Outsourced IT Support
Outsourced IT Support for Growing Businesses
A complete IT department for a predictable monthly cost. Named engineers, a fast UK helpdesk and proactive management, without the overhead of hiring in-house.
Not ready for a call? Start with the twelve-minute self-serve security check.
Fully managed UK helpdeskNamed engineers · Under 15 min response
Local EngineersDedicated team
100+
Businesses supported
Since 2015
Supporting UK businesses
98%
First-contact resolution
<15 min
Average response time
The basics
What is outsourced IT support?
- Named local engineers
- Strategic IT guidance
- Proactive, not reactive
- Fast, accountable support
Outsourced IT support is when you hand the running of your IT to a specialist provider, or managed service provider, instead of employing an internal IT team. Outsourcing IT support to ATS Connection costs a typical 15 person business £500 to £700 a month on Core support, compared with upwards of £2,500 a month for a single in-house IT hire. For a side-by-side comparison, see our guide on in-house vs outsourced IT support, or read why businesses outsource IT support.
Rather than paying salaries, training and cover for holidays and sickness, you pay one monthly fee for a whole team of engineers, the right tools and round-the-clock monitoring. For a full breakdown, see our guide on how much outsourced IT support costs, or go straight to our IT support packages and pricing.
It is the model most small and medium businesses now use, because it gives them enterprise-grade IT and security without an enterprise budget.
WHAT ATS MANAGES
Your entire IT environment, managed as one estate
One accountable partner across four operational pillars, users, Microsoft 365, security and infrastructure, not a patchwork of tools and suppliers.
Responsive UK helpdesk
Named engineers who know your business.
Proactive monitoring
Issues spotted and fixed before they hit you.
Managed cyber security
Cyber Essentials aligned, protection built in.
Microsoft 365 management
Licences, migrations and secure configuration.
Backup & disaster recovery
Tested backups and rapid recovery plans.
Connectivity & VoIP
Reliable broadband, leased lines and telecoms.
warning signs
Signs it is time to outsource your IT
- Recurring IT problems that never get fixed
- Relying on one person or an unofficial ‘office IT person’
- Cyber security and Microsoft 365 not actively managed
- Slow, inconsistent staff onboarding and offboarding
- No IT strategy, budget or roadmap
- Downtime costing time and money
How much does it cost?
Outsourced IT support is charged as a fixed monthly fee, almost always per user, so the cost scales with your team rather than your ticket count. Across the UK market the range runs from roughly £30 to £100 per user per month.
At ATS, Core support is £30 to £48 per user per month and Complete IT and security is £55 to £90, with the exact figure depending on your systems, your security requirements and whether you run on-premise servers. We publish those numbers rather than making you sit through a meeting to hear them, which most providers in this market still will not do. See the full breakdown on our IT support packages and pricing page, or read our guide to how much IT support costs for the wider UK picture.
THE REAL COMPARISON
In-house IT team or outsourced support?
This is the comparison most businesses are actually making, and it is rarely as close as it looks. A single IT hire costs £35,000 to £50,000 a year once salary, National Insurance, pension, training and holiday cover are counted, and that buys one person’s knowledge, available during one person’s working hours. Outsourcing buys a team across helpdesk, security, cloud and strategy, with cover built in, usually for less. The honest exception is a business large or specialised enough to need someone on site every day.
| Consideration | One in-house IT hire | Outsourced with ATS |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | £35,000 to £50,000 in salary and employment costs | £30 to £90 per user, per month, as one predictable fee |
| Breadth of skill | One person’s knowledge, strong in some areas and thin in others | Helpdesk, cyber security, cloud, connectivity and strategy, each handled by someone who does it daily |
| Holiday and sickness | You arrange cover, or the business goes without | Cover is built in, so there is no single point of failure |
| Out of hours | Goodwill, overtime, or nothing | Monitoring runs around the clock whether anyone is at a desk or not |
| Scaling up or down | Recruitment, notice periods and redundancy | The per-user fee moves with your headcount |
| On-site presence | Every day, which is the genuine advantage | Remote first, with engineers on site across Sussex and Hampshire when a problem needs hands-on attention |
| Best suited to | Larger teams, or businesses running unusual in-house systems | Most businesses under a few hundred users |
Plenty of businesses end up somewhere in the middle, keeping one internal person for the things that genuinely need someone in the building and outsourcing the infrastructure, security and out-of-hours cover around them. If that sounds like your situation, our white label and co-managed IT support works alongside an existing team rather than replacing it.
NO SURPRISES
What is not included, and why we say so upfront
Every provider in this market says “all inclusive” and every provider means something slightly different by it. The support itself is genuinely unmetered with us. There is no per-ticket charge and no fair use clause that quietly bites once your team reports too many problems, because when support is metered people stop reporting things and small faults turn into large ones.
Four things sit outside the monthly fee, and we would rather you knew now than found them on an invoice:
- Hardware is bought, not rented into the contract.
- Microsoft and software licences are billed at cost on top of support, so you are not paying a margin on Microsoft’s price list.
- Projects such as office moves, server migrations and new site builds are quoted separately.
- Onboarding is a one-off fee, typically £500 to £2,000, which pays for auditing your environment, documenting it properly and taking it over without breaking anything.
SWITCHING PROVIDER
How switching providers actually works
The fear that stops most businesses moving is downtime, and it is the wrong fear. A handover done properly is close to invisible to your staff, because the work happens underneath them rather than to them. It runs in four stages.
01
Audit
We document what you actually have: devices, licences, servers, network, backups and who has access to what. This is usually where the first surprises appear, because outgoing providers rarely hand over complete documentation.
02
Transfer
Admin access, domains, licences and monitoring move across. Your existing provider is given notice on your timetable, and we work to whatever notice period your contract specifies.
03
Stabilise
We fix what the audit found before anyone has to ask, and put monitoring, patching and backup on a proper footing. This period is where most of the value shows up.
04
Run
Named engineers, a guaranteed response time in writing, and regular reviews rather than silence until something breaks.
It is planned so that no data is lost and your team can keep working throughout. If you want the detail, we have written it up in full: how to switch IT support provider without the disruption.
AN HONEST VIEW
When outsourcing is not the right answer
It is worth saying plainly, because a page like this is expected to argue one way. Outsourcing is the wrong call if you need somebody physically present every day, if your business runs on bespoke software that only your own developers understand, or if you are large enough that a full internal team is cheaper at your headcount. It also works badly if what you want is somebody to blame, because a good provider will tell you when the problem is a decision rather than a fault.
Where it works is the situation most small and medium businesses are in: too big to muddle through, too small to justify a department, and carrying risks in security and backup that nobody currently owns. If that is you, the honest first step is a review of what you have rather than a sales conversation.
Why ATS
Why ATS Connection?
Proactive not reactive
We fix issues before they impact your staff, not after.
Genuinely local
Named engineers who know your setup, not a rotating ticket queue.
Security-led
Cyber Essentials certified and a Microsoft Partner as standard.
Accountable
Fast response, high first-contact resolution and long-term partnerships.
Case study
From reactive support to operational confidence
A growing professional services firm with 65 staff across two offices was struggling with slow support, inconsistent onboarding, unmanaged devices and three separate IT and telecoms suppliers. Leadership had no visibility of risk and no strategic IT input.
- Discovery and audit completed in two weeks, with documented operational standards.
- Identity, devices and Microsoft 365 hardened, baselined and brought under one managed estate.
- Helpdesk consolidated under named UK engineers with documented runbooks and clear SLAs.
- Quarterly strategic reviews introduced, aligning IT to the firm’s growth roadmap.
<15 minaverage response
98%First-contact resolution
1 daynew starter productive
1accountable partner
We do not outsource. Every call is answered in Sussex by an engineer who already knows your network, your team and your business, because they built it with you.
Tobias Gillott
Lead Engineer · ATS Connection
Free • No obligation • Senior engineer • 30 minutes
Thinking about outsourcing your IT?
Start with a free, no-obligation review of your current setup, security and support.
We will show you exactly where the gaps and opportunities are, with a clear, costed plan.
What you’ll get from your review
- Operational and security baseline of your current environment
- Clear summary of risks, gaps and quick wins
- Recommended managed service scope and roadmap
- Transparent pricing with no obligation to proceed
If it is urgent, call us on 01903 255 159.
Cyber Essentials Certified
Verified UK security baseline
Microsoft Partner
Modern Workplace specialists
Rated 5.0 on Google
By Sussex businesses
<15 min Response Target
98% issue resolution rate
Industries we support
Built for regulated and professional businesses across the UK.
We support financial services, solicitors and legal firms, charities, healthcare providers and small businesses that need dependable IT and strong security without an in-house team. New businesses can start with our IT support for startups.
Accountants
Solicitors
Construction
Recruitment
Estate Agents
Charities
Architects
Small Business
What clients say
Rated 5.0 on Google by Sussex businesses.
★★★★★
We have been with ATS Connection for years and they have always been reliable. Fast, efficient, and they really know their stuff.
MichelleNorthgate PropertiesGoogle ★ 5.0
★★★★★
Their proactive IT support has saved us a lot of headaches. We can focus on growing our business knowing our IT is sorted.
VickyCallatech EngineeringGoogle ★ 5.0
★★★★★
ATS Connection has been a huge help. Whenever we run into IT issues, they are always there to resolve things quickly.
NicholasNorfolk Arms HotelGoogle ★ 5.0
FAQ
Common questions about IT support
A specialist provider runs your IT for you instead of an in-house team, covering the helpdesk, security, monitoring, Microsoft 365 and strategy for a fixed monthly fee.
Across the UK market, outsourced IT support runs from roughly £30 to £100 per user per month. At ATS, Core support is £30 to £48 per user per month and Complete IT and security is £55 to £90. It is charged as a fixed monthly fee, so it is easy to budget and scales as you hire.
Yes. A good provider makes your business more secure, not less. We are Cyber Essentials certified and build managed cyber security, monitoring and staff awareness into the service as standard.
Absolutely. You keep ownership of your systems, data and decisions. We manage the day-to-day work and give you clear reporting and strategic guidance, so you stay in control with far less hassle.
For most small and medium businesses the move takes a few weeks from audit to full onboarding, and it is managed to avoid any disruption to your working day.
For most businesses, yes. Outsourcing gives you a whole team of specialists, built-in cover and broader expertise for less than the cost of a single senior hire, with no single point of failure. Larger teams often use a hybrid of in-house and outsourced support.
