Per user or per device: what's the difference in how IT is billed?
Per-user billing charges for each person, and per-device billing charges for each machine, whoever uses it. The same headline figure can come to very different bills under the two, so find out which one a quote uses before you compare it with another.
How each one counts
Billed per user, you count people. Each person is charged once, and the bill moves with your headcount.
Billed per device, you count machines. Each computer is charged separately, whoever uses it, so it's worth finding out early what else the provider counts as a machine.
Why the same number can mean two different bills
A ten-person office where everyone has a laptop and a desktop is ten users, or twenty devices. If two providers quote the same headline figure, one per user and one per device, the second bill will come to twice the first. Neither quote is likely to mention that, so check what each figure is charged against before you compare the figures themselves.
How we quote
We quote each business after a conversation about how it works. The figure depends on the people, the machines, the number of locations, how involved you'd like us to be, and any compliance requirements you work under, and you'll have the whole monthly number in writing before you decide anything.
What to ask any provider, us included
- Is this priced per user or per device?
- What counts as a device? Do servers, phones and tablets each count?
- What is outside the plan, and what does that work cost per hour?
- What happens when we hire someone or add a machine halfway through a month?