How much does managed IT support cost for a small engineering or architecture practice in Ireland?

The short answer: IT support cost for a small engineering or architecture practice is usually a monthly fee per person. With us, for instance, Silver starts from €45 and Gold from €70 per user per month, excluding VAT. You can also mix the two in one practice. Then, separately, budget for Microsoft 365 licences and workstation hardware. Also allow for any server or device backup your project files need.

This guide is for principals and practice managers in design practices across Meath, Cavan, Westmeath, Louth and Dublin. In particular, it explains what the monthly fee covers and what pushes costs up for design teams. It also shows how to compare quotes fairly.

How per-user pricing shapes IT support cost

Generally, we charge a monthly fee for each person we support, as many managed IT providers do. So a practice’s IT support cost tracks headcount, rather than the number of problems each month. That makes budgeting easier when you’re pricing fees for the next project.

However, not every person needs the same level of cover. For example, a director who approves stage payments faces different risks from a part-time administrator. As a result, we let practices put most staff on Gold and lighter users on Silver. In addition, Microsoft 365 licences are billed separately, outside either package.

What Silver and Gold include

Silver, from €45 per user per month excluding VAT, covers the essentials:

• Remote support from our helpdesk.
• Device monitoring and operating system patching.
• Antivirus, endpoint detection and response (EDR) and ransomware protection.
• Microsoft 365 backup of email, OneDrive and SharePoint.
• Setting up accounts for new starters and removing them for leavers.

However, Silver doesn’t include email security or a business password manager. Gold, in contrast, costs from €70 per user per month excluding VAT. It includes everything in Silver and adds:

• Unlimited on-site call-outs as needed.
• Email security with advanced threat filtering.
• Full Microsoft 365 admin and support.
• Security monitoring 24/7 by our security operations centre partner.
• Application control, plus phishing simulation and awareness training.
• Leaked-password alerts and a business password manager.

Our helpdesk runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. After-hours emergency support is available at an extra cost. Gold’s 24/7 monitoring watches for threats, but it isn’t an out-of-hours helpdesk.

What drives IT support cost in a design practice

Design work puts different demands on IT than a typical office does. As a result, costs for engineers and architects differ in a few places.

CAD and BIM workstations matter first. Design software leans heavily on processors, graphics cards and memory. Because of that, keeping drivers and operating systems current matters more than usual. Replacement workstations are a hardware cost, which we quote separately. We can help match them to your software vendor’s recommended specification.

Next, large project files affect the bill. Where drawings and models live affects both cost and speed. Some practices suit SharePoint, while others still need an office server. Our guide on SharePoint or a server for project files covers that choice in detail.

Then there are site and remote staff. Engineers on site and architects working from home need secure access to current drawings. Meanwhile, every extra laptop is another device to monitor, patch and protect.

Backup, payments and IT support cost

Backup beyond Microsoft 365 is another factor. Our Microsoft 365 backup covers email, OneDrive and SharePoint. Project drives on a local server or workstation need device or server backup instead, which we scope in your proposal. The NCSC’s guidance for small businesses says to keep backups separate from the original data. It also says to test them regularly, so we test restores every two weeks.

Finally, stage payments attract fraudsters. Specifically, the NCSC’s business email compromise guidance describes criminals using compromised supplier emails to change payment details. Gold’s email security and phishing training help here, so directors and accounts staff are usually worth putting on Gold.

How to compare IT support cost across quotes

After all, two quotes with similar monthly totals can cover very different work. Before comparing the IT support cost on each one, ask every provider the same questions:

• Which security tools come with each user, and which cost extra?
• Do you include email security, or only basic spam filtering?
• Does backup cover project drives, or only Microsoft 365?
• How often do you test restores, and can we see the records?
• Do Microsoft 365 licences appear as a separate line?
• Can we mix package levels for different roles?
• What are the helpdesk hours, and what does after-hours help cost?
• Who looks after CAD workstations and deals with software vendors?

Also check who owns the admin accounts for your Microsoft 365 tenant. If you ever change provider, that ownership should stay with the practice. Finally, look for a written proposal that lists setup work and hardware as separate items.

How Sweeney Computer Services can help

Oliver Sweeney founded Sweeney Computer Services in 1985 in Hurdlestown, Kells, Co. Meath. Today we support more than 50 businesses and more than 10 schools. For design practices in particular, we look after workstations, project file access, backup and security as one service.

For more detail, see our IT support for engineers and architects. You can also read about our managed IT support, cybersecurity, Microsoft 365 and backup and recovery services. Then, after a short review, we’ll send you a proposal showing the IT support cost for each person.