Most small offices go looking for managed IT after something has already gone wrong. A laptop dies mid-quote, or a new starter has no login and the person who set everything up left last year. Then the quotes come in. One covers backup, site visits and new starters. Another watches your computers for updates and bills everything else by the hour, so the lower monthly figure can end up the dearer one.
Count your people and devices
Most providers charge monthly, per user or per device, so start with a count:
- everyone who logs in, including part-timers and the bookkeeper who works from home
- every computer, laptop and tablet used for work
- shared gear such as printers, the office wifi and any server or storage box
- the phones that get work email
Per-user pricing suits a team where everyone carries their own laptop and phone. In a workshop where three people share the one computer, a per-device price works out better. Ask each provider how they count, and what happens to the bill when someone starts or leaves.
Send every provider the same count, plus the software you run and the towns you work from, so each quote prices the same job.
What's inside the monthly fee
Updates and patches, antivirus, monitoring and help when something breaks are in nearly every managed IT plan. The rest varies between providers, so check whether each of these is in the fee or billed by the hour:
- adding and removing users, and turning off access the day someone leaves
- Microsoft 365 admin, such as mailboxes, shared calendars and permissions
- security settings like multi-factor authentication on every account
- support hours, and how fast an urgent job gets picked up
- a monthly report showing what was patched and what needs attention
A low monthly fee with most of that list charged by the hour can cost more over a year than a higher one that includes it.
Site visits
Most fixes happen remotely, but a dead laptop or new wifi in the shed needs someone there in person. Ask whether visits are included, capped or charged each time, which towns the provider covers, and whether the smaller towns cost extra to reach.
Backup
OneDrive and SharePoint sync your files, which feels like a backup until someone deletes a folder and the deletion syncs to every computer. A backup is a separate copy you can restore from after a mistake, a failed drive or a ransomware attack. The government's cyber security checklist for business puts backups alongside multi-factor authentication and software updates as basic protection.
Ask each provider what gets backed up (computers, Microsoft 365 mailboxes, files, the accounting data), how long copies are kept, and when they last tested a restore for a client.
Microsoft 365 licences
Microsoft 365 licences go to Microsoft, whoever manages them. Microsoft lists its business plans per user each month on a yearly subscription, and the plan you pick decides what's included, such as the desktop Office apps or extra security tools.
Some IT quotes roll the licences into one figure, and then you can't compare them with anything. Ask for licences on their own line so you can see what goes to Microsoft and what goes to the provider. Do the same for antivirus, backup software and anything else with its own subscription. Our Microsoft 365 setup page covers moving email and accounts.
Onboarding
The first month costs more when nobody knows what's there. If whoever set up your IT has left, a new provider has to track down the admin passwords and the account that owns the domain, remove old staff who still have access, bring every computer up to date and write it all down before monitoring starts. A tidy office with five new laptops is a short job next to a decade of shared passwords and a server in the cupboard.
Ask whether onboarding is a one-off fee, folded into the monthly price or charged by the hour.
Who owns the accounts
Before you sign with anyone, ask who owns the admin accounts, the domain and the Microsoft 365 tenant if you leave. They should be in the business's name, with the provider given access. Our business IT page covers what we look after and who you call.