Know who owns the work before comparing the price.
Choose visibility for an internal IT owner, managed support for covered users, or managed support with reserved leadership work. The written service schedule identifies the actual responsibilities.
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Monitor
$49–$79 per user per month · Site minimum $499. For an organization retaining its own IT owner. Includes the defined visibility and routine review—not outsourced user support, maintenance execution or incident response.
Protect
$119–$159 per user per month · Site minimum $750. For a business seeking a primary business-hours support owner for covered systems, together with the named security and backup responsibilities.
Operate
$159–$219 per user per month · Site minimum $1,250. Protect plus an explicit allocation of vendor and executive technology work. The allocation is defined; advisory capacity is not unlimited.
Compare the responsibilities
| Responsibility | Monitor | Protect | Operate |
|---|---|---|---|
| User help desk | Client owned | Included for covered requests | Included for covered requests |
| Patch management | Client owned | Included for covered systems | Included for covered systems |
| Endpoint detection | Client owned | Named licensed endpoints | Named licensed endpoints |
| Email controls | Client owned | Defined tenant controls | Defined tenant controls |
| Security awareness | Client owned | Agreed audience and cadence | Agreed audience and cadence |
| SaaS backup | Client owned | Named workloads | Named workloads |
| Endpoint backup | Client owned | Named devices and data | Named devices and data |
| First-level alert investigation | Client owned | Agreed service window | Agreed service window |
| Operating review | Routine visibility review | Agreed review cadence | Agreed review cadence |
| On-site work | Separate scope | Separate scope | Separate scope |
| Server management | Separate scope | Separate scope | Separate scope |
| MDR | Optional contracted add-on | Optional contracted add-on | Optional contracted add-on |
| Reserved vendor/executive work | Separate scope | Separate scope | Defined allocation |
What the proposal makes explicit
Supported users and device classes; device allowances; each site's minimum; support hours and time zone; holidays and escalation; software licenses; backup workloads, retention and storage; restore testing; onboarding and remediation; project exclusions; term; and offboarding.
The table summarizes the existing plans. The executed agreement and service schedule govern delivery. No new inclusions are created by this page.
What is separate?
Major migrations, specialized applications, additional sites, on-site travel, incident forensics, hardware, third-party licenses and after-hours commitments are identified separately unless expressly included.
Start with the required operating outcome.
A small user count does not necessarily mean a simple environment. Tell us what needs ownership so the service and price reflect the actual workload.
Compare the existing plan responsibilities.
The assessment establishes the environment, then the written service schedule identifies the actual responsibilities. The planning bands and minimums below are unchanged.
The executed agreement governs scope. Existing planning bands remain available for comparison. Covered systems, support hours, response targets, device allowances, backup testing, and reserved leadership capacity are confirmed in the applicable service schedule.
Monitor
$49–$79 per user / month · Site floor: $499
An internal IT owner who needs scoped visibility and routine review—not outsourced help desk or incident response.
Client owns support and response
- Defined visibility for named systems
- Agreed routine review and exception reporting
- Client assigns and completes support, investigation and remediation
Protect
$119–$159 per user / month · Site floor: $750
A business seeking a primary business-hours support, security and covered-backup operating owner. Coverage hours still require approval.
AskBuc owns the agreed support and security scope
- Named user help desk and maintenance tasks
- Named endpoint, email and awareness controls
- Covered backup operations and agreed restore tests
Operate
$159–$219 per user / month · Site floor: $1,250
A business that needs Protect plus reserved vendor coordination and executive work—not unlimited advisory time.
Protect plus a documented leadership allocation
- The proposed Protect operating scope
- A written monthly vendor and executive allocation
- An approved roadmap, priorities and allocation limits
What Ask Buc owns. What stays separate.
| Operating responsibility | Monitor | Protect | Operate |
|---|---|---|---|
| User help desk Named supported request types; coverage hours and time zone must be approved. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Patch management Supported operating systems, maintenance windows and exception owners in the schedule. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Endpoint detection Named licensed endpoints and controls; not a staffed SOC or MDR promise. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Email controls Named tenant controls and approved administration; licenses identified separately. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Security awareness Agreed audience, training cadence, completion evidence and exceptions. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| SaaS backup Only named cloud workloads with written retention, storage and test scope. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Endpoint backup Only named devices and data sets; allowance and storage remain to be approved. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Alert investigation First-level investigation in the approved window and delegated authority; forensics is separate. | Client owned | Included | Included |
| Routine / quarterly review Monitor: routine visibility review. Protect/Operate: proposed quarterly operating review. | Included | Included | Included |
| On-site work Can be scoped anywhere needed; travel, access, timing and cost approved before dispatch. | Separately scoped | Separately scoped | Separately scoped |
| Server management Server inventory, workloads, maintenance and recovery obligations require separate scope. | Separately scoped | Separately scoped | Separately scoped |
| Managed detection & response (MDR) Only with a confirmed provider, contract, telemetry and escalation model; no coverage assumed. | Optional add-on | Optional add-on | Optional add-on |
| Reserved vendor / executive work Operate requires an explicit monthly allocation and approved capacity; quantity not yet approved. | Separately scoped | Separately scoped | Included |
Billing unit
Rates are per covered user per month. The proposal names eligible users, shared accounts and user-to-device allowances; no device allowance is assumed.
Per-site minimum
Each covered site's monthly fee is subject to its plan floor. User-to-site allocation and multiple-site treatment are documented to avoid double counting.
Separate costs
Licenses, taxes, onboarding, existing remediation, projects, servers, extra devices, travel and on-site work are identified separately. These bands are not an all-inclusive quote.
Written scope
Confirm systems, support window/time zone, human response target, backup retention/tests, recovery labor, authority to act and exit responsibilities before service begins.
Useful checklists for the next decision.
These public resources are available to review before an assessment. They do not replace a scoped engagement or written agreement.