MSP Cost Comparison: Why Outsourcing IT Beats Internal Hiring for SMB ROI

Why Growing Businesses Should Do an IT MSP Cost Comparison

Hiring in-house feels like control. You know the person, you see them every day and they’re only a few steps away when something breaks. But control can be an illusion. For many small to mid-sized organizations, a single IT hire costs more than an entire managed service provider (MSP) team and delivers less protection, coverage and ROI.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024), the median salary for a network and computer systems administrator is about $96,800 per year. When you add benefits, taxes, tools, training and downtime, that figure easily grows to $130,000–$150,000 annually. And that’s for one person, not a team.

This MSP cost comparison highlights what’s often missed when comparing MSP vs internal IT, where the financial risks hide, and why outsourcing IT support provides stronger value for today’s SMB leaders.

The Hidden Costs That Undercut Internal IT Budgets

Hiring in-house feels safe until the hidden costs appear. Payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions, training and software licenses add up quickly. You’re also paying for coverage gaps when that person takes time off or leaves unexpectedly.

Hidden costs of a single IT hire:

• 20–30% in taxes and benefits
• Paid time off with no backup coverage
• Software and cybersecurity tools
• Ongoing certifications and training
• Turnover and recruiting expenses
• Management oversight and accountability

Even if your IT hire is reliable, one person can’t handle everything. Security threats, compliance audits and after-hours incidents demand more capacity and expertise than a single generalist can provide. The result is often burnout, bottlenecks and exposure to unnecessary risk.

What an MSP Delivers That One Employee Never Can

For roughly the same monthly cost—$7,000 to $10,000 for a typical SMB contract—a qualified MSP delivers what one employee cannot.

24/7 monitoring and support

Internal IT staff work business hours. MSPs operate continuously, ensuring your systems are protected nights, weekends and holidays. If your network goes down at 2am, the issue is already being handled.

A full team of specialists

An MSP gives you access to a complete team: network engineers, cloud experts, cybersecurity analysts and compliance advisors. You’re no longer relying on one person’s skill set or availability.

Enterprise-grade tools included

MSPs bundle advanced software such as remote monitoring, endpoint protection, email security and data backup into their monthly rate. Because they serve multiple clients, their buying power reduces costs far below what a single organization could achieve independently.

Proactive strategy, not reactive fixes

A strong MSP doesn’t wait for problems to happen. They prevent them through monitoring, patch management and forward planning. The result is fewer outages, less downtime and predictable IT spending.

MSP ROI: The Real Cost Comparison

Real-world example:

A regional manufacturer was spending over $12,000 a month on two internal IT staff. Despite the investment, they still faced downtime and security gaps. After moving to James Moore Technology Services, their costs dropped 35%. They gained faster response times, built-in cybersecurity and access to a full support team that operates around the clock.

Building Resilience: Risk, Continuity and Compliance

Relying on a single IT employee creates a single point of failure. If they’re unavailable or leave, your business grinds to a halt. Passwords, documentation and key knowledge often walk out the door.

An MSP eliminates that risk. Your infrastructure, credentials and processes are documented and managed by a team that already knows your environment. If one engineer is unavailable, another steps in seamlessly. Continuity is built into the service model.

For compliance-driven organizations, this matters even more. If your business handles financial data, medical records or customer payments, MSPs maintain standards aligned with HIPAA, PCI and NIST frameworks.

They perform ongoing vulnerability scans, manage credentials securely and enforce policies such as multi-factor authentication and endpoint protection to keep your organization audit ready.

When Internal IT Still Works—and When It Doesn’t

In-house IT can be valuable when:

• You require full-time onsite support for specialized systems.
• You operate a custom software or development environment.
• You already have a structured IT department led by a CIO or Director.

Even then, many organizations use a co-managed IT model, letting an MSP handle cybersecurity, backups and after-hours monitoring while internal staff manage daily operations.

Outsourcing does not mean giving up control. It means gaining leverage.

The Cost of Delay: What Waiting Really Costs SMBs

Technology does not stand still. The longer you wait to modernize your IT structure, the more downtime, risk and inefficiency you absorb. A cybersecurity breach, compliance failure or unplanned outage can erase years of perceived savings overnight.

Shifting from a single hire to a managed IT services model provides measurable ROI: lower total cost of ownership, reduced risk and a stronger operational backbone.

Turning IT from Overhead to Advantage

Building an internal IT team might feel like progress, but in most cases, it’s an expensive way to stay reactive. The smarter move is to build resilience through a partnership that scales with your growth.

At James Moore Technology Services, we help business leaders turn IT from a cost center into a growth driver.

For less than the cost of a single hire, you gain:

• A complete team of IT specialists
• 24/7 monitoring and rapid response
• Built-in cybersecurity and compliance tools
• Transparent, predictable pricing

Stop spending more for less. Request a cost comparison today to see how outsourced IT costs stack up against internal hiring and start directing your budget toward growth instead of overhead.