how msps price managed backup services: common pricing models

MSPs generally use one or more of these models. Each model changes how you sell, present ROI, and carry risk.

1. Per‑GB or per‑100GB unit pricing

Charging by storage is straightforward: the customer pays for the amount of storage used (or allocated). Many providers sell in 100GB units to simplify billing.

• Pros: Transparent, easy to scale, predictable for storage-heavy customers.
• Cons: Large clients with deduplication/compression can become very cheap per logical GB; small customers may perceive waste if units are coarse.

2. Per‑device or per‑workload pricing

Price per server, endpoint, VM, or database. Useful when the value of recovery is tied to the device rather than raw bytes.

3. Per‑user pricing

Common for small-business packages where backup is bundled per employee at a flat fee. Simple for SMB sales but needs clear caps on data/retention.

4. Tiered or bundled plans

Combines a base managed-services fee plus storage at discounted tiers. Good for predictable recurring revenue and covering support/SLA costs.

5. Pay‑as‑you‑grow backup storage models

Dynamic billing that increases or decreases with actual storage consumption. Often uses automated scaling and near-real-time metering.

• Pros: Fair to customers, low friction for growth, reduces client list friction when data usage spikes.
• Cons: Revenue can be variable; requires robust billing automation and alerts to avoid surprise invoices.

backup pricing per 100gb comparison

MSPs price per-100GB differently depending on value added (management, encryption, retention, fast RTOs). For transparency, compare a few approaches:

• AgooCloud reference: 1 unit = 100GB at 6€ per month (see Terms & Conditions).
• Pure storage pass-through: MSPs sometimes buy raw object storage (eg. Wasabi) and add a service margin — the pass-through price depends on region and contract; see Wasabi pricing for context (Wasabi pricing).
• Bundled plans: MSPs may charge 8–20€ per 100GB equivalent after adding management, retention, SLA, and support — ranges reflect service level and included features (encryption, daily testing, fast restores).

When you compare prices, always align on retention windows, version counts, and whether the quote includes restore throughput or support hours.

How to estimate backup storage needs for 5 employees

Estimating needs for a small team is a useful sales tool. Here’s a simple, conservative method for how to estimate backup storage needs for 5 employees:

1. Estimate active data per employee: typical office users range from 10–50GB (documents, mail caches, user profiles). Use 40GB as a conservative mid-point.
2. Multiply by users: 5 employees × 40GB = 200GB of primary data.
3. Account for versions/retention: with daily incremental + 30 days retention, effective stored data might be 1.2–2× primary depending on dedupe and retention. Use 1.5× conservatively → 300GB.
4. Allow room for growth and system files: add 20% buffer → 360GB ≈ 4 × 100GB units.
5. Price example (AgooCloud unit pricing): 4 units × 6€ = 24€/month (storage only). Add your management fee and any per-device or per-user charges.

This method is fast for quotes. For more accurate sizing, scan actual endpoints, estimate mailbox sizes, server datasets, and apply expected deduplication/compression rates.

Margin strategies and profitability

To stay profitable while competitive:

• Bundle a managed service fee that covers monitoring, test restores, and first-line support.
• Use multi-year contracts or minimums to amortise onboarding costs.
• Apply a markup to raw storage costs; typical net margins vary by service mix and SLA.
• Offer tiered SLAs (self-serve restore vs. managed restore) to upsell faster recovery options.
• Monitor data growth and alert customers before they hit a higher billing tier to avoid churn from surprise costs.

Billing and reporting for resellers

Effective billing and reporting are essential when you act as a reseller or manage reseller relationships.

Key capabilities to implement

• Automated usage-based invoices with line-item detail (storage consumed, retention tier, restores).
• Per-customer dashboards and CSV exports for reconciliation.
• SLA tracking and automated credits for failed SLA targets.
• APIs for billing, provisioning, and reporting so resellers can integrate billing into their own stacks.

Reseller pricing models

Choose between:

• Pass-through pricing: reseller pays your cost + small margin; simple but lower margin and more transparency required.
• Wholesale bundle: upfront discount to reseller with minimum commitments and a bundled management fee.
• White-label subscription: fixed recurring fee per seat or storage with branded portal and consolidated reporting.

For more on working with resellers and contractual obligations, link partner pages or your Data Processing Agreement (DPA) to clarify responsibilities and compliance.

Operational tips to reduce storage cost without hurting service

• Enable deduplication and client-side compression where possible.
• Use tiering: keep recent backups on fast storage and older backups on cheaper object tiers.
• Offer configurable retention policies so customers pay for what they need.
• Run periodic restore tests to validate backups (build this into your service and price accordingly).

Conclusion: practical next steps

Now you know the main approaches to how msps price managed backup services. Start by mapping your costs (storage, bandwidth, labor), choose a pricing mix (unit + management fee is common), and standardise reporting for resellers. For small clients, use the 5‑user sizing method above to create fast, conservative quotes.

Resources and links

• Backup for Small Business — sample SMB positioning and features.
• Backup for Individuals — packaging ideas for single users.
• NIST guidance on backups and recovery: NIST.
• ENISA recommendations on backup and ransomware resilience: ENISA.
• Wasabi pricing and storage reference: Wasabi.