Protect

Turn what you know into a benchmark.

For decades the only answer to "is this contract fair?" was "trust us," because there was nothing to hold it against. That question is now answerable. Here is the method: read before you call, make every quote comparable, get the answers in writing, and check them against a published reference.

Step one

Read everything before the first call.

Before you talk to any provider, collect what they publish: the sample contract, the service level agreement, the pricing, and for healthcare, the BAA. What a provider publishes tells you what they are comfortable being held to. What they keep for the sales call, ask for in writing.

And you no longer have to read it alone. An AI assistant will read a 40-page agreement in minutes, for free, and answer plain questions: What is the term? What does leaving cost? Who holds the credentials? What is the liability cap for a breach? Paste in the contract, ask, and make it point at the clause behind every answer, section and number, so you can check its work. This is what changed. Reading used to cost more than trusting. It does not anymore, and providers are still writing contracts as if it did.

Verify the verifier. AI can make mistakes. Force the AI to quote the exact clause and section for every claim, good or bad.

Step two

Make every quote comparable.

A low headline rate survives only unconfigured. Before comparing two quotes, force them into the same shape: the same number of users, the same security stack, backup included with tested restores, the compliance work included, routine maintenance included as labor rather than metered blocks, and the onboarding fee with its contents itemized. Then compare the yearly totals, not the per-seat stickers. A quote that will not hold still through that exercise is its own answer.

Watch the definitions while you do it. Ask how "users" are counted: a fair definition bills named people with logins, and treats shared machines, the front desk, the exam rooms, the imaging stations, as supported equipment rather than extra seats. The same environment can price a third apart on the definition alone.

Step three

Ask these, in writing.

Not every provider will give you every good answer: know them, and understand what matters for your situation. The printable version is at the bottom of the list, made to be handed to any provider, including the one whose name is in this site's header.

The contract

What is the minimum term, and does the agreement renew itself?

A good answer: month-to-month, or a short term with no auto-renewal trap that becomes month-month.

What does it cost to leave early, in dollars?

A good answer: nothing beyond the current billing month.

Are disputes forced into arbitration?

A good answer: no. Negotiation and mediation first, court preserved.

What is the liability cap, and does it change for a data breach?

A good answer: a stated cap that increases for breaches and data-protection failures, with the provider's insurance disclosed.

How fast must you notify me of a known or suspected breach?

A good answer: a hard number of hours or days in the contract, such as 144 hours or even 10 days, not "promptly."

The price

Is the quoted rate all-in? List exactly what is excluded.

A good answer: security tooling, detection and response, backup with tested restores, and routine maintenance are in the number, itemized in writing.

What is the price counted on: users, endpoints, servers, or a flat fee?

A good answer: every counted unit is named and priced in writing, so you can see what adding a person, a shared workstation, or a server does to the bill.

Can my rate increase during the agreement? On what terms?

A good answer: it cannot, in writing.

Is compliance or project work included, or billed separately? At what price?

A good answer: the scope and price are settled before you sign, and anything that would bill on top is named with its trigger, so you know what is recurring, what is one-time, and what is extra.

Do you resell or mark up hardware and licenses? Do I own what I buy?

A good answer: no resale, no markup, you buy directly and own it all.

The exit

Who holds the admin credentials today, and when do I get them back?

A good answer: documented, and returned on a committed timeline written into the agreement.

In what format, and in how many days, is my data returned?

A good answer: machine-readable formats, a set number of days, in the contract.

Is my environment documentation mine, and will it be current at handoff?

A good answer: yes, and yes, as a deliverable.

What happens to backups when we part ways?

A good answer: retention and destruction stated in writing, on a timeline. Some providers hold copies that cannot be deleted early (a side effect of tamper-proof backup, not a requirement), and either way you should be told which you are getting before you sign.

Is any of the handover contingent on the final invoice?

A good answer: your credentials, data, and documentation are never hostages to a billing dispute.

If you are regulated

Will you sign the data-protection agreement my regulator requires before work starts?

A good answer: yes, day one, and here is the standard document to read now: a BAA for healthcare, a written safeguards addendum for financial and tax work, the equivalent for your regime.

Is the application that holds my regulated data inside the backup scope, and who coordinates with that vendor?

A good answer: the scope is named system by system in writing, including what the application vendor covers and what the provider covers.

Can you certify me compliant?

A good answer: no, and no one can. A provider who claims to certify you should worry you.

The same questions, on one page, ready to hand across a desk.

Download the checklist (PDF)

Step four

Verify. Do not just believe.

Answers are claims. Most of them can be checked from your desk in an afternoon, or by asking an AI to do the checking. A provider's website security posture can be scanned free at securityheaders.com. Their legal entity and its standing are on your state's Secretary of State business search. Their reviews are public. Their claims about their own contracts can be read against the contracts, if the contracts are published, and if they are not, that too is information.

The AI's own read is a claim too. Its first pass will often reach for a caveat. A "but keep in mind," a "this looks generous but…", because a doubt sounds sharper than a clean answer. Treat that the same way: ask it to point at the clause. Tell it to read the section again and cite the exact text behind the concern. A caveat it cannot cite on the page was never on the page. Make your AI double-check its own work and show its proof, the same way you would make a provider show theirs.

A provider who welcomes this kind of checking has aligned their business with your interests. A provider who is offended by it has told you where their interests lie.

A few visible examples

The few who already show their work.

The method above is the point; this is what it turns up. A short, hand-checked list of managed IT providers who already publish enough to answer part of the checklist before you ever call. To be listed, a provider meets at least three of the seven criteria below, each one verified on their own published pages. A check means the provider publishes that item openly, on their own site, without a sales call, and every row links to the page that shows it and to an archived copy. A blank is not a mark against anyone: it only means we did not find it published. It is up to you to check what is published and judge for yourself.

Provider Pricing All-in Contracts Rate hold Term / exit Offboarding Response
AllConnected Simi Valley, CA ✓ ✓ ✓
MSA allconnected.com/master-services-agreement archived
Bonelli Systems Dallas, TX ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Agreement bonellisystems.com/our-service-agreement archived
BRITECITY Irvine, CA ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing britecity.com/pricing archived
CompassMSP West Hartford, CT ✓ ✓ ✓
MSA compassmsp.com/legal/master-service-agreement archived
EagleOnyx Central Florida ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing eagleonyx.com/pricing archived
E-N Computers Waynesboro, VA ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing encomputers.com/pricing archived Leaving an MSP encomputers.com/2023/02/how-to-terminate-an-it-msp-contract archived
Etoc IT Bardstown, KY ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing etocit.com archived
Noma-Tek Sonoma County, CA ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing noma-tek.com/services#managed-services archived
SADOS Frederick, MD ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing sados.com/pricing archived Plans sados.com/services/managed-it archived
SecureLynx Southern California ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Contracts securelynx.it/legal archived Pricing securelynx.it/pricing.php archived
Simply IT Ocala, FL ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing simplyit.biz/pricing archived Managed IT simplyit.biz/solutions/managed-it archived
TechProComp Austin, TX ✓ ✓ ✓
Managed IT techprocomp.com/managed-it-services archived Zero-risk terms techprocomp.com/zero-offer archived
Wellforce Washington DC / Raleigh, NC ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pricing wellforceit.com/managed-it-services archived

What a check means, column by column. Each is a yes or no you can confirm on the provider's own site:

  • Pricing — real rates published, not "contact us."
  • All-in — states what the price includes, and what is billed separately.
  • Contracts — the actual agreement documents are downloadable without a sales call.
  • Rate hold — a published commitment on whether the rate can rise.
  • Term / exit — the contract length and any early-exit penalty are stated.
  • Offboarding — how your data, credentials, and documentation come back when you leave.
  • Response — a named response or resolution time, not "promptly."

Complete list last verified: July 20,2026,,,,,,,,,,,

This is a small list of what we found available online. Websites change their reference material from time to time; we revisit this list periodically to re-verify each listing against the provider's live pages. Every check links to the provider's own published page and an archived copy, and reflects only what a provider publishes, not how well they serve their clients. The two overlap but are not the same: a fair, honest provider with a sparse or dated website scores lower here than they deserve, and a blank is never a judgment of anyone's service. Consideration requires meeting at least three of the seven criteria, verified on the provider's own published pages. The bar can rise as the list grows; a listing that no longer clears the current bar comes off. If you are an MSP and would like consideration for the list, or you are listed and would like to be removed, email info@securelynx.it from the domain listed; removals are honored within seven days.

The method, applied to your industry and your state.

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