--- title: "What managed IT services cost | DataRoad IT" description: "Monthly MSP fee or hourly billing: what drives the price of managed IT, how to compare annual cost and IT Unlimited pricing. Request a no-obligation proposal." language: en url: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services-cost-portugal/ source: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services-cost-portugal/ publisher: DataRoad IT (DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting), Portugal --- > Monthly MSP fee or hourly billing: what drives the price of managed IT, how to compare annual cost and IT Unlimited pricing. Request a no-obligation proposal. # What managed IT services cost: monthly fee or hourly rate? At a glance For decision-makers short on time. - 01 Compare the total annual cost of IT support, not the hourly rate, before choosing a model. - 02 Price depends on workstations, infrastructure complexity, service level, scope and on-site presence. - 03 IT Unlimited starts from €395/month + VAT, on an annual contract no lock-in. ### In this article The cost of handing a company’s IT to an MSP depends mainly on four variables: number of workstations and servers, criticality of the operation, agreed response times and services included. To compare proposals fairly, the number that matters is the total annual cost, not the hourly rate. At DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting, the IT Unlimited plans have a fixed monthly fee, from €395/month + VAT. ## Managed contract or pay-per-intervention | Criterion | Per intervention (hourly) | Managed services contract | | --- | --- | --- | | Payment method | Per hour or per visit, with no monthly commitment | Fixed monthly amount | | Predictability | Low: every incident is a new invoice | High: a budgetable cost | | Proactive monitoring | Not included: problems only show up after they affect operations | Included: faults detected before they stop the business | | Response time | No guarantee | Defined in writing | | Best for | Very occasional use | SMEs from 10 workstations | A low hourly rate looks cheaper, but call-outs, emergencies and out-of-hours work are usually invoiced separately. Added together, they easily exceed a contract that includes everything. ## What pushes the price up or down - **Workstations and users** Usually the most significant factor. - **Infrastructure complexity** Number of servers, Active Directory, VPN, dedicated firewall. - **Service level** Guaranteed response time and out-of-hours coverage; at DataRoad, 24/7 support only exists in Premium 365. - **Scope** Reactive support only, or also monitoring, managed backups, licensing and security. - **On-site presence** On-site assistance included or remote only. - **Sector** Healthcare, banking and the public sector have regulatory requirements that call for a higher service level. ## Price reference: the IT Unlimited plans | Plan | Best for | Assistance | Price | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Essential | Companies from 10 workstations | Remote and telephone; no on-site visits | From €395/month + VAT | | Premium | Companies that need an engineer on site | Remote, telephone and unlimited on-site | From €750/month + VAT | | Premium 365 | Operations that never stop | Unlimited on-site, plus nights, weekends and public holidays; 24/7 support and monitoring | From €1,200/month + VAT | The final price is adjusted to the number of users and the criticality of the systems. Annual contract with automatic renewal and no lock-in period. ## Why the cheapest option ends up costing more Without continuous monitoring, a failing disk, a corrupted backup or a missing security update is only discovered once it has already caused a problem: almost always more expensive to fix than it would have been to prevent. Add to that the lack of a guaranteed response and an invoice for every incident. That is why most companies with more than 10 employees end up switching from pay-per-intervention to a managed services contract. ## The calculation to make before deciding - **Add up the last 12 months**: every invoice for paid support from external providers. - **Add internal time**: the hours employees spent away from their own work fixing IT problems. - **Divide by 12**: and compare with the monthly contract fee. The result almost always shows that reactive support already cost more than it seemed: it was simply spread across several invoices. ## Five questions before signing - **Scope** What exactly does the monthly fee include: support, monitoring, backups, security? - **Limits** Is there a cap on hours or requests, or is support truly unlimited? - **Response** What response time is guaranteed for critical incidents? - **Call-outs** Does on-site assistance cost extra? - **Exit** Is there a lock-in period, or can you terminate with reasonable notice? ## How IT Unlimited works IT Unlimited is DataRoad’s managed services contract: no limit on requests, adapted to each company’s number of users and criticality, with remote and on-site assistance, proactive monitoring, alerting and preventive interventions. Discover our [managed IT services at a fixed monthly cost](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/lisbon-msp-managed-networks-it/) and the [user helpdesk](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-helpdesk-portugal/). Beyond support, the same contract can cover networks and structured cabling, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 with cloud management, managed firewalls, servers and backups, CCTV video surveillance, project consulting and Windows and Apple estates. ## About DataRoad DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting is a premium MSP headquartered in Alfragide, with support across the whole of Portugal. Since 2015 it has managed the infrastructure of hotels, clinics, embassies, universities, multinationals and demanding SMEs: 232 clients, with the Top 5% PME distinction awarded by scoring.pt. ## Next step: a proposal built on your numbers The quickest way to find out what managed IT would cost your company is to request a tailored, no-obligation proposal. **More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and telephone support** Call **+351 211 459 950 *** or write to **sales@dataroad.pt**. **Call to a Portuguese landline.* Chosen by respected and international companies ★★★★★ 5,0 · 52 Google reviews ★★★★★ 5,0 · 52 Google reviews DataRoad ## Related articles [IT UnlimitedHow to measure the quality of your IT provider’s supportAlmost every IT provider says it responds quickly. Few show how they measure it. 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Surplus concurrent channels, missing maintenance and a network …15 August 2026 · 4 min read](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/ip-phone-system-cost-comparison/) Numbers you can verify **11** years in business **232** clients **< 10 min** average response time **15+** IT vendor certifications **10+** Countries with clients supported **5.0 ★** 52 Google reviews Transparency ## What many providers hide, we publish. [See plans and prices →](https://www.dataroad-it.com/it-unlimited/) - **Prices upfront** Essential from €395/month + VAT, Premium from €750 and Premium 365 from €1,200. - **No lock-in** Annual contract, no lock-in and no joining fees. - **Everything in writing** What is included, the scope and the price, before you sign. - **Support without counted hours** Remote and phone in every plan; on-site support from Premium. Partners and certifications DataRoad · IT Unlimited ## One StepAhead of IT. Predictability is a service: the same fee every month, requests without counting hours and an SLA written into the contract. - **5 ★** on Google · 52 reviews - **Top 5%** SMEs · scoring.pt - **10+** workstations: our minimum per client We do **IT** right. DataRoad IT Unlimited ## Have your backups ever been put to the test? Automated, monitored backups stored off site. [Request a proposal, no commitment →](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/#contact)+351 211 459 950 **Call to a Portuguese landline · More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support[Not sure what you need? Talk to the assistant →](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/#assistente) --- Versão HTML desta página: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services-cost-portugal/