Handling all of your business tech needs just not working out anymore? Have you started looking into hiring an in-house IT team, only to learn about something called an MSP (Managed Service Provider)? And now that you’ve heard about them, how do you know which option is the best fit for your business?
The Cost of Both Types
Let’s start with the topic that everybody cares about the most—the total cost.
In-House IT Cost
When you hire an in-house IT team, you’re looking at significant ongoing costs. For starters, there’s the cost of salaries—on average, an IT support specialist in the U.S. earns around $56,000 annually.
Then you have to factor in benefits, training, and potential equipment costs. As your business grows, these costs increase, and you may even need to hire additional staff to keep up with your IT needs.
MSP Cost
In contrast, an MSP typically operates on a fixed monthly fee. This makes your IT budget much more predictable.
You get a whole team of IT specialists for less than what you would pay to hire and maintain a single in-house employee, and there are no hidden costs like training or employee turnover.
You also gain access to enterprise-level technology, which an MSP can leverage at a lower cost than an individual company could on its own.
Level of Expertise
Even after crunching numbers, if cost alone didn’t clarify much for you, there’s always the matter of expertise.
In-House IT Expertise
An in-house IT team is usually great at handling your company’s immediate IT needs, but the expertise of your team may be limited.
You may have specialists in one area (such as network support) but when it comes to other areas like cybersecurity or cloud management, the team might be less prepared.
For an in-house team, scalability can become an issue. If you suddenly need to expand your systems or increase support during a growth phase, it’s not always easy to scale your in-house team quickly.
You’d either have to hire more employees or overburden your existing team. As technology becomes more complex, the learning curve can slow your response time to new challenges.
MSP Expertise
An MSP, however, brings specialized expertise across all IT domains. MSPs typically employ a team of professionals with specific skills in network security, data backup, cloud solutions, and disaster recovery.
This diversity of expertise is something that’s difficult for an in-house team to match. With an MSP, you get access to experts who stay on top of emerging trends and technologies, ensuring your business is always protected and operating with the most up-to-date solutions.
Having a wide range of experts with your IT team can be very useful as well because as your business grows, so do your IT needs.
An MSP is also designed to scale. Whether you’re adding new employees, upgrading your systems, or expanding to new locations, your MSP can adjust services to match your growing needs. Since they have a broad team of specialists, they can provide support for any technology you adopt, and they’ll scale your service levels based on your company’s growth.
Ability to Respond Quickly
In-House IT Response Time
You might be thinking, “okay, well at least an in-house team will be able to fix things asap.”
I think we can go further and state that this is a clear win for in-house IT, but let’s also mention that many MSPs will offer staff augmentation, which means the MSP can place a technician onsite for larger, high-volume businesses.
MSP Response Time
An MSP provides 24/7 support, meaning that whether it’s the middle of the night or during a holiday, your IT issues can be resolved quickly. MSPs typically use remote monitoring tools to identify and fix issues before they even impact your business.
This level of proactive support can drastically reduce downtime, which is crucial when you consider that downtime costs businesses a lot of money.
Cybersecurity Measures
Security is another area where the stakes are high, and the right decision can save your business from major financial and reputational damage.
In-House Cybersecurity
While an in-house team may handle basic network security, they might not have the bandwidth or specialized knowledge to stay ahead of rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats.
MSP Cybersecurity
MSPs are experts in cybersecurity. They stay on top of the latest threats, manage data backup systems, and ensure your company complies with data protection regulations.
MSPs usually implement security best practices like multi-factor authentication, encryption, and regular vulnerability assessments, offering a level of protection that’s hard to match with an in-house team since they are often stretched thin, meaning security can take a backseat.
Longevity of IT Options
The last thing we’ll consider in this article is how each option will last long-term.
In-House IT Planning
An in-house IT team can be great for day-to-day operations, but when it comes to strategic planning and keeping up with technological advancements, they may fall short.
Without the resources or time to research and implement new technologies, in-house teams often focus on maintaining what’s already in place. This means your business could be missing out on valuable opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, or adopt new tools that could give you a competitive edge.
MSP Planning
MSPs, on the other hand, are focused on the long-term growth of your IT infrastructure.
They not only help with current technology but also provide guidance on future innovations that could benefit your business.
Whether it’s moving to the cloud, implementing AI-driven tools, or adopting cutting-edge cybersecurity practices, MSPs are constantly looking for ways to improve your IT systems and support your business growth.
Make the Choice That’s Right for Your Business
Ultimately, both options have their benefits, but as businesses face increasingly complex IT demands, partnering with an MSP provides a more flexible, cost-effective, and scalable solution. Let’s not forget to mention that some MSPs have co-managed plans where you don’t have to close one over the other—you can have the best of both worlds!
If you have any questions or want more information on how an MSP can support your business, feel free to get in touch with our HRCT team.