We can do many different things to excel in our businesses and make our day-to-day tasks much easier to accomplish.
If you need marketing help promoting your brand, you can hire a marketing agency or someone who offers Marketing as a Service (MaaS) to help with this task. If you need to expand your sales team or strategies, you can reach out to a sales coach or consultant.
But what about your IT? What happens when you’re too busy to manage your in-house IT and your current IT team just isn’t cutting it? That’s when managed IT services come into play.
But the bigger question in all of this is, “How can I afford managed IT services?”
Many of us are apprehensive to even explore a managed IT services company because of the possible costs of this kind of service. However, there’s actually a way to afford IT if you’re considering outsourcing—and I’m here to tell you how!
Follow along as I break down the costs of managed IT services so that you can get a better idea of what you’d be paying each month and the types of services your business could benefit from.
By the way, we’ve been in the office technology space for over 20 years. We continue to dedicate our time and content to inform you and our customers on the best ways to advance their growing business—one technology step at a time.
Managed IT Services: How Can You Afford Outsourced IT?
In this article, we’re choosing to use the services and prices we offer to our customers so that you can get a baseline of what to expect. Keep in mind that every IT service provider is different and provides various services and prices.
Like us, most companies offer several different pricing models or options when choosing what level of support would be ideal for your IT needs.
Regardless of which pricing model you choose, our managed IT services range in price between $125-$275 per user per month. Based on our current customer base, most customers pay, on average, between $175-$230 per user per month.
Below are our four pricing models and will help you understand what you can typically expect when deciding which option is right for your business and employees.
1. Network Operations Center (NOC) “Only.”
A NOC (pronounced “knock”), also known as a Network Operations Center or Network Management Center, is a centralized place to monitor, control, and manage a network.
A NOC is usually at a remote location and typically monitors many different locations at once. When a NOC has critical applications or multiple locations, it may have more than one NOC for redundancy or business continuity.
A typical NOC may be staffed by one or more IT personnel with several monitors displaying the network's overall health, systems, etc. This type of support ensures the company network infrastructure, systems, and applications are operating and active.
Related Article: How Can IT Outsourcing Services Help My Business?
This particular contract or service level agreement includes 24/7 monitoring of all customer’s IT devices. If you decide to utilize our Help Desk, on-site support, or any services after-hours, these features are an additional cost.
When choosing the NOC “Only” option, you can expect to pay at the lower end of the price range—about $125-$175 per user per month. For many small businesses, this is one of the most affordable options.
2. Help Desk (HD) “Only.”
An IT outsourcing help desk troubleshoots your IT issues as they occur and can help boost your business without you having to solve these problems on your own.
As a reminder, some IT services companies may not have a Help Desk—but we wanted to at least show you what it would mean if you choose this option with a company like AIS.
Our AIS Helpdesk:
• Simplifies system management
• Provide you with tracking and reporting
• Troubleshoot your computer through remote support
• Scales back the amount of downtime you’re currently experiencing
• Can easily communicate with you through email or phone when needed
When selecting this pricing model, your contract only includes 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. end-user support. This option does not monitor your customer’s IT devices like the model above. Any on-site support or after-hours services are an additional charge.
This option is still at the lower end of the price range but a little more expensive than the first option we discussed. You can expect to pay around $175-$200 per user per month.
3. Network Operations Center (NOC) + Help Desk (HD)
As you can tell by this model, it is a combination of model one and model two. You have the option to utilize both our Network Operations Center and our Help Desk, which is very appealing to many of our customers.
Equipping your small business with both a NOC and an HD allows you to get the best of both worlds. Not only are your devices and systems being proactively monitored, but you are also given an extra layer of support through a Help Desk IT support team.
Like the models above, there is an additional charge when utilizing any on-site support or after-hours services. With this pricing model, you can expect to pay around $200-$230 per user per month.
Although this might seem a little steep in terms of cost, think about all the time and effort you’re saving by having such valuable IT resources available—and ones that you don’t have to manage or monitor on your own.
4. Managed Network Services (MNS) “Full Service.”
The last pricing model that most IT companies offer is a Managed Network Services (MNS) “Full Service'' contract. An MNS IT Team means that AIS is your IT support and IT department—including your own AIS, Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO).
A vCIO is responsible for the strategic insight on how technology drives your business forward. They bridge the technology and business sides of an organization and link the two together to meet the overall objectives and goals.
A vCIO:
• Manages your IT resources and budgets
• Makes recommendations on the purchasing of equipment
• Plans and develops specific IT policies
• Evaluates the security of your network and devices
• Conducts quarterly business reviews (QBRs)
• Creates a personalized IT roadmap
• Calculates how to make additional profits using your business's technology
When choosing this model, many businesses can keep their current in-house IT employee, who will work with our vCIO. Or, our vCIO can replace their existing IT person or IT support team.
Most of our customers choose this option as it’s the most hands-on and worry-free model. On average, you can expect to pay around $230-$275 per user per month for the MNS “Full Service” option. Again, although this pricing model seems a bit expensive, you are truly getting what you’re paying for.
Learn more about the cost benefits of choosing a vCIO by reading our article, 5 Reasons to Hire IT Support Services.
The Final Say: You CAN Afford Managed IT Services
There are a lot of different pricing plans and options you can choose from when thinking about outsourcing your businesses IT. As I mentioned earlier in the article, these pricing and plans are specific to AIS, so it’s essential to do your research and contact local companies near you that offer these services.
At AIS, we’re not just an office technology company. We are your trusted news source that wants to educate and inform you on the best ways to support your business, employees, and customers. To learn more about affording managed IT services or any of our products, make sure to reach out to us today. We’re here to give you peace of mind to help you win more business.
