If you’ve ever tried to get a managed IT quote in Brisbane, you already know the problem: most providers won’t tell you what anything costs until you’ve sat through a 60-minute discovery call. We think that’s backwards. You should be able to understand what managed IT costs — and whether it makes sense for your business — before you talk to anyone.
So here’s an honest breakdown of what managed IT actually costs, what drives pricing up or down, and what you should get for the money.
What managed IT costs in Brisbane (2026)
Fully managed IT services in Brisbane are priced primarily by the number of supported users. Here’s what the numbers look like at Connected Platforms:
- 10-15 users: $3,100-$4,650/month
- 25-35 users: $7,750-$10,850/month
- 40-50 users: $12,400-$13,750/month
Onboarding is quoted separately and is typically around $4,400, depending on the complexity of your existing environment. That covers discovery, documentation, migration, and configuration — the work required to get your environment to the standard where we can support it properly.
We publish this because we believe you deserve to know the cost before you get on a call. See the full breakdown on our pricing page.
What’s actually included
One of the most common complaints we hear from businesses switching to us is that their previous provider had a long list of exclusions buried in the contract — and they only found out about them when something went wrong.
Our fully managed service includes:
- Brisbane-based helpdesk — remote support and onsite visits when remote isn’t enough
- Proactive monitoring, maintenance, and patching — we catch issues before they become your problem
- Microsoft 365 support — licences, Teams, SharePoint, permissions, the lot
- Endpoint security and cybersecurity monitoring
- Backup and disaster recovery management
- Vendor management — we deal with your ISP, phone provider, and software vendors so you don’t have to
- Strategic IT advice and regular account reviews
- Access to the Horizon client portal for visibility into your IT environment
We count unique supported users, not devices. So if your team each use a laptop and a phone, you’re not paying twice.
What drives the cost up
Every environment is different. The factors that typically push pricing higher than the base range:
- Multiple locations. Each site adds complexity in network management, infrastructure, and onsite support logistics.
- Neglected M365 environment. If your Microsoft 365 tenant is messy — shared accounts, no MFA, incorrect permissions, legacy configurations — there’s remediation work before we can support it properly.
- Compliance requirements. Businesses in finance, healthcare, legal, and construction often have specific compliance obligations (cyber insurance requirements, Essential Eight, industry standards) that require additional security controls.
- Ageing or undocumented hardware. If nobody can tell us what’s in your environment, we have to find out. That takes time.
- Complex line-of-business applications. Specialist software with unusual dependencies or vendor support requirements takes more management time.
Is managed IT cheaper than hiring someone in-house?
For businesses under 50 users, yes — but the real comparison isn’t just about cost.
A junior IT person in Brisbane costs $65,000-$75,000/year in salary, around $77,000-$92,000 all-in with super, training, and tools. When they’re sick, on leave, or eventually resign, your IT capability goes with them. If something goes wrong at 2am, or you need a security specialist, one generalist isn’t enough.
A managed IT service gives you a team — helpdesk technicians, security engineers, a virtual CTO — for a fixed monthly cost. No employment risk. No single point of failure. No six-week recruitment cycle when someone leaves.
See our full comparison of in-house IT vs managed IT.
What to watch out for when comparing providers
- Vague inclusions. “All your IT needs” is not a scope. Ask what’s in, what’s out, and what triggers an extra charge. Request a sample invoice from a current client.
- No onboarding process. Moving IT providers is a significant project. If a provider says they can do it in a week, ask exactly how. A proper transition takes 4-8 weeks done right.
- Reactive support dressed up as managed IT. Some providers only show up when things break. Ask how they proactively monitor your environment and what they report to you each month.
- Lock-in with no exit terms. Ask what happens if you want to leave — notice period, data handover, documentation. Evasiveness about exit terms is a warning sign.
Is managed IT right for your business?
Managed IT makes the most sense for Brisbane businesses with 10-100 users where IT is critical to operations but isn’t your core product. If you’ve had issues with slow response times, IT problems that nobody seems to own, a Microsoft 365 environment that’s become a mess, or a provider that only talks to you when something breaks — those are the problems a good managed IT service is designed to solve.
If you have fewer than 10 users and very simple IT needs, ad-hoc support might be more cost-effective. We’ll tell you that honestly if it’s true.
Book a no-obligation 20-minute call and we’ll give you a number based on your actual headcount and environment. Or see our pricing page first if you’d rather do your own research before talking to anyone.
