Know what it costs before you commit
No two clients here buy the same way, so a single rate card would be a fiction. These are the four ways it works, and the one rate that never moves.
Four ways clients buy
Most combine two or three of these. What you need depends far more on what you run than on how many people you employ.
Monitoring & support
Flat monthly, per site
No per-user charge at all.
For businesses whose equipment matters more than their headcount. We watch the network and endpoints, patch what needs patching, and get told when something goes offline, including working with your ISP to get a line back up.
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
- Patching and firmware
- Endpoint protection and reporting
- ISP and vendor liaison
- Documentation of what you have
Fits: Sites with more equipment than staff: yards, plants, retail floors, and any business where the network is the thing that must not stop.
Per user, per month
Monthly, per user
Licensing and support together.
For teams where the people are the cost center. This bundles Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licensing with endpoint support for the person using it, so one line item covers the seat.
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licensing
- Endpoint protection and patching
- Helpdesk for that user
- Joiner and leaver handling
- Mailbox and file backup
Fits: Office-based teams where nearly everyone has a computer and a mailbox.
Projects & on-site
Flat hourly
One flat rate. Quoted before we start.
Camera installs, cabling, migrations, network builds, and one-off work. The same rate whether it’s a Tuesday morning or a cutover on a Saturday, and quoted up front once we’ve seen the job.
- Camera and network installation
- Structured cabling
- Email and file migrations
- Equipment replacement and setup
- One-off troubleshooting
Fits: Anyone with a specific job to do. There’s no requirement to sign a managed agreement first.
Hosted services
Flat monthly
Billed alongside everything else.
Website hosting and business phone service, run on infrastructure we manage. Priced per site or per seat depending on the service, and included on the same invoice as the rest.
- Website hosting, patching, and backups
- Business phone service (UniFi Talk or 14IP)
- Domain and DNS management
- TLS certificates
- Changes without a ticket queue
Fits: Clients who would rather have one provider and one invoice than four vendors and four renewal dates.
What we don’t do
Mark up equipment you buy outright
Hardware you buy outright is charged at what we pay for it, plus sales tax, on its own line separate from labor. An MSP that profits on the box has a reason to recommend a new one. Financed equipment carries a financing charge, stated in the quote before you sign.
Charge a per-user minimum
If your business is equipment-heavy and people-light, you shouldn’t be paying as though it were the other way around.
Bury the terms
One-off work needs no agreement. New installs typically start at one year, then go month-to-month. A longer term only applies when you finance equipment through us, and buying it up front is always an option.
Surprise you on an invoice
Work outside what we’ve agreed to gets discussed before it happens, not itemized afterward.
Pricing questions
The ones worth answering before a call instead of during one.
How much does managed IT cost for a small business in Charleston?
It depends on which of the four models above you use, which is why we don’t publish a single rate card. Some clients pay a flat monthly fee per site with no per-user charge at all. Others pay per user per month, which bundles licensing with support. Project and on-site work is billed at a flat hourly rate, quoted up front. Most clients combine two or three. A twenty-minute call is normally enough to give you a real number rather than a range.
Why don’t you publish a per-user price like other MSPs?
Because it would be a fiction for most of our clients. A packaging plant with fifteen staff and a lot of equipment, and a fifteen-person accounting practice, have almost nothing in common in what they need. Pricing them identically per user would overcharge one and underserve the other. The four models exist because that is how the business works.
Is there a minimum number of users?
No. There’s no per-user minimum and no minimum seat count. Monitoring-and-support clients pay nothing per user at all.
Do we have to sign a long-term contract?
Not for one-off work. New installs and managed services typically start on a one-year agreement and go month-to-month after that. Equipment can be bought up front, or supplied by us and paid off over a two- or three-year agreement, with a financing charge, if that is easier on cash flow. The term and the notice period are stated plainly before you sign.
What’s not included?
Hardware and third-party licensing are quoted separately from labor, so you can see exactly what you are paying for equipment. Hardware you buy outright is charged at what we pay for it, plus sales tax, with no markup. If you would rather not buy equipment up front, it can be supplied and paid off over a two- or three-year agreement, with the financing charge stated before you sign. Project and on-site work is billed at a flat hourly rate unless it’s covered by your agreement. If something falls outside what we have agreed to, you’ll hear about it before the work happens, not on the invoice.
Can we start small?
Yes, and most clients do. A common starting point is monitoring and backup on the systems that matter, then adding more once you’ve seen how we work. Starting with a single project is also fine.
Get a real number, not a range
Twenty minutes on what you run and what you’re paying now is usually enough. Serving the Charleston metro and Lowcountry.