For most businesses with 10 to 150 employees, managed IT costs less than one full-time IT hire and brings a whole team with it. A help desk hire costs about $88,400 a year once benefits are added, before any tools, while managed IT for 25 users on WEBIT Services’ Priority support comes to about $47,400 a year with security tools included. The right answer changes once you need someone on site all day or have enough work for several people.
Picture the week your one IT person takes vacation. Tickets wait, security alerts wait, and the one person who knows the firewall password is on a beach.
What does one IT hire really cost?
One IT hire costs roughly 1.4 times the salary once benefits are included, and more once you add the tools the job requires. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that benefits make up 30.0 percent of total compensation for private industry workers. Applied to national median pay from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, the three most common IT roles cost:
| Role | Median salary | With benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Computer user support specialist (help desk) | $61,860 | About $88,400 |
| Computer network support specialist | $76,220 | About $108,900 |
| Network and computer systems administrator | $99,130 | About $141,600 |
Those totals leave out monitoring software, endpoint detection and response, backup, patching and a ticketing system, which an in-house hire needs you to buy separately.
What managed IT and co-managed IT cost
Managed IT replaces the whole IT function for a monthly per-user and per-device rate, and co-managed IT supports the IT person you already have. At WEBIT’s published rates, managed IT runs $89.99 to $229.99 per computer user per month depending on support hours, and co-managed IT runs $69.99 to $189.99 per end user. Device fees for endpoint management and security are added to both. The full in-house comparison shows the math behind the 25-user example.
Signs your business needs its own IT person
An internal IT hire makes sense in a few specific situations:
- Someone has to be physically on site all day, such as a plant floor with equipment that needs hands-on attention.
- You have enough steady IT work to keep several people busy.
- You run specialized systems that need daily tuning by someone who knows the business.
- You want an internal owner for IT decisions who sits on your leadership team.
Many growing companies land in the middle: an internal IT lead who owns decisions and relationships, with a co-managed partner for the help desk, security and after-hours coverage. The guide to co-managed IT explains how that split works day to day.
Questions to settle before you decide
- How many hours a week of IT work do you have today, and where does it happen?
- Who covers nights, weekends, vacations and sick days?
- Who handles security monitoring, and what tools does it require?
- What happens to your documentation and passwords if your one IT person leaves?
How WEBIT Services fits either model
WEBIT Services offers both fully managed and co-managed IT on month-to-month agreements with a 90-day money-back guarantee. Every client gets a dedicated Field Engineer and a Client Success Manager, and co-managed clients choose help desk overflow, security and tools a la carte. The co-managed IT calculator gives you a number in about two minutes.
About the author
Aarin Bailey is the Chief Operating Officer of WEBIT Services, where he leads service delivery, sales, client management, internal systems and automation. He started his career on a help desk and worked across several IT companies before joining WEBIT. More from Aarin Bailey.
