IT PRICING GUIDE
Transparent IT pricing guide in plain English.
Itemized line items. Month-to-month tools. No buried fees.
Most managed services providers hide their pricing behind a “contact us” form. This IT pricing guide does not. Here is how every major engagement we run is priced, what is bundled together, what is itemized separately, and what is not charged at all.
- Every line item visible on the invoice
- Month-to-month on tools, not multi-year lock-ins
- No setup or onboarding fees, ever
The honest summary of how we price IT services: a per-device monthly rate covers the management work; security and management tools are itemized per device or per mailbox; Microsoft 365 is sourced at Microsoft retail through Pax8 with no markup from us; project work is fixed-fee and quoted in writing; and a few things (gap reviews for managed clients, after-hours coverage during a confirmed incident) are simply included in the engagement. Below is the breakdown by service area.
IT pricing guide by service area.
This IT pricing guide is organized so each service has a primary engagement shape. Most clients use more than one; the line items combine on a single invoice.
Managed IT services
A per-device monthly rate plus per-tool licensing plus Microsoft 365 per mailbox. Three layers, all itemized.
Cybersecurity
Itemized around the layers your environment actually needs. No per-incident fees when the security operations center responds to something we are already monitoring for.
Help desk
Help desk is included in your per-device monthly rate. No per-ticket fee, no per-incident charge for remote work during business hours.
Microsoft 365 management
Microsoft 365 is a tier you license, plus the work to configure and manage the tenant. Both pieces priced separately.
vCIO and IT consulting
Three engagement shapes depending on whether the work is recurring strategic counsel or a project-shaped decision.
Project services
Defined-scope projects priced as fixed-fee engagements with hardware itemized separately. 30-day post-project warranty on every engagement.
Wireless, cabling, security cameras
Project-based work with hardware sourced and itemized. Most engagements run as fixed-fee against a written design.
Compliance services
Three engagement shapes for HIPAA, payment card, Service Organization Controls 2, and CMMC support. We run HIPAA and payment card directly; we coordinate with the outside audit firm on the audit-controls and CMMC frameworks.
Managed IT versus an in-house hire.
One question this IT pricing guide is asked to settle most often: are you better off hiring in-house IT or staying with a managed engagement? Numbers approximate; the shape is what matters.
$65,000 to $95,000 in salary plus benefits and overhead, before any tooling. One person who has to be on-call for every problem, takes vacation like a normal person, and may leave at any time. Specialty work (security, compliance, cloud architecture) usually still requires outside help on top of the internal hire.
For most small and mid-sized businesses, the all-in monthly cost runs less than a single internal hire would cost loaded. You get a team of specialists across security, networking, Microsoft 365, and project work, with documented coverage on holidays and after hours when the engagement calls for it.
For larger environments, the answer often becomes co-managed: keep your internal IT for what they handle well, layer us in for the parts they need help with. Most environments above 250 users use some version of that pattern.
Frequently asked questions about pricing.
Do you charge setup or onboarding fees?
No. As shown in the IT pricing guide above, onboarding is included in the engagement. Asset discovery, access provisioning, tooling rollout, documentation, and the security baseline are all part of the first month rather than a separate up-front fee.
What is the minimum engagement size?
For full managed services covered in this IT pricing guide, there is no formal minimum, though the economics favor businesses with at least 5 to 10 users. For standalone services (help desk only, project consulting, gap analysis, project work), there is no minimum at all; we scope the engagement to whatever the question is.
Are tools month-to-month or long-term contracts?
The managed services agreement is a standard one-year service agreement, which is industry-norm. Most individual tools in the stack (NinjaOne, SentinelOne, DefensX, Black Point Cyber, etc.) are month-to-month, so you are not locked into specific technology that stops working for you.
Do you mark up Microsoft 365 or hardware?
Microsoft 365: no markup. Sourced through Pax8 at Microsoft retail and passed through. Hardware: sourced through our distributor relationships with the unit cost and any sourcing margin called out per line item rather than buried in a project number. If you would rather buy hardware through your own reseller, project quotes work without the materials line.
Are quotes free?
Yes. As called out throughout this IT pricing guide, the first conversation is free, and the written quote is free. We bill when the work starts, not when you ask about it.
Can you give a ballpark before a real quote?
Often, yes. For straightforward managed services on a typical office environment, the per-device range in this IT pricing guide is a reasonable starting point and we can confirm specifics on the first call. For project work, we usually need a brief scoping conversation to be honest. Either way, we will not refuse to talk about pricing until you commit to a sales process.
Let’s quote your environment.
Use this IT pricing guide as the starting point. Tell us how many devices, mailboxes, and locations you have, plus what your current setup looks like. We will produce a quote in writing covering each of the line items below as they apply to your environment. The first conversation is free.
Or call us:
(704) 333-0404
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