This guide explains what companies in Indiana and the Midwest usually pay for IT support, what drives costs up or down and how to compare vendors with confidence.
Most small companies pay a monthly fee per user and device. Your exact price depends on your goals, risk profile, response times, etc., but here are our estimates:
- $125 per user per month for a basic managed toolset
- $225 per user per month for managed security help desk
- $300 per user per month to cover compliance and advanced protections
Minimum account size is also a factor. For example, TechKnowledgey Service’s minimum size is $500 per month.
**See also per device pricing, hourly rate work and project-based professional services.
Typical IT Service Provider Costs per Seat
| Category | Feature | Basics | Midrange | Advanced |
| Systems Management: Keeps your devices healthy, patched, and backed up. | Remote monitoring & Management including patch, remote access capability and inventory & performance monitoring | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Technician Monitoring (8×5) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Limited files only backup | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| M365/Google Workspace Backup | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Business password manager | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Immutable full image backup | ✓ | |||
| Security: Protects your business from evolving cyber threats. | EDR endpoint security | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Premium Managed firewall and Network Edge Security | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Managed Detection & Response SOC (24×7) | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Productivity: Empowers your team with secure, modern tools. | Microsoft 365/Google Workspace Web Apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microsoft 365 desktop apps | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Compliance: Helps meet regulatory standards with higher levels of security and reporting. | Advanced SIEM/SOC/MDR with compliance reporting 24×7 | ✓ | ||
| M365 Information Protection & Governance | ✓ | |||
| Professional Services: Covers custom projects, installs and configuration changes | Moves/Adds/Changes/Installs not covered in a managed service | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly price (per seat) | $125 | $225 | $300 | |
What Are You Actually Paying For?
Managed IT services keep systems healthy day to day with several services. These include device monitoring, patching, managed backups, remote support, EDR/MDR and a staffed help desk for technical support. The best plans also add guidance for long term improvements and budgeting.
Cybersecurity and disaster recovery add depth. Baseline EDR is standard. MDR, phishing training, vulnerability scans and a tested disaster recovery plan reduce risk. Recovery targets like RPO and RTO affect price since faster recovery needs more tooling.
Projects and professional services sit outside the monthly plan. Cloud migrations, network refreshes, identity cleanup and server work are scoped and billed as professional services. Pricing can be per device, a fixed fee or time and materials with an hourly rate.
Common Pricing Structures
Per user per month: simple and predictable. You pay one price for the full stack each person needs. It fits growing teams and makes budgeting easy.
Per device per month: Works best when you have many shared machines or kiosks. It can be cheaper if you have few users but many endpoints. Servers and firewalls often carry per device rates even in user plans.
**Hybrid models**: What most models are built on. A blend of per user and per month, where you might pay per user and add a small per device charge for servers or specialty gear.
Break fix uses an hourly rate: It can look cheaper than full service packages but often brings slower response times and no roadmap. Downtime can erase any cost savings. That’s why break fixes are falling out of favor. You’re always putting out fires and the work has little hope of staying done with the rapid evolution of technology.
What Affects Your Monthly Fee
Start with scope and response times since those shape staffing. If the plan includes unlimited help desk, after hours coverage and on-site visits, the service level agreement has to support that promise which raises labor on the MSP side and shows up in the monthly fee.
Tighter SLAs cut wait time but cost more because more people must be ready to act. Match the SLA to business risk so you’re not paying for speed you don’t need. Security depth sits right behind scope. EDR belongs on every endpoint and most firms add MDR with a 24×7 SOC to cut dwell time which increases cost but lowers impact.
Compliance reporting adds documentation and review cycles which lifts price as well, and the tools behind it matter since email security, MFA, password vaults and monitoring platforms carry vendor fees that roll into the pricing structure. Backups and disaster recovery complete the picture. Workstations may back up to the cloud while servers need image backups, offsite retention and periodic restore tests.
If you want fast failover, storage and standby resources must be ready which increases ongoing spend. Environment complexity can push numbers higher too. Multiple locations, legacy apps and custom integrations take more engineering time in monthly care and in professional services. Even in per user plans, servers and firewalls often carry per device charges that reflect this extra effort.
Managed Services Versus In-House IT
Hiring a full time IT generalist in Indiana can cost $50,000 to $85,000 in salary. Add taxes, benefits, training and software. The real annual cost often tops $100,000. That person still needs coverage for vacations and after hours issues.
On top of that, you still need to purchase expensive software and deal with large companies’ tech support (or lack thereof). And although that tech support’s monthly bill may look relatively small, most likely you’ll get the JV service team compared to the teams that an MSP spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on software.
With outsourced IT support, you’ll buy a skilled team for a fraction of that amount. You trade single point risk for a broader bench with documented processes. Many owners ask, are managed IT services worth it for small businesses? Yes, when downtime and risk matter.
Typical Line Items In A Proposal
While you compare proposals, look for ones that tie tech to business outcomes and show clear cost savings versus repeated break fix events. Favor partners who document an incident response plan and a disaster recovery process, and who provide a single point of contact with a team behind them for coverage.
- User count and devices covered
- Exact response times by priority
- Hours of operation for remote support and site visits
- Security stack list including EDR and MDR
- Backup scope and disaster recovery objectives
- Included projects versus professional services
- Terms for onboarding and offboarding
- Contract length and termination rules
- The monthly fee and any hourly rate for out-of-scope work
Hidden Costs To Watch For
Onboarding: Many MSPs bill a one-time setup. Ask for a detailed MSP client onboarding checklist so you know what’s included and when each task will be done.
Licenses: Verify whether Microsoft 365, security tools and backup storage are bundled or separate.
Projects: Clarify install work, cloud migrations and replacements. These are usually professional services outside the monthly fee.
Offboarding: If you change vendors, ask for the MSP offboarding checklist up front. Confirm data return, admin rights and how shutdown will be handled.
After hours: Nights and weekends can carry a premium.
Hardware: Firewalls, switches and Wi-Fi are often separate from monthly IT support. Ask what monthly IT support covers in practical terms.
FAQs
What Is The Average Cost Of Outsourced IT Support?
For small businesses the average cost ranges from $125 to $300 per user per month. The number depends on security depth, response times and whether compliance is in scope.
How Do Monthly Plans Compare To A Full Time Hire?
A monthly plan buys a full team for less than one full time salary with benefits. You’ll gain coverage, documented processes and bench depth. You’ll lose single person dependency.
What Should I Expect In A Service Level Agreement?
Look for defined response times by priority, clear business hours, escalation paths and reporting. The agreement should match your risk profile and uptime needs.
Are Managed IT Services Worth It For Small Businesses?
Yes, when downtime and risk matter. A predictable monthly fee replaces surprise break fix bills. You get proactive care, faster remote support and stronger disaster recovery. If your team can tolerate outages and you have minimal data risk, break fix may suffice. Most owners prefer stability and cost control.
Can I Do Per Device Instead Of Per User?
Yes. Per device plans work well for shared stations or labs. Many providers still price servers and firewalls per device even in a per user plan.
What About Short Projects Or “Just Help Sometimes”?
That’s professional services. It’s usually billed at an hourly rate or fixed fee. It sits outside your monthly fee unless your contract includes time blocks.
How Do I Switch Providers Easily?
Ask for both a detailed MSP client onboarding checklist and an MSP offboarding checklist. These documents protect your data, map handoffs and set clear timelines.
