How Much Does Managed IT Support Cost in 2026?

"How much does managed IT support cost?" is one of the first questions every business asks us — and one of the hardest to get a straight answer to anywhere else. Most providers hide behind "it depends" until you've sat through a sales call. We'd rather just show you the numbers.

Our package is built around Microsoft Business Premium — one of the most advanced, fully integrated security suites on the market. Left on its default settings, though, it leaves gaps: administrative overhead, complex configuration, and security settings that need expert tuning to actually protect you. Our package is what closes those gaps. Below is exactly what's in it, why each part matters, and how much it costs per user — plus the extras you can add if your business needs more.

The base package: £25 per user, per month

This is the foundation — Microsoft Business Premium, configured, secured and monitored by us. It includes:

• Enterprise-grade identity & access management — controlling who can get into your systems and from where.
• Advanced threat protection for email & collaboration tools — the built-in Microsoft 365 defences against phishing and malware, properly configured.
• Device management & data loss prevention (DLP) — stopping sensitive data walking out of the business, accidentally or otherwise.
• An integrated, unified security dashboard — one place to see the health and security posture of your whole environment.
• Extended support hours, 9am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday — direct access to experienced engineers well beyond the standard 9-to-5.

Done properly, this base package helps your business work towards Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001, and the security requirements insurers increasingly demand before they'll issue a cyber insurance policy.

What's mandatory, and why

Two services sit on top of the base package and apply to every device and user we support. We don't make these optional, because without them we simply can't guarantee the visibility and protection the rest of the package promises.

Patching, remote monitoring, antivirus & EDR — £10 per device, per month

This keeps every device patched automatically, monitored around the clock, and defended by real-time antivirus. Layered on top is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) — behaviour-based protection that catches things signature-based antivirus alone would miss, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware. If something does get through, EDR can isolate the infected device and roll back ransomware damage before it spreads.

Cloud backup & alerts — £10 per user, per month

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace don't back your data up the way most people assume — if a mailbox or file is deleted, overwritten, or hit by ransomware, it can be gone for good. This service takes automatic, secure copies of your cloud data several times a day, stored independently so they're safe even if your main account is compromised. Alongside it, real-time alerts flag suspicious logins, files shared outside the company, or security settings being changed — catching problems before they become breaches.

Included as standard — no extra charge

These four sit inside the mandatory bundle above at no additional cost, because they're too important to treat as optional:

• 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) monitoring — a real team of security analysts watching your devices, network traffic and cloud accounts (including Microsoft 365) around the clock, with the ability to disconnect a compromised device or kill a malicious process the moment something looks wrong.
• Staff security awareness training — regular, realistic simulated phishing emails sent to your team's inboxes, paired with short training videos. Roughly 1 in every 99 work emails is a phishing attempt, so your staff are as much a part of your defences as any piece of software.
• SIEM (Security Information & Event Management) — centralises and analyses security logs from servers, workstations and firewalls in real time, spotting patterns that a single system in isolation would never reveal, and producing the reporting compliance frameworks ask for.
• Dark web monitoring — continuously scans underground markets, data dumps and hacker forums for your company's leaked credentials, so passwords can be changed before criminals get the chance to use them.

Optional add-ons — build the package around your risk

Every business has a different risk profile. These sit outside the core package so you can add exactly what you need, without paying for what you don't.

Email domain authentication — £60 per domain, per month

Stops criminals sending fraudulent invoices or phishing emails that appear to come from your own domain. Beyond blocking fraud, properly authenticating your outgoing email also improves deliverability, so legitimate emails are less likely to be marked as spam.

Application allowlisting — £8 per user, per month (12-month term)

A Zero Trust, "default deny" approach: nothing runs on a device unless it's been explicitly approved. That stops ransomware and unauthorised software dead, rather than relying on spotting every possible threat. It also covers restricting how approved apps interact with the rest of the system, controlling USB and external drive access, and blocking known-malicious websites.

Advanced email security & continuity — £6 per user, per month (12-month term)

A further layer on top of Microsoft's own defences — additional spam and malware filtering, continuity so you can keep sending and receiving email even if your main mail service goes down, and secure, searchable archiving for compliance. Worth considering for any business that sees email as its single biggest risk.

Secure access for hybrid & remote teams — £8 per user, per month

A cloud-based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution that verifies every user and device before granting access to company resources — wherever they're working from. It replaces the need for on-site firewalls and clunky VPN setups, filtering out malware, phishing and risky content in real time, while keeping connections fast.

Putting it together: a worked example

Numbers make more sense with a scenario attached, so here's a purely illustrative example — not a real client — for a business with 20 staff and 20 devices.

Core package (base + mandatory security essentials):

• Base package: 20 users × £25 = £500
• Patching, AV & EDR: 20 devices × £10 = £200
• Cloud backup & alerts: 20 users × £10 = £200

Core monthly total: £900 — or £45 per user, per month, fully protected and compliance-ready.

Now say this business wants tighter control over what software can run, and has a growing number of people working from home or client sites. They add application allowlisting and secure remote access:

• Application allowlisting: 20 users × £8 = £160
• Secure remote access: 20 users × £8 = £160

New monthly total: £1,220 — or £61 per user, per month.

Nothing here is guesswork or "request a quote and we'll get back to you." Every element has a fixed price per user or per device, so you can see exactly what you're paying for and why before you commit to anything.

Let's talk it through

Every business's risk profile, compliance requirements and headcount are different, so the right package for you might look nothing like the example above. If you'd like a clear, itemised quote for your own business — no jargon, no pressure — get in touch and we'll talk you through it.

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