Managed IT Support
Outsource your IT to a team that watches it for you — billed per seat, per month.
Managed IT (an outsourced IT department) means one company looks after all your computers, servers, network and email. They monitor your systems, fix issues, install software and answer day-to-day help requests — usually billed as a flat fee per user (seat) per month. For an SME with no in-house IT staff, it is like having an on-call tech team without hiring one.
For SMEs with no full-time IT staff who do not want to scramble for help every time something breaks, or small in-house IT teams that need an extra pair of hands for day-to-day support.
Same product, different names.
Each carrier brands this differently — here’s how to recognise it when you compare quotes.
The honest pros and cons.
Benefits
- A fixed monthly fee covers day-to-day support, so the cost is predictable and easy to budget.
- 24×7 monitoring means many issues get handled before you even notice them.
- A helpdesk hotline or email gives staff someone to call the moment something goes wrong.
- Specialists handle updates, anti-virus and backups, cutting the risk of infections and downtime.
- Seats scale up or down with headcount, so it fits as the business grows or shrinks.
Watch-outs
- Cost is per seat, so a larger team costs more — work out the full monthly total first.
- Response times (SLA) come in tiers — cheaper plans may not include same-day on-site visits.
- Switching providers means handing over accounts and settings, so plan the transition carefully.
- Hardware, software licences and big projects are usually quoted separately.
Typically from about $120–$350 per user (seat) per month, depending on response times (SLA), whether on-site visits are included and monitoring scope; larger firms are usually quoted case by case.
Common questions
Q01How is managed IT different from hiring my own IT staff?
Q02Does the fee include hardware and software licences?
You might also need
Microsoft 365 Deployment
Outlook, Teams, Word and cloud email — set up and ready to use from day one.
Learn more 02Cloud Backup & Disaster Recovery
Automatic backups to the cloud — recover from disaster and keep the business running.
Learn more 03Business Email Hosting
Email on your own company domain ([email protected]) — billed per mailbox.
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