You have heard the term. Maybe your accountant mentioned it. Maybe a competitor brought it up at a networking event. "You should look into an MSP." You nodded along, made a mental note, and then quietly Googled it later.
The problem is that most explanations are written by IT companies trying to impress other IT companies. They are full of jargon, vague promises, and acronyms nobody asked for.
This guide is different. It explains what a managed services provider actually is, what they do on a daily basis, what it costs in London, and how to work out if your business genuinely needs one. No jargon. No sales pitch. Just straight answers.
What Is an MSP? The Short Answer
A managed services provider (MSP) is a company you pay a fixed monthly fee to look after your technology. They monitor your systems, keep them secure, fix problems, and make sure everything runs so your team can actually do their jobs. Think of it as outsourcing your IT department to a team of specialists, without the overhead of hiring, training, and managing that team yourself. The relationship is governed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA), which sets out exactly what support you receive and how quickly you can expect a response. For a closer look at how this works in practice, see our managed IT services page.
What Does an MSP Actually Do Day to Day?
This is where most explanations fall apart. They list services like "network management" and "endpoint security" as though those phrases mean something to a business owner trying to run a law firm or a recruitment agency.
Here is what an MSP actually does, translated into plain English:
They Stop Problems Before They Reach You
Your MSP monitors your systems around the clock. When a hard drive starts showing signs of failure, they replace it before it crashes and takes your files with it. When a software update could break something, they test it first. The entire model is built around prevention, not reaction.
They Handle Cyber Security So You Do Not Have To
They block phishing emails before they hit your inbox. They keep your firewalls updated. They run vulnerability scans and fix weaknesses quietly in the background. In London, where businesses are a primary target for cyber attacks, this also means helping you meet UK GDPR requirements and preparing for the 2026 Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. For a deeper look at how AI is changing this landscape, read our guide on AI and data security for small businesses.
They Are Your Help Desk
When a team member cannot connect to the printer, log into their email, or open a file, they call the MSP instead of bothering the most tech-savvy person in your office. Most issues are resolved remotely within minutes. For anything that needs a physical presence, a good London MSP will have engineers close to the City, Canary Wharf, and the West End for rapid on-site visits.
They Manage Your Cloud and Software Costs
Many London businesses have moved to cloud platforms like Microsoft 365 or Azure without fully understanding what they are paying for. An MSP audits your subscriptions, removes what you do not need, and makes sure your data stays in UK-based data centres. This practice, sometimes called Cloud Sovereignty, matters more than ever for firms handling sensitive client information.
They Plan Ahead
A good MSP does not just maintain what you have. They advise you on what technology to adopt next, when your hardware needs replacing, and how to scale your setup as your team grows. They become a strategic partner, not just a support line.
How Is This Different from Just Calling an IT Person When Something Breaks?
This is one of the most common questions, and it is a good one. The old model is called "break-fix." Something breaks, you call someone, they charge you to fix it. It sounds simple, but it creates a fundamental problem: the person you are paying has no incentive to prevent issues. More breakdowns mean more billable hours for them.
The managed services model flips this on its head. You pay a flat monthly fee. Your MSP is then motivated to keep everything running smoothly because every problem they prevent is time and money saved on their side. It turns a transactional relationship into a genuine partnership.
| Break-Fix IT | Managed Services (MSP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Per incident | Fixed monthly fee |
| Approach | Reactive (fix after failure) | Proactive (prevent failure) |
| Incentive | More problems = more revenue | Fewer problems = lower costs |
| Relationship | Transactional | Strategic partnership |
| Security | Often an afterthought | Built into the service |
For most London businesses, the managed model is not just more cost-effective. It is fundamentally safer. You are paying for stability, not repairs.
What Is Your IT Actually Costing You Right Now?
Before looking at what managed IT costs, it is worth calculating what you are already spending. Because almost every SMB is spending on IT. They just do not realise it.
In most small and mid-sized London businesses, there is no dedicated IT person. Instead, the responsibility quietly lands on one person who was never hired for the role. It might be the operations manager who ends up resetting passwords and chasing software vendors between meetings. It might be the office manager or PA who sets up laptops for new starters and becomes the first point of contact when the printer stops working. In some firms it is the HR lead, spending hours filling in cyber security questionnaires for client onboarding. And in plenty of early-stage businesses, it is the founder or CEO themselves, spending their Sunday evening trying to work out why the shared drive is not syncing.
The job title varies. The pattern does not. One person absorbs the IT burden on top of their actual role, and nobody accounts for the cost.
The Real Numbers Behind the Unofficial IT Person
Here is what that hidden cost looks like depending on who IT has fallen to in your business. These figures are based on a typical London professional services firm with 15 to 25 staff:
| Who IT Falls To | Approx. London Salary | Typical Hours Lost to IT per Week | Annual Cost in Diverted Salary | What They Are Not Doing Instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations Manager | £50,000 | 6 to 8 hrs | £7,500 to £10,000 | Improving processes, managing client delivery |
| Office Manager / PA | £35,000 | 5 to 7 hrs | £4,400 to £6,100 | Coordinating teams, supporting leadership |
| HR Manager | £45,000 | 4 to 6 hrs | £3,500 to £5,250 | Recruitment, compliance, employee wellbeing |
| Founder / CEO / CFO / CTO | £80,000 to £120,000+ | 3 to 5 hrs | £4,800 to £12,000 | Strategy, business development, financial planning, client relationships |
The more senior the person who ends up carrying IT, the more expensive the problem becomes. A founder spending four hours a week on IT issues is not just losing four hours of salary. They are losing four hours of the highest-value work in the business.
And That Is Just the Visible Cost
The numbers above only capture time that people recognise as IT work. They do not include the ten minutes here and there when someone restarts their laptop for the third time, waits for a slow system to load, or works around a tool that is not set up properly. Research from Vanson Bourne suggests that employees in small firms lose an average of 40 minutes per day to IT friction. Across a team of 20, that adds up to more than 3,400 hours a year. That is the equivalent of nearly two full-time employees doing nothing but waiting for technology to cooperate.
There is also the risk factor. When your operations manager or office manager is making security decisions, they are doing their best with no training. A misconfigured firewall, a skipped software update, or a phishing email that slips through because nobody is monitoring it properly can result in a data breach that costs tens of thousands in remediation, regulatory fines, and lost client trust.
What Does Managed IT Actually Cost in London?
With that context in mind, the cost of a managed services provider looks very different. You are not adding an expense. You are replacing a hidden one with a professional, predictable alternative that also eliminates the risk.
London pricing carries a premium over the rest of the UK due to higher operating costs, the need for senior technical talent, and the expectation of rapid on-site response. That said, it is almost always cheaper than the combination of staff time you are already spending and the single IT manager you might consider hiring instead. A dedicated IT manager in London commands a salary of £50,000 to £75,000 before you factor in recruitment, training, sick leave, and the reality that one person cannot provide 24/7 coverage or deep expertise across security, cloud, and infrastructure. For a detailed breakdown, see our article on the true cost of IT downtime for professional services.
| Service Level | Typical London Monthly Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Support | £45 to £65 per user | Small startups, retail, early-stage firms |
| Fully Managed | £95 to £145 per user | Professional services (legal, finance, consulting) |
| High-Compliance | £160+ per user | Regulated firms, FinTech, healthcare |
For a firm of 20 users on a fully managed plan, that works out to roughly £1,900 to £2,900 per month. Compare that to the £4,400 to £12,000 a year your unofficial IT person is already spending in diverted time, plus the invisible productivity drag across the rest of the team, plus the security risk of untrained decision-making, and the value proposition becomes clear.
These are estimates for 2026. Exact pricing depends on the number of users, complexity of your setup, and the level of compliance your industry requires. Most reputable MSPs will offer a free assessment before quoting.
How Do You Know If Your Business Needs an MSP?
Not every business does. If you are a solo freelancer with a laptop, you probably do not need a managed services provider. But if any of the following sound familiar, it is worth a conversation:
- Your team loses more than a few hours a month to IT issues
- You do not have a dedicated person handling cyber security
- You are unsure whether your business meets UK GDPR or Cyber Essentials requirements
- Staff work remotely and you are not confident the connections are secure
- You have experienced unexpected cloud or software costs
- You worry about what would happen if your systems went down tomorrow
If you ticked three or more, you are likely spending more time and money on IT problems than a managed service would cost. If you ticked five or six, your business may be carrying significant risk without realising it.
What Should You Look for in a London MSP?
Not all managed services providers are equal. Some are excellent. Some are glorified help desks with a nice website. Here is what actually matters when you are choosing one:
Response times that match your needs. Ask what their average response time is, not just what the SLA promises. A contract that guarantees four hours is meaningless if the reality is eight.
Certifications that prove competence. Look for ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, and Microsoft Partner status. These are not vanity badges. They demonstrate that the MSP follows recognised security and operational standards.
A clear SLA with no ambiguity. The Service Level Agreement should spell out uptime guarantees, response times, escalation procedures, and what happens if they fail to meet their commitments.
Genuine London presence. If you need on-site support, make sure they actually have engineers in London, not just a remote team that subcontracts local visits.
Proactive communication. The best MSPs do not wait for you to call. They send regular reports, flag upcoming risks, and schedule reviews to make sure your technology is aligned with where your business is heading.
Expert Perspective
"In 2026, London businesses do not just need someone to fix a laptop. They need a partner who understands that downtime in this city costs thousands per minute. Our focus is predictive maintenance. We use monitoring tools and AI to spot a failing server or a security gap before it ever reaches your team. For us, success is when our clients forget we exist because their technology simply works."
Marc Dirrenberger, Founder, Blue Icon IT
Our Thoughts
The concept behind managed IT services is simple. You pay a team of specialists a predictable monthly fee to keep your technology secure, functional, and ready to grow with you. What makes it valuable for London businesses specifically is the combination of high operating costs, serious cyber threats, and a workforce that increasingly works across multiple locations.
If you have been nodding along to this article the same way you nodded when someone first told you to "look into an MSP," the difference now is that you know what it actually means. The next step is a conversation. Talk to our team about what managed IT could look like for your business.
