An MSP (Managed Service Provider) is a company that takes ongoing responsibility for your IT infrastructure under a monthly contract. Instead of calling someone when something breaks, you have a partner who monitors, patches, supports, and improves your systems continuously. Most small and mid-sized businesses use an MSP because hiring a full internal IT team is expensive and a single internal admin is hard to back up.
What an MSP typically covers
The core scope: workstation and laptop management, network setup and monitoring, server administration (cloud or on-prem), Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration, backup configuration and verification, endpoint protection, patch management, user onboarding and offboarding, and a help desk for day-to-day questions. Some MSPs also handle phone systems, printers, and field IT for office moves.
Pricing models
Common structures: per-user (a fixed monthly fee per employee), per-device (per workstation or server), or tiered packages with set inclusions. Per-user pricing is the most common today because it scales cleanly with the business and aligns the MSP's incentives with employee experience.
When an MSP is the right fit
Hire an MSP when (1) you have more than ~10 users and no dedicated IT person, (2) downtime costs you measurable revenue, (3) you handle data that requires real security hygiene, or (4) you want predictable monthly IT spend instead of crisis-driven invoices. If you have one or two laptops and a Wi-Fi router, an MSP is overkill. If you have 50 employees on Microsoft 365 with no one running tenant administration, you need one.