What Does Outsourced IT Support Actually Cost a 25-Person Business?

If you run a 25-person business and are considering outsourcing your IT support, one of the first questions is likely to be:

How much is this actually going to cost us?

Unfortunately, IT companies have traditionally been rather good at answering that question with two words:

“It depends.”

And technically, they are right. The cost depends on your users, devices, Microsoft 365 setup, cyber security requirements, servers, network, locations and the level of support you need.

But that does not mean businesses should have to start a sales conversation just to get a sensible idea of the numbers.

So, let's put some figures on it.

For a typical 25-person UK business in 2026, a realistic budget for properly managed outsourced IT support is approximately:

£1,250–£2,250 per month + VAT

More security-focused or complex environments can cost more, particularly where Microsoft licensing, SOC/MXDR services, compliance, multiple locations or significant infrastructure are included.

Current UK pricing guides commonly place mainstream managed IT support at roughly £50–£90 per user per month, although the wider market stretches considerably beyond that depending on what is included.

At Hamilton Group, managed IT support currently starts from £55 per user per month, subject to the services and level of protection your business requires.

For a 25-person company, that gives you a useful starting point of:

25 users × £55 = £1,375 per month + VAT

But the monthly figure alone tells you very little.

What matters is what you are actually getting for the money.

Why Does Outsourced IT Support Pricing Vary So Much?

Imagine receiving two quotes.

Provider A charges £40 per user.

Provider B charges £70 per user.

For 25 employees, that's a difference of £750 every month.

It would be tempting to choose Provider A immediately.

But what happens if the cheaper package only provides remote support when something breaks?

The second provider might also be managing your Microsoft 365 environment, monitoring devices, patching software, protecting endpoints, overseeing backups, securing accounts, monitoring the network and proactively identifying problems.

Those aren't comparable services.

This is why asking "How much does IT support cost?" is only half the question.

The better question is:

"What IT responsibility are we transferring to the provider for that price?"

What Should £1,250–£2,250 a Month Actually Get You?

A well-managed service should go considerably further than giving employees a telephone number to call when Outlook stops working.

For a 25-person business, your IT company should effectively operate as an extension of your organisation.

Employees need somewhere to go when they cannot log in, lose access to files, encounter printing problems, need help with Microsoft 365 or have a laptop that has suddenly decided Monday morning would be an excellent time to stop cooperating.

But reactive support is only one part of the job.

A modern managed IT provider should also be working in the background to prevent problems.

That may include:

• Monitoring computers and systems
• Managing software updates and patching
• Endpoint security and threat protection
• Microsoft 365 administration
• User account management
• Backup monitoring
• Network monitoring
• Cyber security controls
• Password management
• Security awareness training
• Helping employees securely work remotely
• Advice around new equipment and technology
• Strategic IT planning

Hamilton Group's current managed service packages, for example, combine support with proactive monitoring and security services rather than treating cyber security as something entirely separate from everyday IT management.

That distinction has become increasingly important.

The £55-a-User Example

Let's take a straightforward example.

You have:

25 employees

and managed support costs:

£55 per user per month

Your cost would therefore start at:

£1,375 per month + VAT

or:

£16,500 per year + VAT

At first glance, £16,500 sounds like a significant annual expense.

But now consider what the business is actually buying.

You're not employing one IT technician.

You're buying access to a team.

That matters because no single IT employee can realistically be an expert in everything.

One day you might need someone who understands Microsoft 365.

The next day it might be networking.

Then cyber security.

Then a server problem.

Then an employee with a MacBook.

Then someone who accidentally deleted something they definitely, absolutely, positively swear they didn't delete.

Outsourcing gives a smaller business access to a much broader technical skillset without having to employ specialists in each area.

What About Hiring Someone Internally?

This is where outsourced IT becomes particularly interesting for a 25-person organisation.

An internal IT employee means salary, employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday, sickness, training, equipment and recruitment costs.

And you still have one person.

What happens when they're on holiday?

What happens when they don't know the answer?

What happens if your network goes down while they're already dealing with another critical problem?

Internal IT can make excellent sense for larger businesses, and many organisations successfully combine their internal team with an MSP.

But at around 25 employees, fully outsourced IT can often provide access to significantly greater technical resources without requiring the organisation to build an internal IT department.

Cheap IT Support Can Become Very Expensive

There is another trap businesses should understand.

Extremely cheap support can look attractive because IT often appears to be a cost centre.

Until something goes wrong.

Imagine paying £500 less each month for a stripped-back service.

That's £6,000 saved annually.

Sounds good.

Then a compromised Microsoft 365 account leads to a security incident.

Or a failed backup cannot be restored.

Or a critical computer problem leaves several employees unable to work.

Or nobody noticed that important security updates hadn't been installed.

Suddenly, that £6,000 saving doesn't look quite as impressive.

Good outsourced IT isn't just about fixing computers.

Its job is increasingly about reducing business risk.

Where the Buff IT Guy Comes In

This is where the Buff IT Guy would probably flex his muscles.

Because good IT support shouldn't spend its entire life rushing around putting out fires.

The strongest IT environment is the one where many of those fires never happen in the first place.

Think of the Buff IT Guy as the difference between:

"Call us when something breaks."

and:

"Let's make your IT stronger so fewer things break."

That means keeping devices patched.

Strengthening Microsoft 365.

Monitoring threats.

Checking backups.

Managing networks.

Protecting accounts.

Training employees.

Planning upgrades before equipment reaches breaking point.

And making sure somebody actually knows how everything fits together.

There will always be IT problems. Technology has an impressive ability to find entirely new ways to misbehave.

But good management dramatically reduces the amount of firefighting your business has to deal with.

What Could Push the Cost Above £55 Per User?

Not every 25-person organisation has the same technology.

A 25-person consultancy using laptops and Microsoft 365 could have a relatively straightforward environment.

A 25-person manufacturer might have servers, production equipment, specialist applications, multiple networks, remote sites and regulatory requirements.

Costs can increase where businesses need services such as:

Advanced cyber security

Managed detection and response, SOC monitoring and enhanced identity protection provide greater protection but also increase the service cost.

Microsoft 365 licensing

Check whether licences are included in your IT package or charged separately. Hamilton Group's current Professional Platinum package includes Microsoft 365 Business Premium, while licensing arrangements differ across other packages.

Multiple offices

Supporting several locations normally means more networking, connectivity and infrastructure to manage.

Servers and specialist applications

On-premises infrastructure often requires additional monitoring, patching and maintenance.

Compliance

Organisations operating in regulated industries may require additional controls, reporting and documentation.

Onsite support

Always establish whether onsite engineer visits are included, discounted or charged separately.

Projects

Moving office, replacing twenty laptops or migrating infrastructure is different from day-to-day IT support. Ask what constitutes a project and how projects are charged.

Watch Out for the Extras

A £45-per-user quotation isn't necessarily cheaper than a £65-per-user quotation.

Suppose the £45 package charges separately for:

Endpoint security: £10

Backup: £5

Password manager: £3

Security awareness training: £4

Monitoring: £5

Suddenly your £45 package is actually:

£72 per user.

For 25 people that's:

£1,800 per month

rather than the £1,125 headline price.

This is why Hamilton Group believes IT pricing should be understandable rather than hiding everything behind an attractive starting figure.

Its current pricing model combines a core managed service with higher packages and clearly identified additional services depending on what an organisation actually requires.

What Questions Should You Ask an IT Provider?

Before comparing quotes, establish exactly what is included.

You should know whether the monthly cost covers support, monitoring, security, backup, Microsoft 365 management and your network.

You should also understand:

Are support requests unlimited?

Are onsite visits included?

What happens outside normal office hours?

Are Microsoft 365 licences included?

What cyber security tools are included?

Who monitors alerts?

Who checks backups are actually working?

Are new employee setups included?

Are employee leavers handled securely?

Are projects charged separately?

What happens if we add five employees?

A provider should be able to answer these questions without disappearing behind a cloud of technical terminology.

What Does IT Downtime Cost?

There's another number that businesses frequently forget when comparing IT providers:

The cost of doing nothing.

Suppose ten employees earning an average of £35,000 are unable to work properly for four hours.

Ignoring everything else, you've already lost a significant amount of productive time.

Now add:

Lost customer calls.

Missed deadlines.

Management time.

Delayed orders.

Potential reputational damage.

And the engineer required to fix whatever caused the problem.

Preventing just a handful of significant incidents can change the economics of managed IT completely.

That is why the value of an MSP should not be measured purely by how many support tickets it closes.

If your provider prevents the ticket from needing to be opened in the first place, that's often much more valuable.

So, What Should a 25-Person Business Budget?

For initial budgeting purposes in 2026, we'd suggest thinking about outsourced IT support approximately like this:

Basic managed support: around £1,000–£1,375 per month

Well-rounded managed IT and security: around £1,375–£2,250 per month

Advanced security, compliance or complex environments: potentially £2,250–£3,750+ per month

These aren't quotations. They're sensible planning figures based on current UK per-user market pricing. Published 2026 pricing comparisons show a broad market extending from roughly £30 to £150 per user depending heavily on service scope, while around £50–£90 is a more representative range for many SMEs seeking genuinely managed support.

The most important lesson is simple:

Don't buy IT support based purely on the lowest price per user.

Buy the level of responsibility, protection and expertise your business actually needs.

How Hamilton Group Can Help

Hamilton Group provides managed IT support designed to take the everyday technology burden away from businesses while improving reliability, security and visibility.

Whether you have 25 employees today, expect to have 40 next year, or simply want to understand whether your existing IT provider represents good value, we can review your environment and explain your options in straightforward terms.

No mysterious IT jargon.

No need for the Buff IT Guy to perform an emergency rescue every Monday morning.

Just properly managed IT, stronger cyber security and people you can speak to when you need them.

Hamilton Group's managed IT support currently starts from £55 per user per month, with packages available for organisations requiring more advanced security, infrastructure and Microsoft 365 services.

Want to know what outsourced IT support would actually cost your business?

Call Hamilton Group on 0330 043 0069 or email hello@hgmssp.com for a straightforward conversation about your current IT setup and what you really need.