COST AND PRICING · MANAGED IT PRICING
What's Included in a Managed IT fee, and What Isn't
A managed IT fee in New Zealand typically buys helpdesk access, endpoint security, patching and a security baseline - not project work, Microsoft licences, hardware, after-hours call-outs or strategic account management. Those sit outside the monthly fee on every plan we've looked at, ours included. Knowing the split is what stops a cheap-looking quote turning into a surprising invoice.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Every plan carries the same baseline: helpdesk access, Microsoft 365 backup, MFA, anti-spam, anti-malware and automated Windows updates
- "24/7" can mean helpdesk access, security monitoring or general monitoring, and they are not the same promise
- Licences, project work, hardware, after-hours call-outs and account management sit outside the monthly fee
- The better your own security posture, the less a cyber incident costs you on top of the plan
I’ve written this as the companion piece to what things cost, because a number on its own doesn’t tell you what you’re actually buying.
Want to see how this maps against what you pay now? Book a consultation with Lucidity →
MANAGED IT INCLUSIONS
Find out what your current fee actually covers
Bring your quote or your last invoice. A Lucidity advisor maps it against the exclusions list and tells you what you would pay for the first time you needed it.
- Which of the four "24/7" promises you actually hold
- What a security incident would cost you today
- Whether account management is bundled or billed
- Which plan tier matches your security posture
No obligation. Useful whichever provider you end up with.
What’s actually included in a managed IT plan?
The same baseline on every plan, down to pay-as-you-go
- Helpdesk access
- Microsoft 365 backup
- Multi-factor authentication
- Anti-spam filtering
- Anti-malware and ransomware detection
- Automated Windows update deployment
That’s a real minimum security stack, not a marketing line – it’s the same list whether you’re on our cheapest plan or our most expensive one. What changes as you move up the plans is how much of the day-to-day management is handled for you, and how much extra security sits on top of that baseline.
What’s the actual difference between the five plans?
Starter T&M
PAY-AS-YOU-GONo included remote support hours, billed for what you use. Still carries the full minimum security stack, but device onboarding, automated app deployment and proactive device management aren’t included.
Starter Unlimited
FLAT MONTHLY RATEAdds unlimited remote support in business hours. Device management stays the same as Starter T&M.
Complete
ADDS STAFF SECURITY TRAININGAdds automated app deployment, faster patching commitments, new-device onboarding, device compliance reporting, and – this is the one worth knowing about – security awareness training for your staff. That’s not on Essentials or either Starter plan.
Premium
REACHES THE HIGHER SECURITY STANDARDThe only plan that adds web content filtering, a password manager, Intune compliance and policy management, on-demand vulnerability scanning, and eight hours of included cyber remediation per security event. If you want to reach the higher of our two published Cyber Security Minimum Standards levels on inclusions alone, Premium is the plan that gets you there – Complete gets you close, but security awareness training and web filtering are both part of what that second level actually requires.
Related: what managed IT actually costs, plan by plan →
What does “24/7” actually cover, and what doesn’t it?
This phrase does more work than it should, so it’s worth being precise. Four different things at Lucidity use round-the-clock language, and they’re not the same promise.
Helpdesk access
24/7 on every plan, including Starter T&M. That’s access, not staffed after-hours support – after-hours help is urgent-only on every plan, and carries a $250 call-out fee plus our hourly rate unless you hold the Urgent After Hours Add-on ($10 per user per month, or by negotiation for larger accounts).
Managed Detection and Response
The security operations layer watching for a breach runs 24×7 with a 30-minute response target, from Essentials up. On Starter, it needs you to be licensed for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first.
System, infrastructure, backup and uptime monitoring
Follows the plan: 8am to 5.30pm on Essentials, 24/7 on Complete and Premium.
TWO DIFFERENT PROMISES
``Someone's watching for a breach at 3am`` and ``someone's watching your backup job at 3am`` are different promises, and on Essentials only the first one is true. Any provider using ``24/7`` without saying which of these they mean is worth a follow-up question.
What’s not included in the monthly fee, on any plan?
This is the list that actually matters, because a low headline price with a long exclusions list isn’t a low price.
Billed separately, on every plan
- Microsoft 365 and other software licences
- Project work - migrations, new deployments, anything outside day-to-day support
- Hardware and procurement
- After-hours call-outs, unless you hold the add-on
- Third-party software costs
- Telco and internet connections
- Domain (DNS) management
- Migrating your own data out, if you ever leave
- Strategic account management - a named Account Manager, a Trusted Advisor or a vCIO is sold as a separate monthly fee, not bundled into any plan
That last one catches people out more than any other. A lot of providers imply strategic input comes free with any account manager relationship. On our side, information security and risk management, business continuity and compliance sit only at the top account-management tier, because those three take real time and carry real liability – I’d rather say that plainly than let you find out later.
Want to know what your current fee actually covers? Book a consultation with Lucidity →
Is incident response included if something actually goes wrong?
Partly, and it scales with how prepared you already are, which I think is the fairer way to price it.
Cyber security incident call-out fee, by your security posture
- $2,000 + hourlyNot aligned to either Cyber Security Minimum Standards level
- $250 + hourlyAligned to the first level
- No call-out feeAligned to the second level
- First 8 hours includedPremium plan customers, any incident
So the honest answer is: the better your own security posture, the less an incident costs you, on top of any plan. That’s an unusual thing to publish, and it’s the kind of detail that tells you more about a provider than any tagline does.
What should you actually ask, before comparing two quotes?
? Ask for the exclusions list before you ask for the price.
? Ask whether “24/7” means helpdesk access, security monitoring, or general monitoring, because a provider might mean any of the three.
? Ask whether strategic account management is bundled in or billed separately – if a quote doesn’t mention it at all, that’s usually your answer.
Related: the full list of questions to ask an MSP before you sign →
Wrapping up
None of this is complicated once it’s laid out, which is exactly why I think it should be laid out rather than left for you to discover partway through a contract. If you want to see how this maps against what you’re paying now, or you just want the full plan comparison in front of you, email me at andrew@lucidity.co.nz or call 09 363-8888. No obligation, and I’d rather tell you plainly where a plan doesn’t fit than sign you up regardless.
Top 10 questions asked about what a managed IT fee includes
Quick answers to the questions New Zealand businesses ask most about what their monthly IT fee does and doesn't cover. Each one is covered in more detail above.
1. What does a managed IT plan actually include in New Zealand?
A baseline of helpdesk access, Microsoft 365 backup, multi-factor authentication, anti-spam filtering, anti-malware protection and automated Windows updates, on every plan. Higher plans add proactive device management, deeper security monitoring, staff security training and faster patching commitments.
2. Is Microsoft 365 licensing included in a managed IT fee?
No. Licensing, hardware, project work, and after-hours call-outs are typically billed separately from the monthly plan fee, on ours and on most honest providers' plans. Ask for the exclusions list, not just the headline price.
3. What does "24/7" mean on a managed IT plan?
It depends which of up to four things a provider means: helpdesk access, security operations monitoring, general infrastructure monitoring, or alert monitoring. On our plans, helpdesk access is 24/7 everywhere, but general monitoring only reaches 24/7 from our Complete plan up.
4. Does 24/7 helpdesk access mean someone will fix my problem at 2am?
Not automatically. Access is round the clock on every plan, but after-hours help is urgent-only and carries a $250 call-out fee plus the hourly rate unless you hold the Urgent After Hours Add-on at $10 per user per month.
5. Is strategic advice or account management included in a managed IT plan?
Usually not, ours included. A named Account Manager, a Trusted Advisor or a vCIO is typically a separate monthly fee on top of the plan, and the deepest strategic work - security risk, continuity and compliance - is often reserved for the highest tier of that separate service.
6. Which plan includes security awareness training for staff?
Complete and Premium. Security awareness training is not on Essentials or either Starter plan, and it is one of the things the higher of our two published Cyber Security Minimum Standards levels requires.
7. What is the difference between Starter T&M and Starter Unlimited?
Starter T&M is pay-as-you-go with no included remote support hours. Starter Unlimited adds unlimited remote support in business hours at a flat monthly rate. Both carry the full minimum security stack, and device management is the same on each.
8. Does the plan cover the cost of a security incident?
Partly, and it should scale with your own security posture rather than being a flat fee regardless. On our plans, the better aligned your environment already is to a recognised security standard, the lower the call-out fee for a cyber incident - down to nothing at the highest alignment level.
9. Is Managed Detection and Response included on every plan?
From Essentials up it runs 24x7 with a 30-minute response target. On the Starter plans it needs you to be licensed for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first.
10. What should I ask before comparing two managed IT quotes?
Ask for the exclusions list before the price, ask which of the "24/7" promises you are actually being sold, and ask whether strategic account management is bundled or billed separately. To run your own quote through those three, book a consultation with Lucidity.
Want the full plan comparison in front of you?
A Lucidity advisor maps the five plans against what you pay now and tells you plainly where a plan doesn't fit.
