Cost of IT management per workplace 2026: what a managed workplace costs, what is included and how to compare.
What does IT management cost per workplace per month? At Qteco from € 89 all-in for teams up to around 20 employees and from € 119 for organisations up to around 40 employees, including Microsoft 365 licences, security, backup, management and support. This publication explains how that amount is built up, what is and is not included, which factors determine the price and how to compare quotes from different providers fairly.
How the price per workplace is built up.
An all-in price consists of five layers. Each layer costs money, even if you choose it yourself or skip it. Anyone comparing a quote has to check per layer whether it is included, charged separately or missing.
Licences
Microsoft 365 Business Premium or equivalent: Office apps, e-mail, Teams, SharePoint, Intune and Defender. Included at Qteco; at many providers a separate line that distorts the comparison.
Security
EDR on every device, MFA and Conditional Access, e-mail protection, and from the Growth package SOC monitoring. Without this layer a workplace in 2026 is neither insurable nor NIS2-proof.
Backup
Daily, independent and immutable backup of Microsoft 365 (e-mail, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams) with an annual restore test. Microsoft does not provide this itself.
Management and monitoring
RMM management: 24/7 monitoring, patching, updates, device management via Intune, licence and user management. The proactive work that prevents outages.
Support and SLA
Service desk with a contractual response time: 4 hours for Startup, 1 hour for Growth, 15 minutes for Scale-up. Average response time at Qteco around 14 minutes.
Not included
One-off onboarding, hardware (laptops, phones, network) and VAT. Projects outside the management scope, such as a migration or a new office, are quoted separately as well.
Guide prices per managed workplace, price level September 2026.
Three packages, one unit: per workplace per month, all-in, excluding VAT. The packages differ in security level, data location and response time, not in what is included as a basis.
All-in guide prices per managed workplace: including SLA support, Microsoft 365 licences, EDR security, Microsoft 365 backup and RMM management. Excluding one-off onboarding, hardware and VAT. The exact price depends on the environment and the desired security level.
What does an organisation with 10, 20 or 40 workplaces pay?
A simple multiplication of the starting price by the number of workplaces. The package follows from the organisation size; the annual amounts are twelve times the monthly amount, excluding onboarding, hardware and VAT.
For comparison: for 20 workplaces that is the complete IT, with management, licences and security, for a fraction of the salary cost of one full-time in-house IT employee. In addition, an in-house IT employee offers no 24/7 monitoring, no SOC and no cover during holidays or illness.
What pushes the price per workplace up or down.
The same five layers, different choices. These are the factors that in practice make the difference between a quote of € 89 and one of € 150 per workplace.
Security level
EDR only, EDR with SOC monitoring, or zero trust with 24/7 SOC and vCISO. Each step costs more and is often no longer optional for a NIS2-regulated or insured organisation.
Response time and SLA
A contractual response time of 15 minutes requires different staffing than 4 hours. Always ask for the measured average response time, not just the contractual one.
Data location
Standard Microsoft region, or workloads and backups in Dutch Tier III/IV data centres under Dutch law. Sovereign storage costs more and is often required for engineering IP and sensitive data.
Number of workplaces and complexity
More workplaces lower the price per workplace; local servers, multiple locations, old applications and many suppliers raise it. That is why it says "from".
What falls outside the contract
Billing by the hour for everything outside the basis makes a low price per workplace expensive. Check whether changes, new employees and small projects are included in the price.
Seven control questions for every IT management quote.
Convert every quote to one all-in amount per workplace per month. Only then can providers be compared.
Are the Microsoft 365 licences included?
If not, add the licence price per user to the management amount.
Is EDR on every device included, and who looks at the alerts?
EDR without monitoring is an alarm without a control room.
Is Microsoft 365 backed up independently and tested?
Ask for the latest restore test report.
What is the contractual and the measured response time?
Ask for the figures of the past twelve months.
What does a new employee, a change, a small question cost?
If that is billed by the hour, the price per workplace is not all-in.
Where are data and backups stored, and under which law?
For NIS2, GDPR and insurers you must be able to demonstrate this.
What are the one-off costs and the contract term?
Onboarding, migration and notice period belong in the total comparison over three years.
Frequently asked questions about the cost of IT management.
What does IT management cost per workplace per month?
At Qteco from around € 89 per workplace per month for teams up to around 20 employees and from around € 119 for organisations up to around 40 employees, all-in: Microsoft 365 licences, EDR security, Microsoft 365 backup, RMM management and SLA support. One-off onboarding, hardware and VAT are added separately. Larger or more complex organisations receive a custom quote.
Why is an all-in price per workplace easier to compare than an hourly rate?
An hourly rate says nothing about the total: it depends on how many incidents there are, and a provider that bills by the hour earns from incidents. A fixed price per workplace puts the risk with the provider, who then has an interest in preventing incidents. So always compare the annual cost per workplace, including everything you would otherwise pay separately.
What is not included in the price per workplace?
One-off onboarding (inventory, takeover of management, configuration of security and backup), hardware such as laptops, phones and network equipment, projects outside the management scope such as a migration or relocation, and VAT. Qteco quotes these items in advance as a fixed amount.
Is an in-house IT employee cheaper than an MSP?
For an organisation up to around 40 workplaces almost never. The salary cost of one full-time IT employee is well above the annual cost of 20 managed workplaces, while one person cannot offer 24/7 monitoring, a SOC, cover during absence or specialist knowledge in every area. From larger numbers of workplaces a combination is common: an internal IT coordinator with an MSP as executor.
Does the cost per workplace rise as the organisation grows?
No, per workplace it usually falls: the fixed cost of management is spread over more workplaces. The package often does change with growth, for example to Growth with SOC monitoring and a response time of 1 hour, because a larger organisation carries a larger risk.
How current are these prices?
The prices apply to the price level of September 2026 and are reviewed annually, among other things when Microsoft changes its licence prices. Every version of this publication has a number and a date; always cite with the version number. The current packages are on the Managed IT page.
How to cite this publication.
This publication is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0): you may share, adapt and quote it, including commercially, as long as you credit Qteco and state the version number. Changes per version are listed alongside.
Mudde, K. (2026). Cost of IT management per workplace 2026, version 2026.1. Qteco B.V., Eindhoven. https://qteco.nl/en/kosten-it-beheer-per-werkplek. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
September 2026, first public version
Structure in five layers, guide prices at the September 2026 price level, worked example for 10, 20 and 40 workplaces, price factors, seven control questions, FAQ. English edition and CC BY 4.0 licence added on 9 September 2026.
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