Guide
How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost for a Financial Firm?
Managed IT is priced monthly, but quotes vary widely. Here is what drives the price for a financial firm, what should be included and how to compare providers fairly.
Key takeaways
- Most providers charge a monthly fee per user or per device, sometimes bundled into tiers.
- The biggest price drivers are users and devices, servers and cloud systems, security tools, compliance documentation and after-hours coverage.
- A low quote that leaves out security, backups or compliance work usually costs more later.
- Compare quotes line by line against the same scope.
Pricing models
How managed IT pricing works
- Per user: one monthly price for each employee, covering the devices and accounts that person uses. Simple to budget as you hire.
- Per device: a monthly price for each workstation, server and network device. Useful when devices outnumber people.
- Tiered plans: bundles that add more security, coverage hours or strategy work at each level.
- Break-fix or hourly: no monthly fee, but you pay for every problem, and no one maintains your systems between calls. This is not managed IT.
Many providers combine models, for example a per-user plan plus a fee for each server.
Price drivers
What drives the price for a financial firm
- The number of users and devices
- Servers, cloud systems and line-of-business applications
- The number of offices and how often on-site visits are needed
- The security stack: endpoint detection and response, email security, multi-factor authentication, monitoring and training
- Compliance work: documentation and evidence for exams, audits and insurance questionnaires
- Support hours: business hours only or 24/7 coverage
- Onboarding: the one-time work to document, secure and stabilize your environment
- Licensing for Microsoft 365 and security tools, often billed separately
What to expect
What a managed IT plan for a financial firm should include
- Help desk support with real people and clear response expectations
- Proactive monitoring and patching of workstations and servers
- Backups with tested restores and a written recovery plan
- Network and firewall management
- Microsoft 365 management and security configuration
- Endpoint detection and response and email security
- Multi-factor authentication and access management, including same-day offboarding
- Documentation and an asset inventory you can hand to an examiner or auditor
- IT strategy and budget planning
If a quote leaves any of these out, ask whether they are extra and what they cost. See what is included in our managed IT services for financial firms.
Before you sign
Costs to ask about before you sign
- Onboarding or setup fees
- After-hours and on-site rates
- Project work such as server replacements or office moves
- Licenses that are not included
- Security tools offered only as add-ons
- Contract length, renewal terms and what happens to your data if you leave
Managed IT vs. hiring in-house
An in-house IT employee brings salary, benefits, training, tools and recruiting costs, and one person still cannot cover every specialty or every hour. Managed IT spreads those costs across a team of specialists for a predictable monthly fee.
Our pricing
How FinFortify prices managed IT
We quote a predictable monthly fee based on your users, devices, systems and the level of security and compliance support you need, so there are no surprise invoices. Request a quote and we will be in touch within 3 business days.
FAQ
Managed IT cost questions
Is managed IT cheaper than break-fix support?
Not always month to month, but usually over time. Break-fix bills you after problems happen, while managed IT pays the provider to prevent them, which reduces downtime, security incidents and surprise invoices.
Are Microsoft 365 licenses included in the price?
It depends on the provider, so ask each one whether licenses are included or billed separately and compare like with like. FinFortify provides Microsoft 365 licensing as a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider partner.
Why do quotes from different providers vary so much?
Usually because the scope differs. One quote may include security tools, backups, after-hours support and compliance documentation while another leaves them out. Compare quotes against the same list of services.
Get a clear managed IT quote
Tell us about your firm and we will send a quote with everything included spelled out.
