Summary
- Managed support pays off from roughly five users upward.
- MFA, a password manager and tested backups cover most of the risk.
- Own your domain, licences and backups yourself.
- Ask how the exit works before you sign.
Quick answer
Managed IT support for a small business costs roughly $75–150 per user per month in the US and £50–110 per user per month in the UK. Break-fix support is billed hourly at $100–200 or £60–120 and suits firms under about five people with simple needs.
The three models
| Model | Best for | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Break-fix (call when broken) | 1–5 users, simple setup | $100–200 / £60–120 per hour |
| Managed services (fixed monthly) | 5–50 users | $75–150 / £50–110 per user per month |
| In-house hire | 40+ users | A full salary plus tools |
Managed support usually becomes cheaper than break-fix somewhere around five to ten users, because the fixed fee includes monitoring and patching that prevent the expensive incidents.
What a managed contract should include
If backups are listed but restores are never tested, you do not have backups.
The security basics no small business should skip
In the UK, the Cyber Essentials scheme covers these basics and is increasingly required to bid for public-sector and enterprise work. In the US, cyber insurance underwriters ask for much the same list.
Questions to ask a provider
The exit question matters most. A provider who cannot describe a clean handover is a provider who is planning to make leaving painful.