Managed IT vs. hourly IT support

Choose the support model around the work.

Managed IT and hourly IT support solve different problems. Managed IT establishes an ongoing scope of support and maintenance. Hourly support pays for time spent on an agreed task or incident. The useful comparison is the responsibility each option covers, the work your team still owns, and how predictable the total cost will be.

When managed IT is a better fit

An ongoing arrangement can suit a business whose employees depend on email, shared files, devices, and access throughout the working day. It is especially useful when maintenance and account administration keep slipping between other responsibilities.

• You need a clear route for recurring support requests.
• New starters, departures, and device changes happen regularly.
• You want scheduled reviews of access, systems, and outstanding risks.
• Your team needs an accountable owner for the agreed technology scope.

The agreement should state covered users and systems, support hours, response commitments, maintenance responsibilities, and exclusions. A monthly fee alone does not establish what is included.

When hourly support can make sense

Hourly support can suit a defined repair, a one-off configuration change, or specialist help for an internal team that already owns day-to-day operations. Before work begins, agree the objective, authorization limit, documentation, and how additional time will be approved.

Compare availability as well as the hourly rate. An occasional support arrangement may not reserve response capacity or include proactive maintenance. Ask what happens when an urgent issue occurs and whether investigation, travel, and follow-up are billable.

Compare the complete cost

For managed IT, request a breakdown of recurring service fees, setup or transition work, software subscriptions, hardware, and separately quoted projects. For hourly support, estimate the expected work and identify who handles the tasks that are not being purchased.

• Coverage: Which people, devices, locations, and applications are included?
• Availability: When can requests be submitted, and when will someone respond?
• Ownership: Who maintains accounts, permissions, updates, and backup checks?
• Changes: What happens when you add employees or replace systems?
• Exit: How are administrative access, documentation, and outstanding work handed over?

Can the two models work together?

Yes. A business can use ongoing support for its agreed core environment and commission migrations or automation as separate projects. An internal IT owner can also retain responsibility while bringing in outside help for a defined scope. The boundary should be documented so work is neither duplicated nor left unowned.

Questions to ask before signing

Ask for a written example of how a normal request is handled, how an urgent incident is escalated, and what a monthly review contains. Confirm any minimum term, renewal, cancellation, and data-return arrangements in the proposal. Compare like-for-like coverage rather than treating the lowest headline price as the lowest total cost.

Which option fits a small business?

Choose ongoing support when requests recur and nobody internally owns the routine work. Choose hourly help when the task is contained and someone on your team manages everything outside it. If you cannot name that internal owner, a low hourly rate will not solve the responsibility gap.

What would FortLyn support cost?

FortLyn’s Microsoft 365 Care is $450 per month for up to five users and includes three remote support hours each month. Additional approved time is $150 per hour; unused hours expire monthly. Coverage and business hours are agreed in writing. Device management, backup, licenses, and larger projects are separate.

This is a defined Microsoft 365 support scope, not unlimited support for every system. Compare it with a proposal that lists the same users, applications, hours, and responsibilities. See FortLyn’s service pricing for the current scope.

A practical way to compare proposals

1. List the last month’s requests: account changes, email problems, access issues, and device work.
2. Separate recurring administration from one-time projects.
3. Ask each provider to mark what is included, excluded, or separately charged.
4. Assign an internal owner to every excluded responsibility.
5. Compare the expected monthly total, including licenses and approved extra work.

For example, five covered remote hours in a month under the Care scope would be $750: the $450 monthly fee plus two approved hours at $150. This calculation excludes licenses and separately scoped work; it is a budgeting example, not a flat price for every incident.

What if we are not ready for monthly support?

Start with a defined review. FortLyn’s Technology & Workflow Review is $495 for one business and up to four total hours, covering discovery, a review of current tools and workflows, a prioritized plan, and a findings meeting. It can help identify what should become recurring support and what should remain a separate project.

Find the right starting point

FortLyn can review your current tools, recurring requests, and ownership gaps to define a practical scope. Explore Managed IT & Microsoft 365, use the IT review preparation guide, or request a technology review.

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