Understanding Customer Types for MDR Pricing
Stephanie Hammond, Head of Sales and Marketing at N-able, addresses the frequent pricing questions MSPs have about N-able MDR (Managed Detection and Response). The fundamental principle she emphasizes is that pricing strategy must be determined by customer type. MSPs typically serve two distinct customer segments: traditional managed services customers who have no internal IT staff and rely entirely on the MSP as their outsourced IT department, and co-managed IT services customers who maintain internal IT administrators or departments. This distinction is critical because it determines not only what you sell, but how you package and price those services. The traditional managed services model requires MSPs to assume 100% responsibility for network care, maintenance, and protection, while the co-managed model positions the MSP as a supplementary resource filling specific gaps for an existing IT team.
Pricing Strategies for Different Service Models
For traditional managed services customers, Hammond recommends bundling MDR into a comprehensive advanced security program rather than selling it as a standalone product. This program should target medium to high-risk organizations in regulated industries with compliance requirements, with pricing typically ranging from $200-$275 per user per month, though some MSPs charge as high as $350-$400 depending on market conditions. The advanced security program should include multiple tool sets, labor, and services beyond just MDR, implementing a layered security approach since no single product provides 100% protection. In contrast, co-managed IT services clients can appropriately be sold services à la carte, with MDR priced at a minimum of $90 per user per month, typically including both endpoint detection and response (EDR) and MDR as a network wrapper service. This pricing reflects the reduced responsibility level, as the internal IT director maintains ultimate accountability for the network environment.
