Between typical technological advancement and the need to shift to a more digitally-friendly work environment due to COVID-19, we’re now at a point where information technology has never been more critical to business owners. One study found that 62% of Canadian companies are on or are using a hybrid work model. As reliance on IT necessarily rises, so too does the cost of IT support for small businesses.
Coupled with the fact that network downtime can cost thousands of dollars per minute or a data breach can leave a small business permanently shuttered, the need for effective IT management is clear.
So what is the IT support cost for a small business? The short answer is: it depends.
And the main determining factor is whether you opt for in-house or are interested in outsourcing IT support to a managed services provider.
The IT Support Cost for Small Business – Outsourced or In-House?
Most modern businesses need tech support to remain competitive. Trying to run their business without an IT support team gets difficult fast.
Consider that many modern businesses require:
- Cloud support
- Remote monitoring around-the-clock
- Network support, updating, patching, and augmenting
- Technology procurement and planning
- An IT roadmap and strategy planning to avoid scaling impediments
- Cybersecurity services
- Software license management
- Data backup and disaster recovery services
And the list above is by no means exhaustive; there are many IT services that businesses need to leverage in order to drive down costs, boost revenue and productivity, and avoid revenue-draining downtime and data loss.
Solve IT Issues, Save MoneyIt’s that simple. Get in touch to find out how Sunco can manage your entire IT stack and save you money |
In other words, you’re going to need trained specialists to keep your business running smoothly.
The first choice is whether you opt to hire a full-time, in-house IT worker, or if you select to work with outsourced IT companies.
The cost of IT support for small businesses varies greatly between these two options.
Consider that the average salary of a Canadian IT worker is above $70,000. And that’s just one person. You’re unlikely to find an individual that can specialize in all things IT and come in at the average. Hiring a generalist almost always means that they have certain proficiencies with certain tech and deficiencies in other areas.
The average cost of IT support services when outsourcing is much less, especially for small and medium-sized businesses; you can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $500 per user or per device, depending on the services package you opt for and the scope of the work.
But while the IT managed support pricing is almost always more cost effective than hiring a several-member in-house team, that doesn’t mean it’s right for every business – just most of them.
The Benefits and Disadvantages of In-House IT Support
Despite the average cost being much higher, some businesses still opt to hire full-time workers.
For instance, if you have highly specialized technology that requires constant, in-person monitoring, then in-house is a strong option (though there are managed IT support services that guarantee fast on-site response times).
Credit: Freepik
You may also like having a worker around whom you can see and interact with on a daily basis.
But as far as small business IT support pricing is concerned, in-house is almost universally more expensive than outsourcing your IT support needs.
What’s more, small businesses can usually only afford to hire a single IT worker. Apart from the generalist problem highlighted above, you also have the issue that a person can get sick, needs to take a vacation, has hours off, can quit, etc.
Included in most monthly IT support contract pricing are:
- 24/7/365 monitoring and break/fix support
- A full team of specialists
- On-site support teams on-call
Some businesses also opt to work with an in-house IT worker and outsourced IT services to gain that supplemental support, covering the gaps in their worker’s knowledge base or skills.
The Benefits and Disadvantages of Outsourced IT Support
When it comes to small business IT support pricing, managed services simply can’t be beat.
If you’re interested in saving money as a number one priority, then your answer is clear; outsourced IT support services pricing will almost always come in lower than hiring an in-house worker, at least where small and medium businesses are concerned.
You’ll be able to access a full, dedicated team of IT experts, each with their own domain expertise, ready to be leveraged to support your business with all its IT issues. What’s more, when on a fully managed plan, you can often see additional benefits like automation services, redundancy elimination, network speed increase, and more, increasing overall productivity.
Different Plans Impact the Cost of IT Support for Small Business
While the benefits of outsourced IT support are clear, the IT support cost for small business does depend on a few things.
As mentioned above, the size of your business, the types of devices you use, and the services you need are the major components of how your overall monthly fee will be determined.
From there, you can opt for an a la carte option or a fully managed services option. In the former, you can pick and choose which services you need. This ensures that you never pay for superfluous services. That said, as your business needs grow, adding on individual services can hike the monthly IT support contract pricing upwards.
Alternatively, getting a fully managed IT services package allows you to take full advantage of IT expertise across a wide range of areas – potentially even identifying technology opportunities you weren’t aware of.
| Want to Know More About How IT Services Can Support Your Business? |
Fully managed services cost less than a la carte models depending on the services you need; managed services make the most sense for businesses that need comprehensive IT help and want to relieve themselves of their full technology management burden, while ensuring that technology constraints won’t impede growth.
A final option is a break/fix plan that works on an hourly rate or by issue solved. This is best for businesses that require little more than basic technical support and monitoring and is the cheapest of the three managed services pricing models. . . . provided you don’t require heavy IT help in a given month, as break/fix has a variable rather than a flat fee.
Drive Down Your Average Cost of IT Support Services With IT Support From Sunco
Credit: Freepik
If you’re ready to solve all your IT issues – affordably – then you’re ready to work with Sunco Communication and Installation. As a leading managed services provider, our IT support company can manage all your IT demands, ensuring your business’s workflow is faster, more efficient, more productive, free from slowdowns and stoppages, and otherwise healthier in every respect.
Contact Sunco today and learn more about keeping your IT service costs under control.
Featured Image Credit: Freepik
