When a growing business starts to outgrow ad-hoc IT, the decision usually comes down to one question: do we hire someone, or do we outsource to a managed IT support provider? Both are legitimate paths, but they carry very different cost structures, coverage levels and risk profiles that aren't always obvious from the outset.
This isn't a case of one option being universally "better." It depends on the size of your business, the complexity of your environment and what you actually need IT to do. Here's how to think it through properly.
The Real Cost of an Internal IT Hire
The headline salary for an IT support person is only part of the cost. A full-time internal hire also comes with superannuation (currently 12% under the legislated Superannuation Guarantee schedule), leave entitlements, payroll tax, recruitment and onboarding costs, ongoing training, and a laptop, software licences and tools for that person to do their own job.
Then there's the ongoing cost of keeping that person current. Cyber security, cloud platforms and compliance requirements change constantly. A single generalist can struggle to stay across networking, Microsoft 365 administration, cyber security, backups and vendor management all at once, at least not to the standard a dedicated specialist in each area would deliver.
The Real Cost of Managed IT Support
A managed IT support agreement is typically priced per user or per device, on a flat monthly fee. That fee includes access to an entire team, not one person, covering help desk support, systems monitoring, security operations, cloud administration and strategic guidance.
Because the cost is spread across many clients, an MSP like BITS can justify investing in enterprise-grade monitoring tools, a 24/7 security operations capability and a bench of specialists that would be entirely uneconomical for a single business to build internally.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | Internal IT Hire | Managed IT Support |
|---|---|---|
| Cost structure | Salary + super + leave + training + tools | Single flat monthly fee, per user or device |
| Coverage | ✗ Gaps during sick leave, annual leave and after-hours | ✓ Continuous coverage, no single point of failure |
| Skill breadth | Limited to what one person knows well | ✓ Team of specialists across networking, cloud, security |
| Scalability | Requires hiring again as the business grows | ✓ Scales up or down with your headcount |
| Security operations | Rarely feasible to run 24/7 SOC monitoring internally | ✓ 24/7 SOC monitoring included |
| Institutional knowledge risk | ✗ Leaves with the employee if they resign | ✓ Documented and retained at the provider |
| Management overhead | You manage performance, leave and development | Managed via a service agreement and SLAs |
| Best suited to | Larger organisations with complex, bespoke systems | SMBs needing reliable, broad IT capability |
The Single Point of Failure Problem
The most under-appreciated risk of relying on one internal IT person is what happens when they're unavailable. Annual leave, sick leave, resignation or simply being on the phone with another problem all leave your business exposed at exactly the moment something goes wrong.
It's also common for critical knowledge, passwords, vendor relationships, undocumented workarounds, to exist only in that one person's head. When they leave, that knowledge often leaves with them, and the next hire starts from a significant disadvantage.
💡 A common middle ground: Some businesses run a small internal IT or operations role focused on day-to-day, business-specific tasks, while a managed provider like BITS handles infrastructure, security and after-hours coverage. This hybrid approach captures the benefits of both models.
When an Internal IT Hire Makes Sense
Internal IT staff can be the right call for larger organisations, typically 80-100+ staff or more, with highly bespoke internal systems, a need for someone physically on-site every day, or IT requirements so specific to the business that external specialists would take too long to ramp up on them.
Even in these cases, many organisations still run a hybrid model, an internal IT manager or systems administrator supported by a managed provider for specialist capability like cyber security monitoring, cloud infrastructure and after-hours incident response.
Why Most Melbourne SMBs Choose Managed IT
For most small and medium Melbourne businesses, up to roughly 80 staff, the maths tends to favour managed IT support. A single internal hire simply can't match the breadth, redundancy and around-the-clock coverage that a managed services team provides, and the cost of a full internal IT department (helpdesk, security, cloud, networking) is rarely justifiable at that scale.
Making the Right Call for Your Business
The right answer depends on your size, growth trajectory and how specialised your systems are. A useful exercise is to map out what you'd need to cover internally, help desk, security, cloud administration, backups, vendor management, strategic planning, and compare that to what a flat monthly managed IT fee would provide.
BITS offers Melbourne managed IT support on month-to-month agreements with no lock-in contracts, so you can trial the model without a long-term commitment. If you're weighing up hiring internally versus outsourcing, book a free consultation and we'll give you an honest view of what would actually work best for your business.