What’s included in managed IT
Read the schedule before you compare the price.
Two managed IT quotes at the same price per user can cover very different work. Take our free question sheet to every quote. Then see where other providers’ agreements most often differ from ours.
By the CCP team · Updated
Questions to ask a managed IT provider
Take these questions to every quote.
The fee per user is the easy part to compare. These questions find what each quote leaves out, before you sign.
- 19 questions that decide what a managed IT fee really covers
- Room to write two providers’ answers side by side
- A worksheet to price the same normal month from each
Free, with no email needed. Or bring both quotes to a free review
Managed IT provider questions by topic
Every question on the sheet.
Support, security, service levels, price and leaving, and people. Each one changes what you pay or what you get.
Support
- 01 Who answers when my staff call, and where are they?
- 02 Are site visits included? Is there a call-out fee or a minimum charge?
- 03 What happens at night and at the weekend? What does it cost?
- 04 Is there a monthly limit on new staff, leavers and changes?
- 05 When does a job become a project that you bill separately?
Security
- 06 On the plan you quoted, does a security team watch our computers 24 hours a day?
- 07 How do you test backups? When did you last do a full restore test?
- 08 How many days after release do you install security updates?
- 09 What proof can you give our insurer, auditors or clients? Do you charge for it?
- 10 Do you require multi-factor authentication (MFA) on every account?
Service levels
- 11 Are your response times promises or targets? What happens if you miss one?
- 12 Can we see your response times for the last 12 months?
Price and leaving
- 13 What do you charge on top of the fee per user? Please list it.
- 14 How can the price go up during the agreement?
- 15 What does it cost to leave early? Does the agreement renew by itself?
- 16 When we leave, what do we get? Do you charge for the handover?
People and planning
- 17 Who is our main contact? Who helps when they are away or leave?
- 18 Who plans our IT with us, and how often?
- 19 What do you need from us? What will you refuse to support?
Managed IT agreements compared
What we see when agreements are side by side.
We read the published agreements of several larger Australian providers in 2026. These are the terms where they most often differ from ours. Each “Other providers” entry is from at least one of them.
Term Other providersCCP
Support
Site visits One service is delivered remotely only, with a call-out fee for visits. Another includes visits, but the provider decides when one is needed. Yes, within 40 km of our Welshpool office.
After hours Often urgent incidents only. Visits after hours can have a 4-hour minimum. Emergencies are included. In our latest reports, we answered or returned every call within 30 minutes. Other work is billed.
New staff and changes One agreement allows 2 a month, with no rollover. Onboarding 20 users counts as 20 requests. No cap.
Helpdesk location One lower-cost service is mostly delivered offshore, with an onshore desk as a paid add-on. In Perth, at our Welshpool office.
Security
24/7 security monitoring In one range, only on the top tier, which also needs a more expensive Microsoft licence for each user. Yes, on every plan.
Proof for insurers and audits One agreement bills information for auditors as time and materials. Included on + Compliance and Complete.
Service levels
Response times Some are targets the provider will try to meet, not commitments. A workaround can count as resolved. For an urgent problem, we respond within 1 business hour.
When work becomes a project In one agreement, any job over 4 hours of work. When it needs more than 3 business days of work. We tell you first.
Price and exit
Charges on top of the fee Licences, hardware, projects, and often onsite visits and security add-ons. Microsoft 365 licences, hardware, call charges, internet and projects.
Price rises One agreement rises each year by CPI or the provider’s cost increases, whichever is greater. With CPI each year. If our costs go up, we can add up to 10% more, with 30 days’ notice.
Leaving early One agreement charges all fees for the rest of the term and renews automatically. Four weeks’ notice. Leaving early has a fee: 40% of the fees left in the first 18 months, then 25%. No fee if we break the agreement and don’t fix it.
Length of the agreement Terms vary. Check for automatic renewal and the notice period. Three years, with no set-up fee. After that, month to month at a higher rate.
The CCP column is a short summary. The full detail is in our terms at ccp.com.au/terms.
What’s included in managed IT questions
Straight answers.
Something not covered? Call (08) 9467 2269 and ask an engineer.
What does managed IT usually include?
Most services include a helpdesk, device monitoring and patching. What varies is everything else: onsite visits, after-hours cover, security monitoring, backups, compliance evidence and planning. Check the schedule, not the headline.
What is not included in your plans?
Microsoft 365 licences, hardware, phone call charges beyond the inclusions, internet access fees and projects. These are billed as their own line items, so you can see them.
Do you charge for onsite visits?
No, within 40 km of our Welshpool office. Visits further away are billed for travel time.
What happens if we want to leave?
You give four weeks’ notice. Leaving early costs 40% of the remaining fees in the first 18 months of the term, then 25%, plus reasonable costs we have already committed for you. If we breach the agreement and don’t fix it within 14 days of your notice, you can leave with no fee. We hand over your documentation and credentials. Help to move your data to a new provider is billed.
How long is the agreement?
Our standard agreement is a three-year term, with no onboarding fees. We spend the first three months onboarding you. Full alignment with every security recommendation usually takes the whole term, because the work is incremental. A month-to-month arrangement is available on request, at a higher rate. If you leave, we hand over full documentation and credentials. Some clients have stayed 20+ years.
Send us your current schedule.
Book a free IT review with a Perth engineer. Bring your current agreement and we will tell you what it covers and what it doesn’t, in plain English.
Or call (08) 9467 2269
We hold ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification from BSI, certificate IS 840964.