Freelancer or managed provider: what actually differs
- A solo consultant is one person you deal with directly. Work is usually a fixed-price project or an hourly rate. You get the same person every time; the trade-off is that coverage stops when they are away or busy.
- A managed provider (MSP) usually sells a monthly contract, often priced per user or per device, with a help desk and monitoring. A team covers absences; the trade-offs are minimum terms and, often, a different technician each time.
- An in-house employee knows your office best, but one person is a single point of failure, and a full salary may pay for a few days of work a month.
Which one fits your office
- A project with a clear end (Microsoft 365 setup or migration, email security, backups, the IT side of Law 25): a solo consultant or a small firm is usually enough.
- Staff who need an answer within the hour, or 24/7 monitoring: a managed provider is built for that.
- A mix: do the project with a consultant, then add a managed provider only if you find you need the help desk.
Six questions to ask any provider
- Who will do the work, and who covers when they are away?
- What will I own at the end? You should hold the admin logins (Microsoft 365 or Google, domain registrar, DNS) and a written copy of how everything is set up.
- How is it priced, and what is not included? A written quote with the scope should come before any work.
- What happens if we stop? Ask about notice, minimum term, and handover.
- Where does our data go, and who can see it? Ask what access they need, and whether it can be read-only. In Quebec, the personal information a provider handles for you stays your responsibility under Law 25 (see the Law 25 guide).
- Can I see a sample quote or report, or talk to a current client?
Red flags
- Will not give you admin access or documentation.
- No written scope or price.
- Guarantees like “100% secure” or “no downtime”: no one can promise that.
- A long contract before any small first project.
- Explanations you still cannot follow after asking twice.
A low-risk way to start
Start with something small and paid: a one-day review or a single fixed-price project, before any monthly contract. If the work is clear and the person is easy to reach, continue. My version is the one-day IT health check: CAD 500, a written report, credited toward a project decided within 30 days.
Where I fit
Yazan Rajabi Agency is an independent, bilingual (French and English) IT service in Montreal: one point of contact, for offices of 3 to 25 computers. Microsoft 365, email security, backups, and the IT side of Law 25. There is no 24/7 help desk. If that is what you need, a managed provider is the better choice, and I would rather tell you so.