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Pay vs Consulte

IT Outsourcing: Consulte First Before You Sign Another Blanket MSA

Blanket IT outsourcing MSAs hide scope risk: hours without outcomes, vendors who become the strategy, and no named exit. Consulte first. Use Discovery $99 to frame the map. Starter ZG06 is only a narrow execution slice — never a full-outsourcing or blanket-MSA substitute.

Discovery $99 Consulting $499 Starter $2,500 Growth $8,000/mo Response within 24h

Consulte first Discovery $99 Pay Starter ZG06

What this page is (and is not)

This is a fit guide for the commercial shape of IT outsourcing — Consulte to name outcomes before paper, Discovery to frame owners, and Pay only if a slice is already bounded. It is not a case study and it does not invent a cost-takeout percentage, headcount cut, SLA letter grade, or certified outcome. Published commercial prices live on /plans/. The diagnostic is Discovery $99. Human-scoped work starts at /contact/.

Service entry: Managed IT services. Related reading: Co-managed IT vs MSP and IT vCIO Pay vs Consulte.

The unit of work

Process

name the outcomes, in-house keepers, vendor edges, and exit before any MSA language is treated as the plan

Systems

the stack a vendor would actually touch — identity, tickets, endpoints, cloud accounts — and who already owns each

Operating signal

a written outcome list you can accept or reject — not a fabricated savings or headcount number

Stop rule

Starter ZG06 is not staff-aug and not a blanket MSA. If the first sentence is “outsource IT,” use Consulte.

Consulte first — then a narrow Pay slice if any

Consulte (/contact/) — default path

Blanket MSAs, multi-tower coverage, unclear keep-vs-send, or no named exit. Consulte writes outcomes and the SOW. Pay is optional later, and only for a slice.

Start Consulte — outcomes first. Do not sign another open-ended MSA to avoid the conversation.

Pay (Starter $2,500 · ZG06) — narrow slice only

One bounded execution slice after the map exists: one queue, one runbook, one landing-zone control. Never a substitute for full outsourcing.

Pay Starter ZG06 only when the slice is already named on /plans/.

If you cannot name the outcomes, the keep-in-house list, and the acceptor for “done,” do not Pay and do not sign. Use Consulte or Discovery $99 for a written frame (Consulte SOW, a later Pay slice, or stop). Adjacent coverage model: Co-managed IT vs MSP.

Scope risk of a blanket MSA

A blanket MSA feels like progress because a vendor is “on contract.” The usual failure is commercial, not technical:

Hours without outcomes. The paper buys capacity. Nobody wrote what “good” looks like for a named tower.
Vendor becomes the strategy. Keep-vs-send was never decided, so every new request lands on the MSA by default.
No exit. Knowledge, admin rights, and runbooks stay with the vendor because the SOW never named an acceptor on your side.

That is why this page leans Consulte. Signing first and scoping later is how blanket MSAs expand. Consulte names outcomes, owners, and edges. Discovery $99 is the cheap written frame when you are not ready for a SOW conversation. Starter ZG06 can follow only as a bounded execution slice — one queue, one runbook, one control — never as “we outsourced IT for $2,500.”

What Discovery $99 writes

Owners, systems, and keep-vs-send for this conversation — not a company-wide outsourcing program.
A recommendation: Consulte a SOW, a later Starter slice, Growth/retainer, or stop.
The stop rule above, in writing, so a checkout cannot be treated as a blanket MSA.

Discovery is not implementation and it is not a substitute for Consulte on a multi-tower deal. Implementation of a named slice is Starter or a scoped SOW. Ongoing coverage is Growth after the model is clear. Desk-level slice language: IT service desk automation Pay vs Consulte.

Good after kickoff (no fake math)

The outcome sentence still matches day 10 — same tower, same keep-vs-send, same acceptor.
Access landed or a named blocker with an owner. A vendor without your identity owner is not “done.”
Definition of done is operational — a live path, map, or control — not “we signed the MSA.”
Exception queue exists. Humans know what the vendor must not decide alone.

If the conversation slid from one slice to “all of IT,” stop and re-scope. That is Consulte, not a silent expand of Pay.

Consulte first Discovery $99 Pay Starter ZG06

FAQs

Can I skip Consulte and Pay Starter ZG06 for outsourcing?

Only if a single execution slice is already named (one queue, one runbook, or one control), systems are reachable, and someone will accept “done.” Starter is never a blanket MSA. If the job is “outsource IT,” start at /contact/ or map first with Discovery $99.

Is Consulte a free consultation?

No. Consulte is a human-scoped conversation via /contact/ when the SKU is unclear or the paper would be a blanket MSA. Discovery is the $99 written diagnostic. There is no free consultation SKU.

Do you publish cost-takeout, headcount, or ROI percentages for outsourcing?

No. This guide uses fit patterns only. Use an operating signal you already measure. Board language without fake math starts from the Consulte SOW or the Discovery map.

Where do Consulting $499 and Growth fit?

Consulting $499 sits between Discovery and a SOW when you need RACI or roadmap without a vendor paper yet. Growth $8,000/mo is ongoing coverage after the model is clear — still not a blanket MSA. Ladder: /plans/.