Outsourced vs in-house IT: how an SMB should choose
Outsourced IT vs an in-house technician: the honest math for a 10-to-100-seat SMB — cost, coverage, security and continuity.
The real question isn’t price, it’s coverage
For an SMB of 10 to 100 seats, choosing between managed IT services and in-house IT rarely comes down to “which is cheaper”. The right question is: how much coverage do you need, at what hours, and what happens when the one person who knows everything is on leave? Let’s do the math honestly.
What in-house IT actually costs
An in-house technician is more than a salary. Add employer costs, tooling (RMM, antivirus, backup, MDM), ongoing training, and the hidden cost of no redundancy: holidays, sickness, departure. A single IT person is a single point of failure for your entire IT.
On the plus side: deep knowledge of your context, physical presence, fast turnaround on small requests. On the limits side: no evening or weekend coverage, thin security depth, and a skill base that depends on one individual.
A single IT person is a single point of failure for your entire IT.
What managed IT covers
A managed service provider (MSP) pools a team, tooling and processes across several clients. You pay a per-seat fee, known in advance, that usually includes a multi-channel helpdesk with a contractual first-response time, remote monitoring and patching of the fleet, employee onboarding/offboarding, and baseline security (hardening, EDR, backups).
On the plus side: no single point of failure, broader coverage, and a predictable cost with no hourly meter. On the limits side: an hourly or opaque contractor can be slow and leave you guessing on the invoice — which is why a flat per-seat price matters so much in the choice.
In-house or outsourced, line by line
| Caractéristique | Criterion | In-house IT (1 person) | Managed IT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage hours | Office hours | Extended, up to 24/7 | |
| Human redundancy | Non inclus | Inclus | |
| Security depth | Generalist | Dedicated team + EDR included | |
| Monthly cost | Salary + on-costs + tooling | Flat per-seat fee | |
| Invoice predictability | Variable (overtime, emergencies) | Known in advance | |
| Continuity when absent | Non inclus | Inclus | |
| Context knowledge | Strong | Documented & shared |
The right call by company size
- Under 20 seats: a lone in-house hire is fragile and often under-used on the deeper technical work. Flat-priced managed IT is almost always the more rational option.
- 20 to 100 seats: the winning model is often hybrid — an internal point person for the business and proximity, an MSP for depth, security and 24/7 continuity.
- Beyond that: a structured in-house IT department becomes relevant, often backed by specialist providers (security, hosting).
Security changes the equation
An often-underrated point: security demands monitoring, tooling and processes that a lone generalist technician struggles to maintain. Good managed IT includes hardening, detection and response in the base plan — not as a separately billed add-on. For an SMB, that’s frequently the deciding factor.
Frequently asked questions
Is managed IT always cheaper than in-house?
Can you keep an in-house person AND an MSP?
Does the switch disrupt the business?
In short
Choosing between managed and in-house IT means weighing proximity against coverage, visible cost against real cost, single point of failure against redundancy. For most SMBs of 10 to 100 seats, a hybrid model — or flat-priced managed IT with security included — offers the best security-to-predictability ratio.