Managed IT services vs in-house IT: which is right for your business?
For most businesses under 200 employees, managed IT is significantly cheaper and more capable than building an in-house team. A single IT engineer costs $70,000 to $120,000 per year in salary alone, covering one time zone and one area of expertise. A managed IT service at the same cost covers helpdesk, monitoring, security, cloud, and 24/7 support from a full team.
But cost is not the only factor. This page compares both models across cost, coverage, expertise, and risk so you can make the right decision for your business.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | Managed IT (BPro IT) | In-House IT Team |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost (50 users) | $4,000–$7,500 / month (all-in) | $8,000–$12,000+ / month (salary + benefits + tools) |
| Coverage hours | 24/7 across time zones | Business hours only unless overtime paid |
| Breadth of expertise | Full team: helpdesk, cloud, security, networking, web | 1–2 generalists with limited specialist depth |
| Security coverage | EDR, SOC, vulnerability scanning included or add-on | Requires separate security vendor or dedicated hire |
| Onboarding speed | 2–4 weeks to full coverage | 4–12 weeks to hire, onboard, and reach full productivity |
| Delivery model | 100% remote — monitoring, helpdesk, security, cloud, all delivered remotely | On-site presence for all IT tasks |
| Institutional knowledge | Documented in shared runbooks; no single point of failure | Risk of knowledge loss when staff leave |
| Scaling up or down | Add or remove users from contract monthly | Hiring and redundancy processes add months of lag |
| Vendor relationships | MSP manages vendors on your behalf | Your team manages all vendor relationships |
Choose managed IT when:
- You have between 10 and 500 users and IT is not your core business
- You need 24/7 coverage but cannot justify overnight shift costs
- You want access to cloud, security, and networking specialists without hiring each
- Your IT spend needs to be predictable month to month
- You have experienced a security incident and need immediate coverage improvement
- You are growing and need IT to scale without re-hiring each time
Consider in-house when:
- You have 500+ users and IT volume justifies a full internal team
- Your operations are classified and require dedicated permanent in-house personnel
- You want to build IT as a core internal strategic capability
- You have compliance requirements mandating direct employment of all IT staff
Co-managed IT is often the best option at mid-market scale: keep your internal team and supplement with an MSP for 24/7 monitoring, security, and specialist depth. Learn about Co-Managed IT.