In-House IT vs. Managed IT Services: Pros and cons for small businesses

Most business leaders appreciate how important technology is to staying competitive, but many have difficulty choosing between hiring managed IT providers vs. in-house IT services in Toronto. Complicating matters further is that every business has a different set of goals and failing to align technology with these goals can easily put your business in a worse situation than before.

Making the right decision comes down to a few critical points. Here are points to consider when choosing between in-house and outsourced managed IT solutions in Toronto:

Budget Control

One of the most common misconceptions about partnering with an MSP in Toronto is that it might cost more than keeping everything in house. In fact, both arrangements can provide similar levels of budget control. And for most small- to medium-sized businesses, in-house IT isn’t just more expensive, it’s also much harder to forecast.

An in-house IT department budget needs to cover the hardware, software licenses, and expertise needed to keep everything running optimally. For example, the salary for an IT administrator in Toronto is $75,000, and in-house servers, high-end workstations and networking hardware doesn’t come cheap either. By contrast, managed IT service providers in Toronto charge a predictable fee that can be lower than $75,000 per year and includes outsourced support that often outperforms a single technician.

Room for Growth

Compared to working with a managed IT services provider, the ability of in-house IT to grow on short notice is inherently limited by factors such as physical space, on-site expertise, pre-existing infrastructure, and budgetary constraints. For example, a small start-up may do just fine with a single server rack and a dozen workstations in the early days, but when expansion happens, it happens fast, and those needs could double overnight.

When comparing in-house IT services vs. managed IT, remember that growing your business will be limited by your in-house ability to manage IT. Outsourcing support to an MSP in Toronto means you have access to a greater pool of resources, plus you have the option to host your equipment and solutions in a remote data centre and have them managed via cloud services. MSPs always have more hardware and software on hand to serve your needs — all you need to do is ask!

Technical Support

Left unmanaged, technology can quickly become your enemy. Hiring an in-house technician to look after your IT may seem like you’ll always have someone on hand to take care of maintenance and support, but don’t forget about vacation days, sick days, and days when a few too many things go wrong all at once.

MSPs in Toronto follow a very different model, delivering support as a service, backed by service level agreements (SLAs). You don’t need to worry about how much tech support you need in winter versus summer; with IT MSP services in Toronto, you pay one flat fee and always have total coverage that you and your staff can access 24/7, 365 days a year.

Variety of Expertise

Businesses that do a poor job of aligning their technology with their goals are often seduced by cutting-edge technology that their technicians aren’t prepared to support. One technician can only learn a limited number of systems, after all. You need a team that can handle a broad range of IT tasks and applications.

When comparing managed IT vs. in-house IT services, full-time in-house technology consultants can prevent bad decisions, but you’ll often end up paying for expertise that you rarely use. Strategic advice is built in to managed IT solutions in Toronto because their teams are so diverse and their flat monthly fees encourage long-term improvements. You’ll leave things like routine maintenance and new service implementations to experts. In other words, you won’t pay for resources you don’t need.

Cloud-Based Strategy for Businesses

Outsourcing your managed IT solutions in Toronto gives your business the opportunity to create a more robust and highly secure infrastructure that effectively protects against viral threats and potential data breaches.

Top-tier MSPs often have cloud hosting options that can lower your costs, scale up and down according to the needs of your business, allow work from anywhere, and ensure business continuity even if your facility loses power or is affected by a natural disaster.

Going this route means you’ll have a whole team of experienced managed IT services providers working to optimize and secure both your cloud and on-premise infrastructure along with 24/7 monitoring and support that just isn’t as feasible with a small in-house team.

Greater Customization Options

When choosing between in-house IT services vs. managed IT providers, remember that you often don’t have the infrastructure, framework, or internal expertise necessary to fully customize your business’s growing IT needs. These are all additional expenditures for your business that require increased investment.

Teaming up with a professional managed IT services provider in Toronto allows you to work together to create a customized solution that meets the unique needs of your business. MSPs can recommend and implement specific strategies that will secure your networks, optimize your on-premise and cloud operations, and improve employee and customer experience as seamlessly as possible.

While all of this can be accessed by incorporating customized solutions in your business operations, it's important to remember that proven hardware and software are used to achieve them. With managed IT service providers, you get the benefit of state-of-the-art equipment and applications already successfully in use across a broad spectrum of industries and geographies.

Enhanced Security Prospects

Cyberattack and data breach cases are constantly on the rise. Regardless of the size of your business, you need a reliable 24/7 cybersecurity approach that works proactively to prevent potential online threats.

When deciding between in-house IT services vs. managed IT providers, keep in mind your employee may have the right skills and even the right equipment to offset these threats during their work hours, but the problem is they will eventually have to go home for the day. Third-party IT MSPs in Toronto, on the other hand, have a disciplined approach to security basics like patching and updates (which are often conducted overnight so they don't affect employees during working hours), plus they work round-the-clock to protect and monitor your cloud-based networks against hackers, viruses, malware, and other security threats.

Why Choose XBASE Technologies as a Preferred Managed Service Provider in Toronto?

XBASE Technologies provides businesses in the Toronto area with Exponentially Better™ Managed Services which give you the benefit of our investment, training, and experience across a broad range of customers and IT environments. With our expertise, you can fuel growth and supercharge productivity. Call us today to discuss your technology goals.