Is Your IT Infrastructure Secure From Outside Threats?

This brings me to the next question of your current IT infrastructure. Do you have a domain controller, or do you have all local users that log into workstations with the same password? Are your servers/workstations out of date, IE Server 2003, 2008, Windows Vista, or Windows 7?  Certain equipment is no longer supported by the vendors and may require more time troubleshooting, upgrading, and replacing.

Another very important point is regulatory restrictions. For example, is your company a healthcare organization that needs to follow strict HIPPA guidelines? If so, this will require more advanced software and additional setup. For example, Blackpoint Cyber Threat Detection is available to help keep your patient records safe and secure 27/7/365 and will eliminate any threats within 15 minutes of detection. Antivirus, SQL database password protection, and file-level protection will not allow all of your users to see patient documents and violate strict HIPPA guidelines. 

The second example I would use for restrictions is asking you if your company processes credit or debit card transitions onsite or on your website? If yes, you will need to be PCI compliant requiring your IT team to go through a yearly audit and if you fail, you could be liable for a $5,000 to $10,000 fine.

What is the Risk Vs. Reward Factor?

Lastly, is your willingness to take risk. This is really what it all boils down to. I could tell you stories about companies getting in trouble due to ransomware or SQL databases holding patient records that are protected by an admin account that has a blank password. But at the end of the day, these companies were willing to take the risk and save the money. One thing I do know is there are certain risks you have to take in IT but there is always a solution to minimize your threat landscape. 

Hopefully, this guide helps you understand some of the many factors that make it hard to put a Price Per User or Price Per Install because everyone has different onsite equipment, a willingness to accept different risks, or are required by law to follow a certain standard.