Business IT Support Prices

If you’ve been shopping around for business IT support pricing you’ll have noticed that most IT support companies don’t advertise their pricing. Instead, you may have been asked to complete a ‘Request a Quote’ form and provide information about your business and needs.

If you ever wondered why that is, we’ve laid out some of the reasons below.

In a nutshell, there is no industry standard, ballpark figures for IT support costs. In fact, IT support pricing varies quite a lot from one provider to another.

If you compare pricing between several IT vendors, you’ll find that the price for supporting a single workstation per month could be anything from £35 up to £75. Just multiply that figure by the number of workstations you need cover for and you’ve got your small business IT support monthly cost. But of course, it’s not that simple…

To give you a more realistic picture of what pricing you should expect when looking for IT support cover, we have listed three IT support pricing examples below, that illustrate different business IT service needs.

IT Support Prices Example-1

In reality, IT support price structures are more complex than a simple workstation calculation, and that is because each business has a different IT setup and different IT needs. Here are some aspects of IT support pricing that will affect your IT costs.

IT Support Pricing per Workstations

The number of workstations you need IT support for would affect the actual cost per workstation. For example, if you only have 10 workstations you need to be serviced, the support price might be £55 per workstation per month. But there are economies of scale so if you have 50 workstations you need support cover for, the support price might drop down to £35 per workstation per month.

Bear in mind that managed hosted workstations fees are different from the workstations support cover fee. The managed hosted workstation fee is for the virtual space and resources your virtual workstation is using, while the workstation support cover fee goes towards the support you may need when you face issue/s with your hosted workstation (in which case you should be able to call the IT Helpdesk and they will be able to help you with your workstation issue/s).

IT Support Pricing for Servers

The type of devices you need IT support for will affect costs. For example, supporting a cloud-hosted server is quite different from supporting an on-premises server, which means the cost for supporting each would be quite different as well. Cloud server support cover costs could be around £95 – £125 (as it’s easier to manage and involves less proactive support and maintenance) whereas an on-premise server can cost £195 – £250 to support as it is harder to manage and requires regular maintenance and updates to keep it reliable, safe and secure.

IT Support Pricing for Network Devices

Network devices, such as Routers, Network Switches and Wi-Fi Access Points are a crucial part of your IT setup, so it’s is very important to ensure they are also covered under your IT support agreement. The costs for supporting these devices will change depending on their age, status, usage and so on. A 5-year-old, out of warranty, Network Switch that is used heavily will be much more expensive to support than a brand new one.

IT Support – Cover Levels

Another aspect of the IT support pricing structure is the level of cover you would need to support your business. Each business has different requirements. If you need 24x7x365 IT support cover, you can expect a support price of £45 to £75 per workstation/device. If your business requires IT support cover during office hours only, you may be looking at a lower support price of £35 to £65 per workstation/device.

IT Support Pricing – Onsite & Remote

A major part of determining your small businesses’ IT support pricing would be if you require onsite visits as well as remote helpdesk IT support. For many businesses, remote IT support cover is sufficient as the majority of faults can be handled without a site visit. For businesses that require onsite IT Support cover in their IT support agreement, they should expect to pay a  higher cost for a more comprehensive IT support package.

We can always advise you on the best option for your business and we don’t try to sell extra IT support features when they’re not needed.

IT Support Pricing and SLA

Your Service Level Agreement (SLA) will also affect the cost of your IT support. The response time (the time it takes to respond to your support request) and the resolution time (the time it takes to actually fix the fault) are both big influences on IT support pricing. If a shorter response is required to support your small business the total cost of your small business IT support would be higher.

We can help establish the necessary response times during your free IT audit. The audit will help you make informed choices about your IT cover.

IT Support Pricing for Multi-Site Firms

More and more businesses today are expanding their reach by opening satellite branches. IT support prices for multiple company sites will often cost less per location as a satellite branch may only require an internet connection and few basic workstations to be fully operational, while the IT back-bone is located at the HQ or on the Cloud. This means IT support for satellite branches can be cost effective.

Ad-Hoc IT Support Pricing Vs Monthly Retainer IT Support Pricing

There are two main ways to support your small business IT systems; Ad-Hoc Support and Monthly Retainer Support, both are quite different in structure and pricing. While Ad-Hoc IT support can be cost effective, as you only pay for what you use, overall costs can exceed regular monthly IT support. It is generally better to go for the 'Outsourced IT Department', or Managed IT Service, as it provides greater financial predictability and flexibility.

The reason Monthly IT Support contracts are popular with businesses is that they the right level of support at a predictable cost. Unless your business changes your IT costs shouldn’t change much. This financial predictability provides peace of mind for business owners.

If you found this page useful but still have more questions about small business IT support pricing, feel free to contact us today, or fill in the form below and we’ll be happy to answer any question you may have.

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