How much does managed IT support cost in Ireland?

Why per-user pricing won

Most Irish MSPs — Nostra included — price per user per month because it scales with your business and makes budgeting simple: hire five people, your IT cost rises predictably; lose five, it falls. Per-device pricing still appears in co-managed deals where the provider only looks after certain equipment. Be wary of contracts priced vaguely by "environment" — they tend to grow mysteriously.

What actually drives the price

Five factors move the number more than anything else: support hours (8am–6pm versus genuine 24/7), how much security is bundled (monitoring-only versus EDR, email security, backup and a SOC), onsite needs (a nationwide field team costs more than remote-only), compliance obligations (regulated sectors need evidence, reporting and audits), and the state of your current environment (an unmanaged, ageing estate costs more to take on).

Compare what's included, not the headline number

Two quotes €15 apart per user can be €50 apart in reality. Check each quote for: Microsoft 365 backup (Microsoft doesn't back your data up), security awareness training, patching of third-party apps (not just Windows), licence management, and whether projects are included or billed separately. A proper quote itemises these; a cheap one stays silent and bills you later.

The honest comparison: in-house vs outsourced

One capable in-house IT person in Ireland costs €45,000–€65,000 plus employer costs, holidays, training and single-person risk. For most businesses under 150 staff, a managed service delivers a full team — helpdesk, security specialists, cloud engineers, strategy — for materially less than one salary. Above that size, co-managed models usually beat either extreme.

Written by the Nostra team  |  Reviewed October 2026