How do you compare managed IT quotes fairly?

How do you compare two managed IT quotes when one is cheaper, but the inclusions look completely different?

Put both providers against the same written brief before comparing the monthly total. Match the users, locations, licences, support responsibilities and separately charged work. Then compare the first-year budget and the work your own team still has to carry.

For owners and operations managers of Brisbane professional-services businesses with roughly 10–100 staff, the useful question is not “Which provider has the longest inclusion list?” It is “Who will own the problems that interrupt our work, and what will that actually cost?”

1. Give both providers the same starting point

A per-user price is only comparable when everyone is counting the same people and covering the same environment. Give each provider the same list of supported users, offices, devices, Microsoft 365 licences, business applications and known problems.

Ask how shared devices, part-time staff, extra sites and changes in user numbers will be treated. Do not assume a lower total means the same scope has been priced more efficiently.

Connected Platforms’ current pricing guide counts unique supported users, not every laptop or phone they carry. The public calculator covers 10–50 users; larger or more complex environments need a scope-based quote.

2. Turn the inclusion lists into responsibilities

For each line below, have both providers mark included, separately charged, or your responsibility. Ask for the relevant agreement clause beside the answer.

• People and support: who helps staff, handles new starters and leavers, and decides when an onsite visit is needed?
• Microsoft 365: which exact licences, administration and security settings are included?
• Devices and maintenance: who owns monitoring, patching and unsupported-equipment remediation?
• Security: which controls and monitoring are included, and what incident-response work requires separate approval?
• Backup and recovery: what is backed up, who checks it, and which testing, recovery or disaster-recovery work is separately scoped?
• Applications and suppliers: who coordinates with software, internet and phone vendors, and where does their responsibility stop?
• Planning: who reviews recurring faults, priorities and the budget rather than just answering the next ticket?

For Connected Platforms, the current inclusions page brings these responsibilities into one managed service: Brisbane-based support, Microsoft 365 Business Premium for selected Managed Users, security controls, backup oversight, supplier coordination and planning. Onsite support applies at included service locations, within the agreement boundaries.

3. Compare the first-year budget, not just the monthly fee

Use the same calculation for both proposals:

12 months of recurring service + onboarding + agreed remediation + separately required licences, hardware and projects.

Put unpriced items in an “unknown” column, not a zero-dollar column. Keep GST treatment consistent across the comparison and confirm it in each written quote. Do not add existing licences twice if the managed-service price already replaces them.

Connected Platforms currently publishes $310 per supported user per month, with onboarding typically about $4,400, depending on the environment. For 25 supported users, that published rate gives $7,750 per month, or $93,000 for 12 months of recurring service before separately scoped costs. This is an arithmetic illustration, not a client example or a final quote.

Check each provider’s price-review mechanism too. Connected Platforms’ numbered agreement terms allow an annual managed-service adjustment on 1 September after the first 12 months, at the greater of 5% or the most recent annual CPI increase, with at least 30 days’ written notice. Quantity changes and third-party licence changes are treated separately. Use the current agreement, not an assumption that today’s monthly price never changes.

4. Ask what remains outside the fixed fee

A clear exclusion is more useful than an unexplained “unlimited” promise. Ask each provider to identify the likely additional work in your environment, how it is priced and who can approve it.

Under the current Connected Platforms agreement, projects, custom work, additional licences, formal audits, specialist services and some recovery work sit outside the recurring fee unless expressly selected. Support outside agreed hours is best-effort and may be chargeable. The numbered terms require scope and charges to be explained and approved before out-of-scope work, with the stated qualification for after-hours circumstances.

For a deeper checklist, read what can still cost extra under a managed IT contract. A lower quote may be reasonable if you knowingly keep more responsibility. It is not a fair comparison if those retained duties are invisible.

5. Compare accountability and the cost of leaving

Ask how you will see open issues, recurring faults, risks and planned work. Request a walkthrough of the reporting, escalation path and review process. A dashboard is useful evidence of visibility; it is not proof that every issue has been resolved.

Connected Platforms’ Horizon client portal provides visibility of support, infrastructure, Microsoft 365, security, billing and the technology roadmap. The agreement also provides for an offered Strategic Business Review every three to six months, with reasonable operational and planning discussions included between reviews.

Then read the exit terms. Connected Platforms’ numbered terms use a 12-month planning period but allow cancellation at any time with at least 30 days’ written notice, without a remaining-term exit fee. Services through the notice period, approved work, hardware, third-party commitments and agreed offboarding work already incurred remain payable. That is different from “leaving costs nothing”.

When the cheaper quote may be the better choice

Choose the narrower service if it genuinely meets your needs and someone capable inside the business owns the gaps. Occasional support can be sensible for a small, simple environment. A team with internal IT may need a clearly defined co-managed arrangement rather than a fully managed replacement.

Connected Platforms’ fully managed service is not aimed at buyers who only want occasional one-off help or the lowest monthly fee. It may fit when technology supports daily work and you want one accountable operating model across support, security, suppliers and planning. Paying more is not proof of better outcomes: ask what changes, who owns it and how you will verify the work.

Before you choose, get five answers in writing

1. Are both quotes based on the same users, locations, systems and licence requirements?
2. What is included, separately charged and retained by our team?
3. What is the first-year budget, and which costs remain unknown?
4. Who owns escalation, recurring problems and progress reporting?
5. What happens when prices change or we decide to leave?

Give each unanswered item an owner and a date before making the decision. Compare the confirmed scope and responsibilities first. Then decide whether the price is worth it.