Prepare a matched quote
Choose one currency label and one unit: endpoints, users, monthly tickets, monthly alerts or dedicated seats. A proposal using another unit needs a separate normalization before entry. Confirm included scope, staffed hours, holiday calendar, SLA definitions, enrolled inventory and chargeable exceptions.
Enter zero only when the charge is confirmed absent. Leaving a field blank keeps that quote's total unknown. A complete quote can be calculated while another remains incomplete, but arithmetic completeness does not mean the services match. The scope checkbox records your own review rather than independently verifying it.
Calculation rules
Monthly service cost is the greater of the minimum charge and base plus rate times quantity plus other monthly charges. Retained management hours times their cost per hour are added after that service minimum. Recurring annual cost is twelve times monthly cost. Modeled year-one cost adds entered onboarding and transition/exit amounts. If exit is not expected in year one, enter zero only after explicitly choosing that scenario and model a later exit separately.
Taxes, exchange conversion, inflation, annual increases and unentered charges are excluded. The minimum is a floor rather than another additive fee. If your contract applies a minimum differently, adjust the normalized inputs or use your own model; do not force the contract into this formula.
Worked illustrative example
For 100 endpoints, a rate of 5 units, a base of 100 and other fees of 50 produce 650 service units monthly. A minimum of 800 raises this to 800. Two retained hours at 60 add 120, giving 920 monthly and 11,040 recurring annually. With 500 onboarding and zero modeled first-year exit, year one is 11,540. These amounts are invented and are not a provider quote or expected market price.
Changing the rate to 6 leaves the service portion at the same 800 minimum in this example. Changing the inventory enough to exceed the floor changes the result. Inspect the threshold rather than assuming every extra endpoint immediately changes the bill.
Review the outcome alongside the scope
The lowest calculated total can omit an obligation another proposal includes. Keep ticket tiers, permitted actions, user communication, approvals and retained work beside the output. Compare sensitivity by changing quantity, overage or management hours one assumption at a time and preserving each output.
For a broader internal-versus-outsourced decision, use the cost calculator. For a written procurement workbook, use the RFP downloads. Verify the SLA evidence and prepare an exit plan before purchase. Inputs stay in this tab; copy or print the visible results before leaving. No confidential client details are needed.