A managed service provider (MSP) runs some or all of your IT for a monthly fee: support for your staff, device management, security, backups and the systems that tie them together. It differs from a break-fix IT company, which only bills when something goes wrong.

Should an MSP publish its prices?

Published prices are less useful than they look, because what you pay depends on headcount, devices and what's already in place. The test that matters is whether the provider gives you a fixed written quote before you commit, with every per-user and per-device cost listed and no setup or exit fees hidden in the contract.

What response time should I expect from an MSP?

Ask for response targets by priority rather than one headline number. A good provider separates urgent issues (several people offline, or a security incident) from single-user problems and routine requests, gives a target for each, and says what happens if it misses them. Be wary of a single universal figure, especially one quoted around the clock.

How long should an MSP contract be?

Shorter is better for you. Multi-year terms with exit fees are common in the industry. A rolling monthly contract with no exit fee means the provider has to keep earning the work, and it lets you leave cleanly if it doesn't.

Do I need a Mac-specialist MSP?

If most of your team works on Macs, yes. A provider built around Windows tools will manage Macs at arm's length, and it shows in enrolment, security policy and creative software. Look for one that specialises in Apple and still handles the Windows machines and cloud services you run alongside them.

How do I switch MSPs without downtime?

Get the new provider to audit your setup first, then plan the handover in writing: admin credentials, MDM and Apple Business ownership, domain and DNS access, licences and documentation. A careful handover runs both providers in parallel for a short overlap, so nobody loses access while accounts move.

How to Choose an MSP in London: 12 Questions to Ask

Choosing a managed IT provider comes down to twelve questions. Ask what the quote covers and whether it's fixed. Ask for response targets by priority, the hours someone is on duty, and what leaving costs. Then ask who will support you, which platforms they specialise in, and which certifications the engineers hold themselves. Finish with how they manage devices, how they'd take over from your current provider, how fast they can be on-site, and whether vendors pay them for recommendations.

The answers matter less than how they're given. A good provider answers with numbers and documents. A weak one answers with adjectives. If you run a Mac-first team in London, two answers count for more than the rest: whether the engineers really specialise in Apple, and whether "on-site" comes with a defined arrival time.

What does a managed service provider do?

An MSP runs your IT for a monthly fee. That usually means support for your staff, device management, security tooling, backups, and the accounts and licences that connect everything. You get one team that owns the whole picture, so you're not refereeing between your email provider, your laptop supplier and whoever set up the Wi-Fi.

Plenty of providers sell only the support desk. That's fine if it's all you need, but most growing teams also want someone to say what to do next: what the next ten hires need, which software is costing too much, and what an investor's security questionnaire will ask. So the questions below test both halves.

Will you give us a fixed written quote before we commit?

This is where to start, because it shows how the rest of the relationship will work.

What you pay for managed IT depends on headcount, devices, how much is already in place, and how much tidying up the first month involves. A price list on a website can't know any of that, so the number that counts is the one in writing after someone has looked at your setup.

A good answer: "We'll audit your setup and send a fixed quote, per user per month, with every line explained." The quote should split ongoing support from one-off projects. It should say what triggers a price change, such as headcount, and list any setup or exit fees. Ideally there are none.

A weak answer: a ballpark on the first call that grows once you've signed, or a quote with an "additional services" line nobody can explain.

What are your response targets, and what happens when you miss one?

Anyone can say "fast response". Ask for targets by priority.

A sensible structure has three levels. Urgent means several people offline or a security incident. Next is one person stuck or a service degraded. Last come requests and faults with a workaround. Each level should have a target, and the target should depend on which plan you're on.

Then ask what "response" means. It should mean an engineer working on your issue. An automated email saying your ticket exists doesn't count. Finally, ask what happens if they miss: service credits on the higher plans are a good sign that the targets are real.

Be sceptical of one universal number, like "15-minute response on every ticket". Very fast targets are usually reserved for urgent issues on premium plans, and a provider that blurs that distinction will blur others.

When are you staffed, and what happens out of hours?

"24/7 support" can mean a lot of things. Sometimes it means a ticket form that accepts submissions at 3am. Sometimes it means automated monitoring that alerts someone. Occasionally it means a person on shift.

Ask plainly: "If our file server dies at 11pm on a Thursday, who is awake, and what will they do?" A good provider tells you its staffed hours, what monitoring runs outside them, and whether a person on call out of hours is available as a scoped extra. For most office-hours businesses, solid daytime support plus monitoring is the right buy. Just make sure you know which one you're paying for.

How long is the contract, and what does it cost to leave?

Long contracts protect the provider. Multi-year terms with exit fees are common, which means a poor service keeps getting paid.

A good answer: a rolling monthly contract, no exit fee, and a written commitment to hand over credentials, documentation and admin access if you leave. Ask to see the exit clause before you sign.

Who will support us day to day, and can we meet them?

You're hiring people who will have admin rights over your whole company. Ask who they are.

Good providers assign named engineers who get to know your setup, and they'll happily put you on a call with them before you sign. If the answer is "whoever's free in the queue", expect to explain your setup from scratch every time you ring.

Which platforms do you specialise in, and what about the rest of our fleet?

Every provider says it supports Macs. Fewer are built around them.

If your team is mostly on Macs, look for a provider that specialises in Apple. Its tooling, policies and engineers should start from macOS rather than treat it as a Windows variant. It should still handle the Windows laptops in finance and your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 tenancy, because almost every Mac-first company has some of both. We've written about how to tell a Mac specialist from a Windows-first generalist in more depth.

The red flag is "we support everything equally". Nobody does, and you'll be the one paying for the learning curve.

Which certifications do your engineers hold, not just the company?

Company badges and individual qualifications tell you different things, so ask about both.

For the company: Cyber Essentials Plus shows its own house is in order, and you'd want that from anyone holding your admin accounts. Apple partner status, such as Apple Premium Technical Partner, shows a working relationship with Apple.

For the engineers: for Mac work, look for Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP), Apple Certified Mac Technician (ACMT), and MDM qualifications such as Jamf 300. Ask how many of the engineers who would support you hold them.

How will you manage our devices?

Ask which MDM they'd use and why. The best answer depends on your setup, so a provider that names one tool before asking anything is selling what it already runs.

For Macs, the modern baseline is zero-touch enrolment. A new laptop is assigned to your company in Apple Business (the service that replaced Apple Business Manager in 2026), and it arrives at the new starter's desk and sets itself up with your apps and security policies. If a provider still images Macs by hand, or can't explain declarative device management, it's working several years behind Apple.

Can you get us through Cyber Essentials Plus?

Even if you don't need certification today, you'll be asked about it. Enterprise customers, insurers, investors and public-sector tenders all ask. A provider that runs your devices should be able to configure them to pass, gather the evidence, and sit with you through the assessment.

Ask whether they've taken clients through it and whether they hold it themselves. Then ask what they'd change on your fleet to pass. A specific answer here (FileVault on every Mac, MFA everywhere, supported OS versions only) is a good sign.

How would you take over from our current provider?

Most switches go wrong at handover. Ask the new provider to describe it step by step.

A good plan starts with an audit and lists what has to move: admin credentials, ownership of your Apple Business account and MDM, domain and DNS access, licences, and any documentation that exists. Ask whether it runs both providers in parallel for a short overlap, and how long the move usually takes. If the answer is "we'll just reset everything", expect a rough first week.

How quickly can someone be on-site, and where are you based?

Remote support fixes most problems. Some can't be fixed remotely: a failed switch, a display that won't connect, a new office that needs cabling. For those, ask for a defined on-site arrival time and the area it covers. "Same day" with no hour attached isn't a commitment.

In London that usually means a stated arrival time across Zones 1 to 3 during business hours. Where the provider's own office is matters too. An engineer who's fifteen minutes away will come round for a small job, and one who's an hour away will put it off.

Do vendors pay you for what you recommend?

Some providers earn referral fees, rebates or margin on the software and hardware they recommend. That isn't always wrong, but you should know about it.

Ask directly: "Do you receive any commercial benefit from the vendors you recommend?" A good provider tells you plainly and explains how it keeps advice separate. Then ask a sharper one: "Tell me about a time you talked a client out of buying something." Good advisors have stories like that. Order-takers don't.

What are the red flags in an MSP's answers?

Watch for these:

No written quote until after you've signed something. A provider should commit to a price before you do.
A single response-time figure for everything. Real targets differ by priority and plan.
"24/7 support" that turns out to be a ticket form. Ask who is awake.
Long contracts with exit fees. They keep a poor service paid.
"We support everything equally." Specialism shows in the tooling and the people.
No straight answer on handover. If it can't explain how it takes over, it won't be better at handing over.

How does Stabilise answer these questions?

We're a managed service provider ourselves, so here are our answers to the same twelve questions. Judge them like anyone else's.

We quote after a free audit, priced per user per month, on 30-day rolling contracts with no exit fees. Any setup cost depends on how much of your estate we take over, and it's in the quote. Projects such as network builds and migrations are scoped and quoted upfront. Response targets depend on plan and priority during business hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00). Urgent issues get a response in 15 minutes on Premium, 30 minutes on Professional, and one business hour on Essential (which covers infrastructure and security, not per-user support), with service credits on Professional and Premium. We don't staff overnight, and out-of-hours cover is scoped separately if you need it.

We specialise in Apple, support the Windows and cloud services around it, and choose the MDM per client. Stabilise is an Apple Premium Technical Partner and Cyber Essentials Plus certified, and our engineers hold ACSP, ACMT and Jamf 300. On-site visits come within 90 minutes across London Zones 1 to 3, from our office in Clerkenwell.

If you're weighing up a provider, or wondering whether your current one passes these questions, get in touch and we'll start with the audit. You can also see how our managed Apple IT support plans are structured.

How to Choose an MSP in London: 12 Questions to Ask Before You Sign