CompareIT is an independent platform built to give SMEs the ability to Search, Compare and Monitor Managed Service Providers (MSPs). It compiles the largest list of providers anywhere online giving buyers the chance to search across 197 declared data points, with extra validity coming from Companies House, Glassdoor, TrustPilot, Google and CreditSafe.
The platform serves non-technical buyers through an AI interaction that allows them to express their requirements without understanding the industries complex language, before the AI-host, Cilla, matches that to MSPs she knows can fulfil their needs. For technical buyers, there is advanced search option that drills into the 197 data points including certifications, accreditations and published skill-sets
Buyers who want to delve deeper, run due diligence or get operational, financial and cultural insights can use Compare Monitor. They get instant AI analysis of their existing or proposed contract - highlighting any risky or non-standard terms – as well as automated contract and renewal management.
Why did we launch CompareIT?
We launched CompareIT because the way SMEs find an IT provider bears almost no relation to which provider is right for them. Search rankings reward marketing budget, often stopping excellent providers from being visible.
Three things made the case:
Visibility is bought, not earned. The average customer acquisition cost in the MSP market is over £1,000 per marketing qualified lead, which prices smaller and specialist providers out of being found at all.
The market is far bigger than buyers realise. There are over 11,492 MSPs in the UK, and a search-led shortlist typically exposes a fraction of them, leaving buyers with the same names over and over again.
SMEs are already on the move. MSP retention has fallen to an industry average of 89%, and SMEs are changing provider 3.6 times more frequently than they were three years ago. This behaviour change is indicative of a market where buyers now want more from their MSP - AI capability, strategic advice and, often, simply better service.
Why is CompareIT the best platform for SMEs to find a new MSP?
Because it starts from the whole market and sorts on evidence rather than advertising spend. CompareIT holds the largest database of UK managed service providers anywhere in the world, with over 197 declared data points per provider, diluting the marketing claims into simple, factual capabilities.
The difference is what you are actually sorting on:
Selection Method | Measurement | Providers you see | Evidence behind the match |
|---|---|---|---|
Google search | Advertising spend and SEO investment | A handful of the highest-spending brands | Marketing claims made by the provider |
Referral from a peer | One other company’s experience | One or two | Anecdotal, and specific to their setup |
CompareIT | 197 declared data points per provider | All 11,492 UK MSPs on the platform | Provider answers, independently checked against Companies House, Google, Trustpilot, Glassdoor and Creditsafe feeds |
What is the vision for CompareIT?
The vision is a UK MSP market where capability is the thing that wins work, and where no SME signs an IT agreement it cannot compare. Launch is the first step towards that, not the finished article.
Where we are taking the platform:
Complete the picture. Move every one of the 11,492 UK MSPs from listed to fully profiled across all 197 data points, so no provider is invisible because of the size of its marketing budget.
Deepen the verification. Add data sources and tighten the independent checks, so more of what a provider claims is confirmed before an SME acts on it.
Make the relationship continuous, not transactional. Monitoring, contract alerts and performance data should mean an SME reviews its IT partnership every day, not once every three years in a panic.
Give the market a benchmark. Aggregated, anonymised platform data can tell an SME what good actually looks like on price, service levels and retention, and give strong providers something objective to be measured on.
Raise the standard on both sides. If buyers can compare on evidence, providers compete on capability, and the market gets better for everyone in it.
If you have ever chosen an IT provider from a page of search results and hoped for the best, that is the problem we have set out to remove.