Most managed IT proposals look alike at first glance: a monthly price per user, a list of services, and a promise of fast response. The differences that matter are buried in a few lines of fine print, and they tend to surface on the worst day, when a laptop is dead on a jobsite or a mailbox has been compromised.
This guide walks through a typical proposal from top to bottom so an owner, controller, or operations manager can read it with confidence. You do not need to be technical. You need to know what each line is supposed to promise and what to ask when it is vague.
The Scope Section
Start with what is actually included. Look for named services rather than adjectives. "Comprehensive support" means nothing; "help desk during stated hours, remote and on-site as defined" means something.
Users, devices, and sites
Confirm how the provider counts. Are they pricing per user, per device, or both? A superintendent with a phone, a tablet, and a laptop can quietly turn a per-user price into a per-device price. Ask whether jobsite trailers, shop networks, and shared field tablets are in scope, and whether seasonal workers are counted when they are active or all year.
What is excluded
Every proposal has exclusions. Read them first. Common ones include project work, hardware purchases, line-of-business software support, and after-hours calls. For a contractor, line-of-business software matters: if nobody supports your estimating, accounting, or project management tools, your team will still call the help desk and get turned away.
The Service Levels
Service levels describe how fast the provider responds, and they are often written to look better than they are.
- Response versus resolution. A one-hour response time may just mean an auto-reply or a ticket acknowledgment. Ask what is promised for a human working the problem.
- Business hours. If your crews start at 5:30 a.m. or your plant runs overnight, "business hours" must match your actual hours.
- Priority definitions. Find out who decides whether an issue is critical. An outage on a jobsite pouring concrete is critical to you even if it is one user to a provider.
- Remedies. If the provider misses a target, is there any consequence, or is it only a goal?
The Security Line Items
Security is where proposals vary most. Ask for each item to be named and described.
- Endpoint protection. Is it basic antivirus or a managed detection and response service with people watching alerts?
- Email security. Is there filtering beyond what Microsoft 365 includes, and who tunes it?
- Multi-factor authentication. Who deploys it, and does the plan cover field staff who share devices?
- Backups. What is backed up, how often, where it is stored, and how often restores are tested.
- Patching. Which systems are patched, on what schedule, and who handles exceptions.
- Incident response. Is it included, billed hourly, or not covered at all?
If the proposal says "security included" without detail, ask for a written list. Vague security language is the most common source of disappointment after an incident.
Contract Terms Worth a Second Look
Term and exit
Check the length of the agreement, the auto-renewal clause, and the notice period to cancel. Ask what happens at exit: do you receive documentation, administrator credentials, and a copy of your data, and is there a fee for that transition help?
Ownership of accounts and credentials
Your company should own its Microsoft 365 tenant, domain registrations, and firewall and router administrator accounts. If the provider registers them under its own name, leaving becomes painful. Ask directly who is the owner of record.
Liability and insurance
Read the limitation of liability clause. Many providers cap liability at a few months of fees. That may be reasonable, but you should know it. Ask whether the provider carries professional and cyber liability coverage and whether they will share a certificate.
Pricing Questions
Ask what is billed on top of the monthly fee: onboarding, project hours, travel to remote sites, after-hours work, licensing markup, and hardware procurement. A lower monthly price with many add-ons can cost more than a higher all-in price.
Questions to Bring to the Meeting
- Who will actually answer my help desk calls, and where are they located?
- Can I speak with a similar contractor or energy company that you support?
- How do you report on tickets, patch status, and backup tests, and how often?
- What would you do on day one if we were hit with ransomware?
Next Steps
A good proposal should feel specific. If you can name the services, hours, exclusions, and exit terms after reading it, it is probably honest. If you cannot, ask for a revision. Ironfield Cyber is happy to review a proposal you already have, including ours or a competitor's, and point out the gaps worth raising before you sign.