Should You Hire an In-House Technician or Outsourced MSP?

Do we hire an in-house technician / sysadmin or an outsourced Managed Service Provider (MSP)? This is a question many small to medium sized businesses and large businesses ask themselves. Depending on the company’s needs, an in-house tech or an outsourced IT support company may be most beneficial.

In this article we will discuss the pros and cons of both options so that you can analyze what best fits your business’s needs and technology goals.

Let’s first discuss what an in house technician and what an outsourced MSP is. An in-house technician is usually one technician or a small team of IT support techs that work to fix any IT issues and monitoring while on company location.

An outsourced managed service provider is a company that manages a customer’s IT infrastructure and user systems remotely. MSPs focus on being proactive with preventing IT issues and implementing upgrades. MSP services are usually under a subscription priced model.

PROS OF IN-HOUSE TECHNICIANS

1. There will be an IT professional available for support in the same building as compared to an MSP whose employees work remotely.
2. In-house department may understand your company’s internal processes more in detail than an MSP.

CONS OF IN-HOUSE TECHNICIANS

• In-house technicians can not provide a 24/7/365 network monitoring and remote support that MSPs can.
• Productivity will decrease when they go on vacation or are out sick.
• Employers must pay for healthcare, paid vacation, sick leaves, and living wage for their employed in-house technicians which can become costly.

Most small businesses can not support continuous training for their in-house IT which can have negative effects the technology industry is continually changing and improving.

PROS OF OUTSOURCED MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDERS

1. MSPs will always have a technician available for your business if another technician is out sick or on vacation.
2. MSPs will find solutions and upgrades needed to be implemented before the issue even happens and affects the company.
3. Pricing is dependent on the services you need and how many computer users your company has.
4. As your company grows, your MSP can provide more support to match with your growing needs and goals.
5. MSPs stay up to date with IT service practices and have continuous training.

CONS OF OUTSOURCED MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDERS

1. MSPs are outsourced which could mean less control of IT on your company’s end.
2. They are located remotely, not in the same office building as a company.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before choosing what IT support route to go for your company:

1. How many computer users does your business have?
2. Do you see your company growing and needing more technology implemented?
3. What is your budget?

If after answering these questions you feel that your company would benefit best from an Managed Service Provider, contact Straight Edge Technology so we can begin discussing how we can grow your company!