"MSP" is one of those terms everyone in IT uses and few people outside it can define. If you're deciding whether to hire one, here's what you actually get, what you don't, and how to tell a good provider from a bad one.
What an MSP is
A managed service provider (MSP) is an outside company that runs your IT for a fixed monthly fee, instead of billing by the hour when something breaks. The key word is managed: the provider is responsible for keeping things working, not just fixing them after they fail.
The older model is break-fix: you call when something is broken, a technician shows up, you pay for the hours. It still has a place for one-off problems (we offer same-day break-fix for exactly that), but nobody is watching your systems in between calls.
What an MSP typically handles
- Help desk. Your staff call, email or open a ticket when something isn't working.
- Monitoring and updates. Computers, servers and network equipment are watched by monitoring tools, and updates are tested and installed on a schedule.
- Security. Antivirus and endpoint protection, multi-factor sign-in, email filtering and firewall management.
- Backup and recovery. Backups that are checked, plus a plan for getting back up after a failure.
- Network. Firewall, switches, Wi-Fi and the internet lines behind them.
- Vendors. Dealing with your internet provider, phone company and software vendors so you don't have to.
- Planning. Budgets, hardware replacement schedules and projects such as office moves.
- On-site visits when a problem can't be fixed remotely.
Not every MSP covers all of these. Many are strong on the help desk and Microsoft 365 but hand off anything involving cabling, firewalls or Wi-Fi to someone else. If your network matters to your business, ask who actually does that work.
Help desk vs IT support: what's the difference?
People use the two terms interchangeably, but they're not the same thing.
A help desk is the front door. It handles the problems individual people run into: a forgotten password, Outlook not syncing, a printer that won't print. It's measured by how fast someone answers and how fast the issue is fixed.
IT support is broader. It includes the help desk, plus the systems behind it: servers, the network, security, backups, and the planning that keeps those running.
| Help desk | IT support | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it serves | Individual users | The whole business and its systems |
| Typical work | Passwords, email, printers, software problems | Help desk, plus servers, network, security, backups and projects |
| Measured by | Response and fix time per ticket | Uptime, security and how few tickets there are |
| Example | "I can't log in to Outlook." | "Our firewall subscription expires next month." |
A good MSP gives you both: an IT help desk your staff can reach, and engineers looking after the infrastructure behind it.
Outsourcing IT: the pros
- Predictable cost. A monthly fee instead of surprise invoices.
- A team, not a person. You get networking, security and Microsoft 365 skills that one in-house hire rarely has all of.
- Coverage. Support doesn't stop when your one IT person is on vacation or leaves.
- Prevention. Monitoring and scheduled maintenance catch problems before users notice them.
- Documentation. A good provider writes down how your systems are set up, so the knowledge isn't in one person's head.
...and the risks
- Slow, generic service. Some providers run a ticket queue where nobody knows your business.
- Lock-in. If the provider holds every admin password and all the documentation, leaving becomes painful.
- Security. An outside company with admin access to your systems is a target. Their security becomes your security.
- Scope gaps. "That's not covered" for anything outside the contract, such as cabling, moves or new hires.
- Long contracts. Multi-year terms with automatic renewal and steep exit fees.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is your response time, and is it in the contract?
- Who owns our admin accounts and documentation, and do we get copies?
- What exactly is included, and what is billed extra?
- Can you send an engineer on-site the same day?
- Who handles our firewall, switches, Wi-Fi and cabling?
- How do you secure your own access to our systems?
- If we leave, what do you hand over, and how long is the notice period?
What it costs
Most MSPs price per user per month, with the price depending on what's included and how many devices and locations you have. Our NYC managed IT pricing guide breaks down typical ranges and the hidden costs to ask about. To see what it would cost for your office, use the estimator on our managed IT page.
