What does MSP stand for?
MSP stands for Managed Service Provider. It is a company you pay a fixed monthly fee to run your IT — monitoring your computers and servers, applying updates, handling security and backups, and answering your staff when something breaks. Instead of calling someone after a problem, you pay to have fewer problems.
That is the whole idea. Everything below is detail.
What does an MSP actually do?
The day-to-day work of a managed service provider is unglamorous and mostly invisible, which is exactly the point:
- Watches everything, all the time. Endpoints, servers and network are monitored 24/7 and alerts go to a person who acts on them — ideally before you notice.
- Keeps software patched. Operating systems and third-party applications both. The unpatched PDF reader is how most small businesses actually get compromised.
- Runs security. Endpoint protection, email filtering, multi-factor authentication and a written plan for the day something gets through anyway.
- Backs up and tests the restore. Tested is the operative word. An untested backup is a hope.
- Answers the helpdesk with a response time in the contract, not a shrug.
- Onboards and offboards staff — accounts live on day one, and dead the hour someone leaves.
- Documents your environment so the knowledge lives in a system rather than in one person's head.
- Plans ahead with quarterly reviews of what is aging, what is at risk and what needs budgeting next year.
MSP vs break/fix vs in-house — what is the difference?
| MSP | Break/fix | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Fixed monthly fee | Hourly, per incident | Salary + 25–30% loaded cost |
| Typical cost | ~$100–$400/user/mo | Unpredictable | A $70,000 hire costs ~$87,500–$91,000 |
| Incentive | Fewer problems — they carry the risk | More problems — that is the invoice | Neutral |
| Coverage | A team, after-hours available | When they are free | One person, business hours |
| Breadth | Network, security, cloud, compliance | Whatever broke | Strong where they are strong |
| When it fits | Most businesses under ~25 staff, and many well above | Very small, very simple setups | Larger teams, usually alongside an MSP |
The incentive row is the one worth sitting with. A break/fix company earns more when your systems fail. An MSP on a fixed fee earns more when they do not. That single difference explains most of what changes when a business switches.
What is managed IT services?
Managed IT services is the service; an MSP is the company that delivers it. People use the terms interchangeably and nothing is lost by doing so. You will also meet co-managed IT, which is the hybrid: your internal person keeps day-to-day support while the provider covers security, infrastructure, after-hours and the hard escalations. It is usually the right shape above about 25 staff, where one hire is stretched and two is more than you need.
How much does an MSP cost?
Fully managed IT runs roughly $100–$400 per user per month, with $150–$200 typical for small business and a national midpoint near $142 per user. Priced per device instead, budget about $25–$50/mo for a desktop, $30–$60/mo for a laptop and $100–$250/mo for each server. A 20-person company generally lands at $2,000–$5,000 a month.
Where you sit inside those ranges depends on security depth, whether you need 24×7 or 8×5 cover, compliance obligations and how much cleanup your environment needs up front. The full breakdown — per-user versus per-device math, what moves the price, and the in-house comparison — is on our managed IT services pricing page.
Wondering what an MSP would cost you specifically?
The free IT assessment costs $0 and ends with a fixed monthly figure you can put in a budget.
See managed IT pricing →How do you choose an MSP?
- Ask them to quote per user and per device. A provider who will only do one is optimising for themselves.
- Get response times in writing, including what happens outside business hours.
- Ask who owns the documentation and passwords if you part ways. It should be you.
- Ask to see the last restore test — not the backup policy, the test.
- Find out what counts as a project and gets billed on top of the monthly fee.
- Ask about the first 60 days. Inherited cleanup is real work, and honest providers say so before you sign.
- Talk to a reference your size. A provider whose smallest client has 200 seats will not prioritise your 12.
Do you actually need an MSP?
Probably yes if any of these are true: nobody is sure when the last backup was tested; a former employee might still have access; patching happens when someone remembers; one person holds every password; or you are spending your own evenings on IT instead of the business. Probably not yet if you are two people on laptops with everything in Google Workspace and no servers, no compliance obligations and no shared systems.
Most businesses cross the line somewhere between five and fifteen staff, usually the week something breaks badly enough to cost a day's revenue.
Where we fit
We are a managed service provider, and we quote after we look rather than before. The IT assessment costs $0 and gives you a documented inventory of what you run, the risks worth fixing first in order, and a fixed monthly figure you can budget — and the documentation is yours whether or not you hire us.
It is the same principle behind our phone service, which starts at $6.95/mo: enterprise-grade features without corporate headaches. Next steps: what managed IT costs, the practical options for small business IT support, what is in our managed IT service, or local rates on the Fort Worth pricing page.
