For a UK business with around 10–75 users, a useful 2026 budgeting range is approximately £40–£120 per user per month, usually excluding VAT. Limited remote support may sit below that range, while security-led services, complex infrastructure or demanding response commitments can cost more. The important question is not whether a quote lands on one particular number, but what responsibility is included in it.
Why prices vary so widely
Two providers can both describe a service as “fully managed” while including very different things. One quote may cover only helpdesk time and device monitoring. Another may include Microsoft 365 administration, endpoint security, backup oversight, on-site attendance, supplier liaison, quarterly planning and project time.
Price also reflects the provider’s service model. A named local team with senior technical involvement and practical on-site capability has a different cost base from a remote-only call centre. Neither model is automatically right or wrong, but the distinction should be visible in the proposal.
The main pricing models
- Per user: a predictable monthly rate for each supported person, often with an agreed allowance for their devices
- Per device: useful where many machines are shared, but costs can become harder to forecast as the estate changes
- Fixed monthly fee: a scoped price for the whole organisation, usually reviewed when user numbers or complexity change
- Block hours or pay as you go: suitable for occasional help, but less aligned with proactive maintenance and prevention
- Hybrid pricing: a base service plus user, device, server, site or security components
What a managed service should normally include
A credible managed service should define its scope in writing. For an established SME, the core often includes the following items, although licences and specialist services may be priced separately.
- User helpdesk during stated staffed hours
- Remote monitoring and management of agreed devices
- Operating-system and common application patching
- Endpoint security management and alert response
- Microsoft 365 user, licence and permission administration
- Starter, mover and leaver processes
- Backup monitoring and recovery coordination
- Documentation and asset records
- Third-party supplier liaison
- Regular service and technology reviews
- Defined escalation and on-site arrangements
What often costs extra
Read the exclusions as carefully as the feature list. Microsoft 365 licences, independent cloud backup, security awareness training, managed detection and response, major projects, new-device setup, out-of-hours work and hardware are commonly separate. Servers, multiple sites, specialist applications and regulated environments may also change the base fee.
“Unlimited support” rarely means every possible technology task is included. Ask for examples of what the provider treats as support, a standard change and a project. That distinction matters more than the marketing label.
A worked budgeting example
A 25-user organisation using a planning range of £40–£120 per user would budget roughly £1,000–£3,000 per month before VAT. The lower end might represent a simpler, mostly cloud-based environment with core support. The upper end may include a broader security stack, backup, more demanding response commitments, on-site coverage or complex infrastructure.
This is a market-planning illustration, not a Merr IT price quotation. A responsible provider should inspect the current environment and define scope before committing to a figure. Very low pricing can be genuine where the service is narrow; it becomes a concern when a broad promise is made without enough resource to deliver it.
How to compare quotes fairly
- Put every recurring licence and service into one comparison, not only the support line
- Confirm whether prices are per person, per device, per site or a mixture
- Compare staffed hours, response targets and escalation—not just “24/7 monitoring”
- Ask whether on-site attendance and travel are included
- Check who responds to security alerts and what happens next
- Confirm backup coverage, retention and restore testing
- Identify project, onboarding and exit charges
- Ask how annual increases and user-count changes are handled
- Speak to references with a similar number of users and level of complexity
Value is about risk and lost time
The cheapest contract can be expensive if staff wait for help, security tools are not acted upon or recurring faults are never removed. Equally, paying for enterprise features a small organisation will not use is poor value. A good proposal connects each service component to continuity, security, productivity or a clear operational requirement.
Measure the relationship over time: ticket trends, recurring issues, device and patch coverage, backup tests, security actions, project delivery and progress against the technology roadmap. Those indicators tell you more than a long list of tools.
Get a properly scoped comparison
Merr IT provides managed IT support for established organisations of approximately 10–75 users across Wiltshire. We will review the environment, explain what is and is not included, and propose a service around the business requirement.