Tampa IT Support & Managed Services

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is an IT support company that augments and becomes your dedicated IT department to proactively manage your IT infrastructure and end-user systems remotely, with a clear Service Level Agreements on a monthly subscription model.

Co-managed IT services are designed to support businesses that already have an IT department or in-house IT support staff. With co-managed IT services, businesses will often outsource their help desk and end-user support activities to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) so that their internal resources can focus on higher-level, more strategic initiatives.

Alternatively, organizations with an IT department who are fully capable of handling the day-to-day tasks may require external expertise for more complex projects. These projects are usually designed to improve the company’s overall IT strategy, like infrastructure upgrades, migrations, or Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions.

Co-managed IT services enable every company quick access to IT professionals without budgeting to hire multiple technicians at different skill levels.

The average hourly rate for IT services in Tampa, Florida, ranges between $125 to $225 without a managed service contract. Emergency support can easily double the rate, with many service providers charging upwards of $250 – $300 per hour for an immediate dispatch.

There are three types of contracts when you work with a third-party IT service provider, typically these include break/fix hourly rates, a managed IT services agreement, or pre-paid hourly block contracts.

Break/fix IT support means that the service provider is called to resolve an issue, as needed, on a set hourly rate. Break/fix may be cheaper in the short-term; however, these service providers only make money when your business has IT-related problems so there is little incentive to provide proactive or pre-emptive maintenance.

Companies with a managed IT services agreement pay a predictable monthly rate to gain access to a team of experienced information technology professionals from front-line help desk support for resetting passwords to quarterly IT roadmap reviews with a Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer. Our managed IT service plans include unlimited tech support, with this model, the MSP is only profitable when your team has zero issues or downtime so it’s in the best interest of both parties to ensure a proactive approach to solving your technology issues effectively.

While less common today since more and more IT service providers are transitioning to managed service agreements, some IT support companies allow customers to pay in advance for a set number of hours that can be used to fix IT problems as needed. A prepaid hourly block contract will always have a lower hourly rate than a break/fix contract.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to answer whether or not a small business should outsource their IT support; however, working with a managed IT service provider typically costs less than hiring one experienced full-time IT Manager.

According to Payscale, the salary range for an IT Manager is between $63,300 – $138,000. If a business is only looking for an IT Support Technician in Tampa, data from Glassdoor indicates that the average base pay is $51,016 per year.

Managed Services are a cost-effective solution for small and medium-sized businesses to gain access to a fully-staffed IT department with varying degrees of specialization across telecommunications, server management, end-user support (troubleshooting employee computers), cloud architecture, cybersecurity, IT infrastructure planning, and database management.