Managed IT Support
What is an MSP (managed service provider)? MSP vs IT support company
What an MSP is, how a managed service provider differs from an IT support company, what an MSP does day to day, how MSPs charge and how to tell if you have one.
By Dig IT SolutionsUpdated 8 September 20266 min read
Short answer
An MSP, or managed service provider, is a company that takes ongoing responsibility for running and securing a client's IT for a fixed monthly fee, using remote monitoring, scheduled patching, managed security and a helpdesk. An IT support company may be an MSP, or may only fix things when called. The difference is the standing contract and the monitoring.
"MSP" is one of those industry terms that providers use constantly and clients rarely have defined for them. It matters because the difference between an MSP and an IT company that simply fixes things is the difference between paying to prevent outages and paying to recover from them. This guide explains what a managed service provider is, how it differs from a conventional IT support company, what MSPs do and charge, and how to tell which kind you are dealing with.
The definition
A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that takes ongoing responsibility for operating, maintaining and securing a client's IT under a contract, for a recurring fee. The word "managed" is the important part. The MSP does not wait to be told something is broken. It runs monitoring on your systems, applies updates on a schedule, manages security tools centrally, checks backups, processes joiners and leavers and provides a helpdesk, all as standing obligations set out in a service level agreement.
The term arrived in the early 2000s when remote monitoring and management (RMM) software made it practical for one provider to look after many clients' computers from a central console. Before that, IT companies could only react. RMM let them prevent, and the business model changed to match: a fixed monthly fee for keeping things working rather than an hourly rate for fixing them.
In the UK, MSPs serving businesses of up to 250 people typically cover managed IT support, cyber security, Microsoft 365, networking, backup and disaster recovery, and often telephony and CCTV. See what is managed IT support? for what a contract contains.
MSP versus IT support company
The labels overlap, which is why the question gets asked. Here is the practical distinction.
| Break-fix IT support company | Managed service provider (MSP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | Called when something fails | Standing contract, continuous involvement |
| Billing | Hourly or per incident | Fixed monthly fee, per user or per device |
| Monitoring | None | RMM agents on every computer and server |
| Patching | On request | Scheduled and reported |
| Security | Whatever was installed | Managed antivirus or EDR, email filtering, MFA |
| Backups | Your problem | Monitored and restore-tested |
| Helpdesk | Ad hoc | Ticketed, prioritised, SLA-backed |
| Documentation | Rarely | Required by the model |
| Incentive | More failures, more revenue | Fewer failures, same revenue |
| Typical client | Micro-businesses, low dependence on IT | Businesses that cannot afford downtime |
Many companies that call themselves "IT support companies" are MSPs in everything but name, and a few that call themselves MSPs are break-fix with a monthly retainer. The label tells you little. The monitoring, the patching schedule, the SLA and the fee structure tell you everything.
Other terms you will meet:
- IT consultancy advises on strategy, projects and procurement, and may not provide day-to-day support. Many MSPs include consultancy, sometimes under a "virtual CIO" label. See IT consultancy.
- MSSP (managed security service provider) specialises in security monitoring and incident response, usually for larger organisations. Most SMEs get their security through their MSP.
- Value-added reseller (VAR) sells hardware and software with some services attached. Some MSPs started as VARs.
- Cloud service provider (CSP) is a Microsoft partner designation for reselling Microsoft 365 and Azure. Many MSPs are CSPs, which lets them manage your licences.
What an MSP does day to day
The best way to understand an MSP is to look at a typical working week.
Every day, automatically. Monitoring agents on every computer and server report health: disk space, failed services, pending updates, backup status, security alerts. Engineers review the alert queue each morning and act on anything that needs attention, usually before the client is aware.
Every day, on request. The helpdesk takes tickets from staff by phone, email or portal. A user cannot print, a mailbox is full, a file needs restoring, Outlook wants a password, a new starter needs an account. Most are resolved remotely with a tool such as Splashtop. Some need a visit.
Every week. Patch cycles run, usually out of hours. Windows updates, browser updates, Office, firewall and switch firmware. Anything that fails to install is picked up and fixed.
Every month. Backup restore tests. Licence reconciliation against headcount. Review of open tickets for recurring problems that need a root-cause fix rather than another workaround.
Every quarter or so. An account review with the client: what happened, what is at risk, what hardware is ageing out of warranty, what the plan for the next period looks like.
As needed. Projects: a Microsoft 365 migration, a new office network, a server replacement, an office move, a Cyber Essentials assessment. Quoted separately from the monthly fee.
A more detailed breakdown of the services is in what does an IT support company do?.
How MSPs charge
Almost all MSPs charge a recurring monthly fee. The two common models are per user (one price per member of staff) and per device (separate prices for computers, servers, firewalls, printers and phones). Block-hour and break-fix arrangements exist but are not managed services.
Our indicative per-device rates are £17.50 per month for a computer or laptop, £16.50 for a desk phone, £10 for a network printer, £25 for a router or firewall and £150 for a server (figures reviewed October 2026, confirmed in a written quote). For a 20-person office with a server, a firewall and two printers, that is about £545 a month before phones. The IT support cost calculator will produce a figure for your own setup, and how much IT support costs in the UK explains the market ranges and what moves the price.
Excluded from the fee, and quoted separately: Microsoft 365 and other licences, hardware, projects, and usually out-of-hours work. A good proposal lists its exclusions. One that does not is worth questioning.
What to expect from a good MSP
Beyond the technical work, a competent MSP behaves in recognisable ways.
- It documents your environment and treats that documentation as yours, handed over on exit.
- It has an SLA in the contract, by priority, with hours and remedies, not an average on the website. See what an IT support SLA is.
- It reports. You see what was patched, what alerts fired, how tickets performed.
- It fixes root causes. A problem that recurs three times triggers an investigation, not a fourth workaround.
- It says no. To unsupported software, to disabling MFA "just for now", to backups that are not tested.
- It plans. Hardware refreshes, licence reviews and security improvements are scheduled, not discovered.
- It has real engineers who answer. Not a call centre that logs a ticket for someone else.
Clients who have moved from a break-fix arrangement often notice the quiet first: fewer interruptions, fewer surprises, and a monthly invoice that is the same as last month's.
Is an MSP right for your business?
An MSP suits organisations that depend on email, shared files, line-of-business applications and a network to trade, and that do not want to build an in-house IT team. That covers most businesses of up to 250 people in professional services, healthcare, construction and plant hire, property, leisure and manufacturing. Our clients include a multi-depot plant hire company supported for over 15 years and a golf and country club whose entire network was built from nothing. Both are described in our case studies.
An MSP also suits businesses with an internal IT person who needs monitoring, security tooling, escalation and holiday cover behind them. That arrangement is called co-managed IT.
It is less suited to a two- or three-person business running entirely on laptops and cloud apps, where MFA, a backup and a provider on call may be enough for now. The thresholds are discussed in does my business need IT support?.
What to do next
If you are not sure whether your current provider is an MSP or a break-fix company with a monthly invoice, ask them the four questions in the FAQ above. If you would like an independent view, an IT health check reviews your monitoring, patching, security, backups and documentation and tells you what a managed service should already be doing for you.