01
The 4 AI Vendors That Cover 90% of the SMB Market in 2026
The AI vendor landscape in early 2026 has consolidated around four major players for small business buyers: Microsoft 365 Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT (Team and Enterprise), Anthropic Claude (Team and Enterprise), and Google Gemini for Workspace. A second tier of vendors — Perplexity, Mistral, Meta AI, xAI Grok — serve specific use cases but are rarely the primary AI vendor for a US small business in 2026.
The convergence is driven by three forces: (1) capital concentration — only a handful of vendors can afford the GPU spend to train frontier models; (2) regulatory clarity — vendors that sign Business Associate Agreements and provide audit logging have separated from those that don't; (3) ecosystem lock-in — Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace customers default to the AI built into their existing productivity suite.
Most Florida small businesses we work with end up running two AI vendors rather than one — typically Microsoft 365 Copilot for the inside-Office surfaces (Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams) plus either ChatGPT Enterprise or Claude Enterprise for standalone analytical or generative work that happens outside Office. For very small teams (under 5 users) single-vendor is usually the right economic answer; for teams of 10+ multi-vendor adds the right mix of capability and resilience.
02
Microsoft 365 Copilot — The M365-Native Option
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the AI deployment most Florida SMBs encounter first — not because it's necessarily the best, but because it lives inside the tools the team already uses. Copilot in Word drafts and rewrites documents. Copilot in Outlook summarizes inbox threads and drafts replies. Copilot in Excel generates formulas, explains data, and builds pivot tables from natural-language prompts. Copilot in Teams summarizes meetings, extracts action items, and answers questions about meetings the user missed. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is the standalone chat interface for everything else.
Pricing is $30 per user per month, billed annually, on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 license. The qualifying license is Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50/user/mo) or Business Premium ($22.00/user/mo). Total cost for a Business Premium plus Copilot deployment: $52 per user per month. For a 15-person Florida small business that is roughly $9,360 per year in licensing.
The HIPAA story for Copilot is the cleanest of any AI vendor: Microsoft 365 Copilot is covered under the standard Microsoft 365 Business Associate Agreement as long as the BAA is activated in the tenant (a Microsoft compliance-portal toggle). No separate AI-specific BAA is required. For Florida medical, dental, and veterinary practices already on Microsoft 365 Business Premium with the BAA activated, deploying Copilot adds zero net BAA workload.
Copilot's weakness relative to standalone AI vendors: model rotation discipline (Microsoft chooses which underlying model powers Copilot — usually a GPT variant, sometimes switched without user notice), shorter working context than Claude Enterprise (32K tokens vs 200K+), and slower release cadence for new features than the underlying model labs ship them. For most SMB knowledge-worker use cases, none of these matter. For document-heavy analytical work, Claude Enterprise is the better fit.
03
OpenAI ChatGPT (Team & Enterprise) — The Standalone Leader
OpenAI ChatGPT is the most-recognized AI product in 2026 and has the largest cumulative business deployment of any standalone AI vendor. For small business buyers there are three relevant tiers: ChatGPT Plus at $20 per user per month (consumer-tier, no admin console, no BAA — not appropriate for business use with regulated data); ChatGPT Team at $25 per user per month annually (small admin console, no BAA, OK for non-regulated SMB); and ChatGPT Enterprise at custom pricing (typically $50-80 per user per month) with full admin console, audit logging, SSO, SCIM, no model training on customer data, and a signed Business Associate Agreement available.
ChatGPT's strengths in 2026: the broadest plugin and integration ecosystem of any AI vendor (Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Notion, etc.), the most capable image generation built in (DALL-E 3 plus follow-on models), the strongest code interpreter and data analysis sandbox, and the best web search integration of any standalone chat AI. Custom GPTs — user-built AI agents with specific instructions and tool access — remain a meaningful differentiator that the other vendors have imitated but not fully matched.
The BAA story matters. OpenAI signs a BAA only for ChatGPT Enterprise. Not for ChatGPT Team. Not for ChatGPT Plus. Not for the standard API. A Florida medical practice that wants ChatGPT specifically must be on the Enterprise tier — or must access OpenAI's models through Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, which is covered under Microsoft's BAA. We deploy Azure OpenAI more often than direct OpenAI Enterprise for HIPAA-covered clients because most of those clients already have an Azure tenant and an existing Microsoft BAA.
04
Anthropic Claude (Team & Enterprise) — The Long-Context Option
Anthropic Claude has gained meaningful market share in 2025-2026 specifically among business buyers doing long-document and analytical work. Claude Pro is the consumer tier at $20 per user per month. Claude Team is $25 per user per month annually with an admin console but no BAA. Claude Enterprise (custom pricing, typically $50-100+ per user per month) includes the full admin console, audit logging, SSO, SCIM, expanded context window, and a signed Business Associate Agreement — available in production since May 2025.
Claude's key differentiator is working-context length. Standard Claude Sonnet runs at 200K tokens of working context (roughly 150K words). Claude Sonnet with 1M-token extended context handles roughly 750K words in a single prompt — equivalent to feeding a full case file, an entire audit workpaper set, or a 200-page contract pack to the model at once and asking for analysis. ChatGPT's standard context window is meaningfully shorter (128K tokens at the API level for GPT-5; effectively shorter inside the ChatGPT interface). For Florida law firms doing case-file analysis, CPA firms doing audit-workpaper review, and medical practices doing chart-review work, Claude's context advantage materially changes which analyses are possible inside a single prompt.
Claude's weaknesses relative to ChatGPT in 2026: smaller third-party integration ecosystem, no image generation built in (Anthropic does not train image models), slower web-search integration adoption. Anthropic Claude Projects (the equivalent of OpenAI Custom GPTs) is workable but younger than the OpenAI version. For most SMB deployments the long-context strength outweighs the integration gap; for businesses that want plugin-heavy workflows ChatGPT remains the better fit.
05
Google Gemini for Workspace — The Google-Native Option
Google Gemini is the AI deployment most relevant for businesses on Google Workspace rather than Microsoft 365. Gemini for Workspace integrates AI into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Calendar in the same way Copilot integrates into the Microsoft surfaces. Pricing is bundled differently than Microsoft — Gemini features are included in Google Workspace Business Standard and Business Plus tiers (no separate $30 add-on), making the total cost-per-user lower than the M365 + Copilot equivalent for an equivalent feature set.
The compliance posture is the major catch. Google Workspace signs a BAA for core Workspace services (Gmail, Drive, Calendar) but as of May 2026 does NOT cover Gemini features under the standard BAA. Google's position is that Gemini outputs may include third-party model behavior that falls outside the BAA scope. For a HIPAA-covered Florida medical practice on Google Workspace, the practical 2026 answer is to either disable Gemini features for any workflow that touches PHI, or migrate to Microsoft 365 + Copilot for AI features. We expect Google to expand BAA coverage to Gemini in late 2026, but that has not happened as of this update.
For non-HIPAA businesses on Google Workspace — construction, manufacturing, marketing agencies, nonprofits without health data — Gemini for Workspace is a strong option with a meaningful price advantage over Copilot. For businesses considering a platform migration purely to get better AI, the math usually favors staying on the platform the team already uses and supplementing with a second standalone vendor (Claude Enterprise or ChatGPT Enterprise) for the workflows the native AI doesn't cover.
06
The 10 Evaluation Criteria for SMB AI Vendor Selection
Different vendors win on different criteria. A defensible SMB AI vendor selection scores the candidates against the criteria that actually matter for your business, in roughly this order:
01
BAA / HIPAA Eligibility
If you handle PHI, this is a binary qualifier. Vendors that don't sign BAAs are eliminated before any other evaluation.
02
Integration with Existing Stack
Does the AI live inside the tools your team already uses (M365, Workspace), or as a standalone chat interface, or both?
03
Per-User Cost vs Value
Licensing per user per month, what's included, what's separately billed. Plus the realistic ROI in hours saved per month per user.
04
Model Capability
Working-context length, reasoning depth, code understanding, multi-modal (image, voice, video), web search grounding, citation quality.
05
Admin Console & Audit Logging
Can you see who used what AI when? Can you provision and deprovision users at scale? Does it integrate with your existing identity provider via SCIM?
06
Data Handling & Training Opt-Out
Does the vendor train on your prompts by default? What's the data retention policy? Can you delete prompt history? Where does the data sit geographically?
07
Custom Agent / Workflow Builder
Can your team build custom AI agents (Custom GPTs, Claude Projects, Copilot Studio, Gemini Apps) without engineering support?
08
Multi-Modal Capability
Image generation, image understanding, voice input/output, document understanding, PDF/spreadsheet ingestion. Matters more for some industries than others.
09
Vendor Stability & Roadmap Cadence
How often does the vendor ship breaking changes? How predictable is the pricing? How well does the vendor handle outages? How aligned is the vendor's roadmap with your needs?
10
Lock-In and Exit Cost
If you commit to this vendor for 18 months and want to leave, what does that look like? How portable is your prompt library, custom agent setup, integrations?
07
Pricing Reality: Per-User Per-Month in 2026
Published list pricing as of the May 2026 update. SMB volume discounts apply at 50+ seats with most vendors; enterprise-tier pricing is negotiated.
| Vendor / Tier | Per User / Mo | BAA | Use Case |
|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (on M365 BS) | $42.50 | Yes | M365-native, broad coverage |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (on M365 BP) | $52.00 | Yes | M365-native + security stack |
| Microsoft Copilot Pro (consumer) | $20.00 | No | Personal use only |
| OpenAI ChatGPT Plus | $20.00 | No | Consumer / individual |
| OpenAI ChatGPT Team | $25.00 | No | SMB, non-regulated |
| OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise | $50-80 | Yes | SMB, regulated / scale |
| Azure OpenAI Service (token-based) | Variable | Yes (via MS BAA) | Custom integrations + HIPAA |
| Anthropic Claude Pro | $20.00 | No | Consumer / individual |
| Anthropic Claude Team | $25.00 | No | SMB, non-regulated |
| Anthropic Claude Enterprise | $50-100+ | Yes | Long-context analytical work |
| Google Gemini for Workspace | Bundled | No (Gemini not in BAA) | Workspace-native, non-PHI |
| Perplexity Pro | $20.00 | No | Research, citation-heavy |
| Perplexity Enterprise | $40-60 | Limited | Enterprise research |
For most Florida SMBs on Microsoft 365 Business Premium already, the realistic AI line item is $30-52 per user per month for Copilot, plus $0-50 per user per month for a second standalone vendor (Claude Enterprise or ChatGPT Enterprise) for the workflows Copilot doesn't cover.
08
BAA / HIPAA Eligibility Matrix
For HIPAA-covered Florida medical, dental, and veterinary practices the BAA matrix is the first filter applied to AI vendor selection. The May 2026 picture:
Microsoft 365 Copilot
YES
Covered under standard Microsoft 365 BAA when activated in tenant
Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service
YES
Covered under standard Microsoft Azure BAA
OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise
YES
OpenAI signs separate BAA on Enterprise tier
OpenAI ChatGPT Team
NO
Does not sign BAA — not appropriate for PHI
OpenAI ChatGPT Plus / Free
NO
Consumer tier — never appropriate for PHI
Anthropic Claude Enterprise
YES
Anthropic signs BAA on Enterprise tier (since May 2025)
Anthropic Claude Team / Pro / Free
NO
Consumer or Team tier — does not sign BAA
Google Gemini for Workspace
NO (as of May 2026)
Workspace core covered; Gemini features NOT covered
Perplexity Enterprise
LIMITED
Coverage depends on plan tier — confirm at contract
For more on HIPAA-compliant AI deployment for Florida medical practices specifically, see our AI Tools HIPAA-Compliance for FL Medical Practices article and our HIPAA Cybersecurity Guide for FL Medical Practices pillar.
09
Security & Compliance Posture
Beyond BAA eligibility, the security and compliance posture of each vendor matters for businesses under FTC Safeguards, FL Bar Rule 4-1.6, PCI, CMMC, or SOC 2 obligations of their own. All four primary vendors carry SOC 2 Type II attestations and ISO 27001 certifications. The differentiation is in admin tooling, audit logging granularity, and identity integration.
Microsoft 365 Copilot inherits the M365 admin console — Entra ID Conditional Access, Microsoft Purview audit logging, Microsoft Defender threat detection. For businesses already running Microsoft 365 with these controls in place, Copilot adds essentially zero net administrative burden.
OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise provides admin console, SSO (Okta, Microsoft Entra, Google Workspace), SCIM provisioning, prompt-and-response audit logging, and a documented no-training-on-customer-data policy. Workspace and team management is mature.
Anthropic Claude Enterprise provides admin console, SSO, SCIM, audit logging, and contractual data handling commitments. The Enterprise admin tooling is younger than the OpenAI equivalent but reached production parity in late 2025.
Google Gemini for Workspace inherits the Google Workspace admin console — SSO, organizational units, audit reporting, Gmail/Drive DLP. Granular Gemini-specific controls (prompt logging, output review) are less mature than the Microsoft Copilot equivalent.
10
Model Capability Comparison
Model capability is the most-changed dimension month over month. The May 2026 snapshot: OpenAI ships GPT-5 as the default model in ChatGPT Enterprise, with GPT-5 Pro available for harder reasoning tasks. Image generation via DALL-E 3 and successor models is built in. Code interpreter and data analysis sandbox are mature.
Anthropic ships Claude Sonnet 4.6 / 4.7 as the default tier with the standout 200K-token (1M extended) context window. Claude Opus 4 covers the heavier reasoning tier. No native image generation; image understanding is strong. Code understanding is the best-in-class for complex multi-file software work — the reason most developer tooling vendors (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code) have standardized on Anthropic.
Microsoft 365 Copilot uses a Microsoft-selected blend of underlying models (currently GPT-5 family for most tasks, with custom Microsoft-tuned models for specific surfaces). Image generation via Designer. The user does not choose the model — Microsoft makes that decision and rotates as new models become available.
Google Gemini ships Gemini 2.5 Pro as the default for the Workspace surfaces, with Gemini 2.5 Ultra for heavier tasks. Multi-modal capability (image, audio, video understanding) is class-leading on the input side; image generation via Imagen is built in.
11
Integration With Your Existing Workflow
The single biggest predictor of AI deployment success in SMB is how naturally the AI fits into existing workflow. AI that lives where work already happens gets used; AI that requires staff to open a new tab and copy-paste content rarely gets used at all.
Microsoft 365 Copilot wins on integration with M365 surfaces. Copilot lives inside Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneNote, Loop, and SharePoint. The standalone Copilot Chat surface offers a unified workspace search across the M365 tenant. For Florida SMBs already on M365 Business Premium, this surface integration is the single strongest argument for choosing Copilot first.
OpenAI ChatGPT wins on third-party integration ecosystem. Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Zapier, Notion, Confluence, Gmail, Calendar, Asana, Linear — all have first-party or well-supported community integrations with ChatGPT. Custom GPTs let teams build specific AI agents with tool access without needing engineering involvement.
Anthropic Claude integrates strongly with developer tooling (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, IDE plugins) and is the dominant choice for engineering-heavy SMBs. Claude Projects offers Custom-GPT-equivalent workflow customization. Direct third-party integration ecosystem is younger than OpenAI's.
Google Gemini integrates with Google Workspace surfaces (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Calendar) the way Copilot integrates with M365. Third-party integration is meaningful inside Google's ecosystem (Search, YouTube, Maps) but less developed than OpenAI's outside it.
12
The Simply IT Decision Matrix by Business Profile
The vendor decision is rarely a single-vendor choice. Here is the Simply IT default mix by business profile, based on pattern observation across Florida SMB clients:
Florida Medical / Dental / Veterinary (HIPAA)
Microsoft 365 Copilot + Claude Enterprise
Copilot for inside-Office surfaces under M365 BAA. Claude Enterprise for clinical document review and long-context chart analysis under signed BAA.
CPA / Accounting Firm (FTC Safeguards)
Microsoft 365 Copilot + Claude Enterprise
Copilot for Outlook / Excel client communication. Claude Enterprise for audit-workpaper review, tax research, and long-document analysis. Approved-tool list documented under WISP.
Law Firm (FL Bar Rule 4-1.6)
Microsoft 365 Copilot + Claude Enterprise
Copilot for Outlook drafting and Word document creation. Claude Enterprise for case-file analysis, deposition summarization, and contract review. Reasonable-efforts documentation maintained.
Construction / Trades
Microsoft 365 Copilot or ChatGPT Team
Less compliance overhead, more raw productivity ROI. Copilot if already on M365 Business Premium. ChatGPT Team if standalone is preferred for bid drafting and proposal work.
Manufacturing / Operations
Microsoft 365 Copilot + ChatGPT Enterprise
Copilot for office productivity. ChatGPT Enterprise for plugin-heavy integration into ERP, MES, and quality systems via Custom GPTs and API.
Nonprofit / Church (Microsoft 365 Nonprofit pricing)
Microsoft 365 Copilot (nonprofit pricing)
Microsoft 365 nonprofit pricing makes Copilot available at $9 per user per month for qualifying organizations. Single-vendor is usually the right answer for budget reasons.
Google Workspace Shop (non-HIPAA)
Google Gemini for Workspace + ChatGPT Enterprise
Gemini for inside-Workspace surfaces. ChatGPT Enterprise for plugin-heavy and Custom-GPT workflows that Gemini doesn't cover well.
Small Business (5-15 users, non-regulated)
Microsoft 365 Copilot OR ChatGPT Team
Single-vendor is usually the right economic answer at this scale. Copilot if M365 is in place; ChatGPT Team if M365 isn't a fit.
For the full vendor-neutral selection process and ongoing AI advisory, see our AI Consultant landing page. For the broader AI-for-small-business strategy reference, see our AI for Small Business: Use Cases, Risks & Policies pillar guide.
13
Frequently Asked Questions
Which AI vendor is best for a Florida small business in 2026?+
There is no single ‘best’ — the right answer depends on your existing software stack, compliance posture, and team size. For a Microsoft 365-native business with 10+ users, Microsoft 365 Copilot is usually the first deployment because it lives inside the tools your team already uses. For HIPAA-covered medical, dental, or veterinary practices, the right choice is whichever vendor signs a BAA in your existing tenancy (Microsoft 365 Copilot with BAA, OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise, or Anthropic Claude Enterprise). For long-document and analytical work, Claude Enterprise has a meaningful advantage with its 200K-1M token context window. Most Florida SMBs we work with end up running 2 vendors, not 1 — typically Copilot for the M365 surface area and Claude or ChatGPT Enterprise for standalone use cases.
How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost in 2026?+
Microsoft 365 Copilot is $30 per user per month, billed annually, on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 license. The qualifying license tier is Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50/user/mo) or Business Premium ($22.00/user/mo), or one of the Enterprise tiers (E3, E5). Total for a Business Premium plus Copilot deployment: $52 per user per month. For a 15-person Florida small business that is roughly $9,360 per year in licensing. Copilot includes the Word / Outlook / Excel / PowerPoint / Teams Copilot surfaces and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. Copilot Pro at $20/mo is a different product — consumer-tier, no admin console, no BAA, not for business use.
Does OpenAI sign a Business Associate Agreement for ChatGPT?+
OpenAI signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for ChatGPT Enterprise and for Azure OpenAI Service (via Microsoft's BAA). OpenAI does NOT sign a BAA for ChatGPT Team, ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Free, or API access at the standard tier. For a HIPAA-covered Florida medical practice considering ChatGPT, the practical paths are (a) ChatGPT Enterprise direct from OpenAI with a signed BAA, or (b) Azure OpenAI Service under Microsoft's existing BAA — which most practices we work with already have activated for Microsoft 365.
Does Anthropic sign a BAA for Claude?+
Anthropic signs a Business Associate Agreement for Claude Enterprise, announced in May 2025 and in full production by 2026. Claude Enterprise pricing is custom (typically $50-100+ per user per month depending on context window and feature mix). Claude Team at $25 per user per month does NOT sign a BAA. Claude Pro at $20 per user per month is consumer-tier and does not sign a BAA. For a HIPAA-covered practice that wants Claude specifically (most often because of its long-context capability for clinical document review), Claude Enterprise is the only valid path.
Does Google Gemini for Workspace handle PHI?+
Google Workspace generally signs a BAA for the core Google Workspace services (Gmail, Drive, Calendar). However, as of May 2026 Gemini features within Google Workspace are NOT covered under the standard Google Workspace BAA — Google's position is that Gemini outputs may include third-party model behavior that falls outside the BAA scope. For a HIPAA-covered practice on Google Workspace, the practical answer in 2026 is to either (a) disable Gemini features for ePHI workflows and use the BAA-eligible Workspace core, or (b) migrate to Microsoft 365 + Copilot for AI features. We expect Google to expand BAA coverage to Gemini in late 2026 — this is one of the most active vendor changes in the space.
Is Microsoft 365 Copilot worth $30 per user per month?+
For a typical Florida SMB knowledge worker, Copilot pays for itself when it saves between 30 and 60 minutes of meaningful work per month. Most Copilot deployments we measure see significantly more time savings than that — meeting transcription and summarization alone often saves 1-2 hours per week per user. The ROI math gets tricky in two scenarios: (1) field-services teams or operational staff who spend less than 50% of their day in Office apps — those users don't use Copilot enough to justify the cost; and (2) very small teams (under 5 users) where the per-license cost is significant relative to total IT spend. For larger teams in M365-native workflows, the return is consistent.
How does Claude Enterprise compare to ChatGPT Enterprise for SMB?+
Both are enterprise-tier AI products with BAAs and admin consoles. The differentiation patterns we see: Claude has a longer working context (200K tokens standard, with 1M extended) that makes it better for long-document analysis — full case files, audit workpapers, multi-page contracts. ChatGPT Enterprise has stronger web search integration, code interpreter, and image generation (DALL-E 3 included). Both have SOC 2 Type II attestation. Pricing is roughly comparable at the enterprise tier ($50-100+ per user per month). For most SMBs the choice is determined by what surrounding workflow needs the integration: ChatGPT Enterprise integrates with more third-party apps via plugins; Claude integrates more deeply with developer / engineering workflows.
Should a small business commit to one AI vendor or run multiple?+
Most Florida SMBs we work with end up running 2 vendors, not 1. The standard pattern is Microsoft 365 Copilot for inside-Office surfaces (Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams) plus either ChatGPT Enterprise or Claude Enterprise for standalone analytical / generative work that doesn't happen inside Office. Multi-vendor adds licensing cost but adds resilience (no single-vendor outage takes down all AI), gives the team access to the right model for the job, and avoids the vendor-lock-in tax that comes from committing too early to a fast-moving market. For very small teams (under 5 users) single-vendor often makes economic sense; for teams of 10+ multi-vendor is usually the right answer.
What about Google Gemini, Perplexity, Mistral, and Meta AI?+
Beyond the four primary vendors covered above, four secondary vendors deserve mention for SMB. Google Gemini for Workspace is the Google-native option (covered in the main page). Perplexity Pro / Enterprise ($20-40 per user per month) is best for research-heavy use cases — its search-grounding citation pattern is the strongest in the industry. Mistral and Meta AI (Llama-based services) are best-in-class for specific use cases (Mistral Le Chat Enterprise for European data residency, Meta AI for image generation) but are less common as the primary AI vendor for US-based SMBs. xAI Grok has grown its enterprise tier through 2025-2026 and is worth evaluating for X-platform-adjacent workflows. None of these is mandatory; the 4-vendor primary set covers 90%+ of SMB AI needs in 2026.
How do I prevent staff from leaking company data into consumer AI tools?+
Three layers. (1) Provide a sanctioned enterprise AI tool so staff don't feel the need to use personal accounts — most data leakage to ChatGPT Free or Claude Pro happens because staff don't have an approved alternative for the task they're trying to accomplish. (2) Deploy data-loss prevention (DLP) policies in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that block clipboard copy of sensitive content to known consumer AI URLs. (3) Publish a written acceptable-use policy that names the approved tools, names the prohibited tools, and is signed by every employee. Simply IT writes the policy and configures the DLP as part of the Simply Secure ($125/user/mo) and Simply Compliant ($150/user/mo) tiers.
What does ongoing AI consulting cost after the initial deployment?+
Simply IT bundles AI consulting into the standard managed-IT tiers rather than billing it as a separate retainer. Simply Managed at $75 per user per month includes vendor selection, deployment, training, and ongoing quarterly advisory. Simply Secure at $125 per user per month adds the full cybersecurity stack appropriate for AI deployment. Simply Compliant at $150 per user per month adds compliance alignment for HIPAA, FTC Safeguards, FL Bar 4-1.6, PCI, and CMMC. Per-user licensing for the AI vendors themselves is separate and billed by the vendor. Most SMBs spend $30-100 per user per month on AI vendor licensing plus $75-150 per user per month on managed IT with AI consulting included.
How do I get started selecting an AI vendor for my Florida small business?+
Start with a free 45-minute AI Consultation. We review your current software stack (M365 vs Google Workspace vs hybrid), your compliance posture (HIPAA / FTC Safeguards / FL Bar 4-1.6 / PCI / CMMC), the workflows where AI would create the most leverage for your specific business, and the honest assessment of which vendor mix fits. The conversation produces a written summary you can use whether or not you engage Simply IT. Call (352) 723-5003 or visit simplyit.biz/contact/free-assessment to schedule. See also our /solutions/ai-consultant landing page for our full AI consulting service overview.