Kansas City has a deep bench of IT providers, from one-person consultancies to national help desks with a local sales office. The right one depends less on who is "best" and more on which model fits how your business runs. Here is the honest landscape, including firms we compete with.
The three kinds of IT companies you will meet
- Managed service providers (MSPs): an ongoing, flat-fee partnership where the provider takes responsibility for your whole environment. This is the model most small and midsize businesses end up with, because daily support, security, and planning come bundled together.
- Project and consulting shops: excellent for one-time builds like a migration, an office move, or a network redesign. They execute and leave, which is the point, so they are not built for daily support.
- Break-fix services: you pay per incident when something breaks. Fine for a very small office with simple needs, and expensive past that, because nothing is prevented and every problem is billable.
Notable IT companies in the Kansas City area
These firms compete with us, and we are listing them anyway, because you are going to find them regardless and we would rather you compare on substance. The list is alphabetical and drawn from each firm's own published information, with no rankings implied.
- Blue Tree Technology (bluetreetechnology.com): Based in Riverside, Missouri, offering managed IT, cybersecurity, co-managed IT, cloud, and compliance services across the Kansas City metro. Its site highlights work with financial firms, CPA firms, law firms, and manufacturers.
- Complete Technology (completetechnology.com): An IT company focused on small and medium-sized businesses, describing service to St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, and Kansas City. Its offering spans managed IT services, help desk support, and hardware and software.
- Lockbaud (lockbaud.com): A locally owned managed service provider with an office in Kansas City, Missouri, serving small and mid-sized businesses across the metro. Its site describes flat-rate managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud, and VoIP services.
- Moonshot Solutions (moonshot-solutions.com): An Overland Park firm offering cybersecurity, managed IT, Microsoft 365, cloud, and compliance services, along with IT staffing. Its site notes it has served Kansas City since 2017.
- NetStandard (netstandard.com): An Overland Park headquartered MSP serving Kansas City and Des Moines with managed IT, co-managed IT, cybersecurity, and cloud services, holding a 5.0-star Google rating. Full disclosure: this is us, and we own this site.
- ThrottleNet (throttlenet.com): A St. Louis based IT company with a Kansas City operation offering managed IT, co-managed IT, and cybersecurity services. Its site cites more than 25 years in the industry serving businesses across Missouri and Kansas.
The questions that actually separate them
- Are response-time commitments in writing, or just promised in the sales meeting?
- Is security included in the base agreement, or an add-on you discover later?
- Who actually answers the phone: the team you met, or a queue?
- If you have internal IT staff, will they work co-managed, or is it all or nothing?
- What are the contract exit terms if the relationship does not work out?
- Can they provide references from businesses your size, not just their largest logo?
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much do IT companies in Kansas City charge?
A: Most managed service providers price per user per month, and industry-wide, full-service agreements typically run in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars per user. See our full pricing guide for the models and the factors that move the number.
Q: What is the difference between an MSP and an IT consultant?
A: An MSP takes ongoing responsibility for your environment for a flat monthly fee. A consultant executes defined projects and leaves. Growing businesses usually need the former, with occasional help from the latter.
Talk to one of them today
Looking outside the metro? We keep the same honest lists for Omaha and Wichita.
Whichever direction you go, talk to two or three firms and ask the six questions above. The differences show up fast. If NetStandard should be one of them, call (913) 428-4200 or schedule a conversation.