The $325/Hour Question: What You're Really Paying for With IT Support

A business owner recently told me they found an IT company charging $85/hour. "Why would I pay you more?" they asked. It's a fair question—and the answer reveals everything about how IT support pricing actually works.

The Hidden Math Behind IT Pricing

When you see an IT company's hourly rate, you're seeing the end result of a business equation. That number has to cover:

• The technician's salary and benefits
• Training and certifications
• Tools, software, and equipment
• Insurance and overhead
• Administrative support
• And yes, profit

An IT company charging $85/hour is making tradeoffs somewhere. They might be paying technicians less (which affects who they can hire), skipping expensive certifications, running leaner on tools and software, or operating with higher volume and less personalized service.

None of that is inherently wrong—but you should understand what you're getting.

What Actually Determines Value

Here's what matters more than the hourly rate:

How Long Does It Take to Solve Problems?

A senior technician charging $200/hour who solves your problem in 30 minutes costs you $100. A junior technician charging $85/hour who takes three hours to figure it out costs you $255—plus three hours of your staff's time dealing with the issue.

Experience isn't just about knowing the answers. It's about knowing where to look, which questions to ask, and what to try first. That efficiency is worth real money.

Do They Fix It Once or Keep Coming Back?

Some problems get "fixed" in ways that create new problems down the line. A quick patch that addresses symptoms but not root causes means you'll be paying for another service call next month.

The best IT support sometimes takes a little longer upfront to actually solve the underlying issue—but you don't see them again for that same problem.

What Don't They Know?

IT is vast. Nobody knows everything. The question is whether your IT provider knows enough about your specific needs—and whether they know what they don't know.

A good provider will tell you when something is outside their expertise and either bring in the right specialist or help you find one. A cheaper provider might wing it and hope for the best.

Questions That Actually Matter When Comparing Providers

Forget about hourly rates for a moment. Here's what you should be asking:

1. What's included in your rate?

Some providers include everything in their hourly or monthly rate. Others have add-ons for after-hours support, emergency calls, certain types of work, or specific software. Get the full picture before you compare numbers.

2. Who will actually be working on my systems?

Will you get the senior technician from the sales meeting, or will your day-to-day support come from whoever is available? What are their qualifications and how long have they been with the company?

3. What are your response time guarantees?

When something breaks, how quickly will you hear from them? How quickly will someone actually start working on the problem? What happens if they miss those targets?

4. How do you handle situations outside your expertise?

A good provider has a network of specialists they can call on and will be honest about their limitations. Ask for examples of when they've brought in outside help.

5. Can I talk to current clients in my industry?

References from businesses similar to yours tell you a lot more than generic testimonials. Ask specifically about the types of problems they've solved and how responsive they've been.

The True Cost of Cheap IT

We regularly take over from IT providers who won business on price. Here's what we typically find:

• Deferred maintenance. Updates not applied, backups not tested, security patches ignored—because doing things right takes time, and time costs money.
• Poor documentation. Nothing written down, no network diagrams, passwords scattered across sticky notes. When something breaks, there's no way to quickly understand the system.
• Band-aid solutions. Problems "fixed" in ways that create new problems. Quick workarounds instead of proper repairs.
• Hidden compliance gaps. Especially in healthcare and finance, where the cheap option often means someone wasn't really checking for compliance.

Cleaning up these situations often costs more than doing it right would have in the first place.

What Good IT Support Actually Costs

For a typical small business in South Florida—let's say 20-30 employees, standard business applications, some compliance requirements—you should expect to pay somewhere between $150-350 per hour for quality break-fix support, or $100-250 per user per month for managed services.

Prices significantly below that range should prompt questions about what you're giving up. Prices significantly above that range should prompt questions about what extra value you're getting.

The right answer depends on your specific situation, but the cheapest option is rarely the best deal when you factor in efficiency, reliability, and long-term costs.

Making the Right Choice

When evaluating IT support, think about total cost of ownership, not just the invoice you'll see each month:

• How much is downtime costing you when things break?
• What's your risk exposure if security isn't handled properly?
• How much time does your team spend dealing with IT issues instead of their actual jobs?
• What would a major outage or breach actually cost your business?

Good IT support is an investment that pays off in fewer disruptions, better security, and technology that actually helps your business run better. The hourly rate is just one piece of that equation—and usually not the most important one.