Outsourcing professional IT support for your business is a valuable investment that can boost your productivity and profitability. However, like any investment, you have to spend money to make money. Of course, you want the maximum benefits from your IT support services for the best possible price to maximise your ROI.
Understanding the costs of IT support for your business is important for setting your IT budget and ensuring you are getting the most bang for your buck.
Overview of IT Support Costs
First, let’s examine why prices for IT support are so varied.
What Influences the Cost of IT Support?
As with any service, the costs of IT support are dependent on the quality and scope of your services. If you require expert IT support for a wide range of technology solutions, expect to pay more. Managed IT services providers (MSPs) also often charge per user, so your costs will be proportional to how many employees you have.
Common Factors Affecting IT Support Pricing
Other common factors that can affect your costs include:
- Region and location
- How many offices you operate
- The complexity of your IT network
- Your unique cybersecurity and compliance needs (if any)
IT Support Cost Breakdown
Now let’s break down IT support costs and look at some of the pricing models MSPs use to charge their clients.
Components of IT Support Pricing
There are several components to the pricing of outsourced IT support, depending on the scope of your needs and services. There’s the base cost of the services plus extra expenses, such as onboarding fees and training costs. If you require software subscriptions to efficiently run your operations, your MSP can likely get a good deal for you, but these still incur additional monthly costs.
Understanding Different Pricing Models
MSPs often offer multiple pricing models to cater to clients’ budgets and needs. The most common models include:
- Break/fix: This is often described as reactionary IT support. When something breaks down, you call the technician and wait for them to fix it. With this model, you may be charged by the hour or per incident.
- Block hours: This model resembles break/fix with one key difference: you purchase the hours in advance. This is more cost-effective, but only if you use what you pay for.
- Managed services: This model charges a flat monthly fee covering a range of services, including monitoring, maintenance, and support. You may be charged a flat monthly fee per user or device with this model.
How to Budget for IT Support
If you don’t budget for IT support in your technology spend, you might find your IT costs ballooning due to unresolved issues. That’s why it’s best to put support in the budget from the outset.
Creating an IT Support Budget
Your IT support budget should be a component of your overall technology budget. It’s hard to justify spending on something you don’t see the immediate benefits from. But instead of thinking about how much money IT support will cost you, when allocating funds, think about what it will cost you if you don’t secure reliable IT support for your workforce.
Technology downtime, inefficient operations, and data breaches are just some of the money-draining problems caused by insufficient IT support.
Tips for Managing IT Support Costs Effectively
The following tips can help you manage your IT support budget effectively and minimise expenses:
- Prioritize your needs: Consider what is vital, and what you can get away with not paying for.
- Choose a per-user pricing model: This way, you only pay for what you use and your pricing will scale up or down with your growth.
- Consider managed services: By paying for proactive IT support, management, and maintenance, you prevent problems from happening in the first place and reduce your costs over the long term.
- Audit your IT assets: If you can eliminate unneeded software or hardware, you can also reduce the costs to support them.
Cost-effective IT Support Strategies
Managed IT support is a growing industry, so there are a lot of affordable IT support providers out there. Make sure to shop around to find the right one. Also, check what vendor partnerships a potential provider has. These partnerships mean you can get wholesale or preferred-client pricing for software and hardware.
What’s more, while it can be tempting to spring for the highest-quality IT support available around the clock with all the bells and whistles, you must consider your business’s needs and budget. At some point, you will experience diminishing returns and risk overspending.
IT Support Cost Comparison and Analysis
When selecting IT support providers, evaluating the costs is extremely important.
Comparing IT Support Costs Across Providers
Don’t just look at the prices potential providers are asking for; do an IT support cost comparison with their service level agreement (SLA). This document lays out exactly what you are getting for your IT support spend and the provider’s obligations to you.
A low price might be enticing, but if you decide to go with a low-cost option, be sure that the SLA is still meeting your needs and doesn’t fall short because of bargain costs.
Analyzing IT Support Pricing to Find the Best Value
Don’t forget to do the math when deciding between paying a flat fee, paying per user, and paying per hour. If you regularly require high-level support, paying for all-inclusive IT services by the month is pragmatic. However, if you need support sporadically, hourly might be better for your budget.
IT Support Price Guide
Note: These prices are typical of IT support services in Victoria, Australia.
Typical IT Support Pricing Ranges
- Per User/Device: $100-$300
- Hourly: $85-$150
- Monthly: $250-$3,000+
How to Use an IT Support Price Guide
When using an IT support price guide, look at the services provided for each price tier. Higher level support costs more per hour, as do off-hours and emergency services if your plan isn’t unlimited.
For monthly pricing, check what range of users and servers supported each plan is suited for. Also take note of the technology they support and troubleshoot, as server, router, security, and network support and monitoring will add to your expenses.
If you have further questions about the costs of IT support for a business like yours, don’t hesitate to inquire from our team. Techware’s team of experts can help address concerns about your IT needs and how they align with your budget. Book a call now.
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