Why Does Your MSP’s Price Change From Year to Year?

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It’s easy to just say “inflation” when someone asks why there’s a price increase for what seems to be the same service from one year to the next. And boy, there's truth there. But it can be more complicated than that.  

Remember, IT never stands still. Every year there are new tools, resources, and technologies. And they all need to be managed, monitored, secured and supported. Here at Simplex-IT we use up to 15 or so tools or products to support your IT processes. Backups, firewalls, desktop and server monitoring, automation, ticketing, infrastructure, endpoint and server protection, EDR, XDR, MDR, inventory monitoring, Technology Business Review tools, documentation, SEIM services, and more. 

There’s a product or licensing cost associated with each one of those solutions. These are the hard dollar product costs, which vendors can (and do) raise when they feel appropriate. Often it’s because they’re adding additional features. 

But for every one of these tools? We have to make sure we’re using them properly. Some integrate with others, some don’t. We need to either develop the integration necessary (to maximize their benefit to both our clients and ourselves). We need to upgrade them to the latest versions (after testing them). Look for new and better ways to use them. Partner not only with the vendor behind the product, but other MSP’s to make sure that we’re always using best practices. 

Then there’s security. Boy, you think IT changes fast? They’re like snails when compared to the speed of changes on the cyber security world. The bad guys are constantly coming up with new ways to turn vulnerabilities into money for them. So we’re constantly on the lookout for these vulnerabilities and how to use the existing tools we have to thwart those ne’er do wells. We receive several security alerts about new attacks discovered every single day. Most don’t present a “clear and present danger” to our clients, but when they do, we have to act, and quickly. 

It would be great to tell you that our vendor and tool stack never changes, but I’d be lying. The fact is, not all vendors keep up with their products in terms of adding additional features and/or fixing security problems. That means we have to keep an eye out for what competitive products do to make sure we’re still using the right products. We’re not quick to jump ship, but we always have an idea of what other players are out there. Thankfully we’ve developed some great relationships with our vendor partners so we have an open channel to discuss what kind of needs or shortcomings we see (and our best vendor partners actively listen and respond to us). 

Remember, we’re a business. As our costs change, so do our prices. That increase usually comes with additional value. Please contact us if you have any questions.