If you’re considering a managed IT partnership, you’ve likely seen quotes that charge per user per month. At first glance, this might seem unfair or confusing.
After all, shouldn’t you only pay for the help you actually use?
You’re not alone in asking that question.
At Intelligent Technical Solutions (ITS), potential clients have asked us multiple times to explain the reasons behind our per-user pricing. With managed IT, we offer proactive maintenance, 24/7 support, cybersecurity, compliance guidance, and more — all bundled into a predictable monthly cost.
This article will explain why managed IT is typically priced per user, even if you don’t need daily IT support. Peter Swarowski, ITS’ Chief Operating Officer, will provide behind-the-scenes insight into the real IT maintenance each user receives.
By the end of this article, you’ll know what you’re paying for in a per-user pricing model.
1. Every user is a potential entry point for cybersecurity threats
74% of breaches involve a human element, such as phishing, credential theft, or human error.
In other words, it’s not about how often someone uses IT support — it’s about how much risk they introduce by simply having access to systems.
Whether or not everyone calls the helpdesk, your entire team uses email, logs in to systems, and accesses sensitive data.
“They [Cyber criminals] are going to constantly attack the users because that’s usually where the weak links are,” Swarowski warned. “Every user still has a login and can gain access to data and systems. We need to protect that properly.”
The per-user pricing model ensures each person is protected correctly.
“The attackers are going find those little nooks and crannies and where the least resistance is – which is usually where going the end user comes in.”
2. Every user receives IT maintenance
The more users you have, the more maintenance your IT team needs to do. Someone might never contact the helpdesk, but IT still needs to work for their benefit.
“Most business owners don’t know everything that they truly need [for IT],” Swarowski said, “that’s what we specialize in. So, they might think ‘I only need my IT company when this application doesn’t work’.”
“What they don’t see is the security services, the best practices, the tuning of their infrastructure [...] to hopefully prevent the thing from breaking to begin with.”
Some important, yet often unseen, IT maintenance needs are:
- Installation of security patches
- Configuration of antivirus and endpoint protection
- Set up accounts, cloud storage, and multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Monitoring of backups and testing recovery plans
- Tracking unauthorized logins
- Scanning for security vulnerabilities
These tasks aren’t one-size-fits-all – they require time and customization per user. Your finance head won’t have the same IT needs as your customer support representative or your HR manager.
As your team grows, your IT will have to add users to systems, manage licenses, and keep up-to-date compliance settings.
Even relatively ‘low maintenance’ employees require a reliable tech stack to work securely.
“We can’t just focus on these couple of users and neglect the rest,” Swarowski explained. “We know from experience that things will creep in and cause problems.”
3. Per-user pricing keeps costs predictable
One of the biggest advantages of per-user pricing is its predictability. Charging per user makes it easy to:
- Budget for current IT costs
- Forecast IT expenses & possible growth
If your costs were based on support tickets or hours used, you’d never know what to expect month to month. Plus, some users may never call for help - until a big problem racks up unexpected hourly charges.
A fixed per-user rate aligns with how businesses plan, especially those looking to scale. And with 75% of rapid growth companies planning to increase tech spending, scalable and straightforward pricing matters more than ever.
READ: Can Outsourced IT Save You Money? (& How Much?)
Need more information about managed IT pricing?
Managed IT per-user pricing is about security, value, and predictability – not how often you call the helpdesk.
Every user introduces risk and needs protection. Every user needs proactive IT work done for their benefit. Every user accounted for helps you plan your current and future IT budget.
We believe IT should support your business and not hold it back at ITS. That’s why our pricing is simple, fair, and based on what matters: complete IT support for your entire organization.
“Our service is like a cake,” Swarowski said. “The tech, the people – the raw ingredients – it’s been processed, and then packaged into a great end product.”
“You don’t just want the ingredients, right? You want the entire cake.”
Whether you have 10 employees or 100, we scale with you — without hidden fees or confusing pricing structures.
Ready to see how a per-user IT plan can protect your business and give you peace of mind? Talk to our team today.
For more information about managed IT pricing, check out the following resources:
- How Much Does Managed IT Cost? (5 Price Factors) [Updated]
- IT Cost Calculator [TOOL]
- A Complete Guide for Planning Your Managed IT Budget [eBook]
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