It's the question most growing businesses hit somewhere between 15 and 50 staff. The salary is the visible part of the answer. The coverage gaps are the part that usually decides it.
The comparison usually gets framed as "one person vs one contract". In practice you're choosing between two very different things.
| In-house IT hire | Managed IT provider | |
|---|---|---|
| People | One person (or a small team) who knows your business well | A helpdesk, engineers and specialists who know many environments |
| Availability | Office hours, minus leave, MCs and training days | Defined in the contract: business hours or 24×7 |
| Skills | Broad generalist, rarely deep in security and cloud and networking | Specialists on call for security, Azure, Microsoft 365 and backup |
| Tools | You buy monitoring, patching, backup and ticketing separately | Usually included in the per-user fee |
| On-site presence | Always there | Remote-first, on-site by arrangement |
| Knowledge risk | Leaves when they leave | Documented and shared across the team |
Salary is the number everyone looks at. It's typically only around two-thirds of what the role really costs. Here is the full picture for a Singapore employer:
To make this concrete, assume a base salary of S$4,500 per month for an experienced IT executive. Substitute your own figure; the multipliers are what matter.
| Cost item | Annual cost (illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Salary (12 months × S$4,500) | S$54,000 |
| 13th-month bonus | S$4,500 |
| Employer CPF at 17% | ≈S$9,945 |
| Tools: monitoring, patching, backup, ticketing | S$4,000 – S$8,000 |
| Training and certification | S$1,500 – S$3,000 |
| Leave and sick-day cover (contractor) | S$2,000 – S$4,000 |
| Total | ≈S$76,000 – S$83,000 |
Illustrative only. Tools, training and cover ranges are typical planning figures, not quotes. Excludes recruitment fees, equipment and office space.
For a 20-person business, a fully managed package with Microsoft 365 licences, email and endpoint security, backup and 24×7 helpdesk costs a fraction of that. See the managed IT cost breakdown for real per-user figures. Remember the managed figure usually includes licences you'd be paying for anyway.
Cost is rarely what goes wrong with a single in-house IT person. Coverage is.
Outsourcing isn't always the answer, and a provider who says it is should make you suspicious. Hire internally when:
| Your situation | Usually the best fit |
|---|---|
| Under 25 staff, cloud-based, no specialised equipment | Fully managed |
| 25–75 staff, some office infrastructure | Fully managed, with an internal "IT champion" for local issues |
| 75–200 staff, growing systems and projects | Co-managed: one internal IT lead plus a provider |
| Specialised on-site systems at any size | In-house technician, with a provider for security and cloud |
| Regulated by MAS, or tendering for security-sensitive work | Co-managed, with documented controls and reporting |
A good transition takes two to six weeks for most SMEs and should never feel like a cliff edge. Expect the provider to:
If you're already wondering whether your current arrangement still fits, these signs you've outgrown your IT setup are a good self-check, and our seven questions for any managed IT provider will help you compare options.
For most businesses with fewer than about 50 staff, outsourcing is cheaper once you count the full cost of an employee: salary, 17% employer CPF for employees aged 55 and below, bonus, leave cover, training, tools and recruitment. Outsourcing also gives you a team rather than one person, so coverage doesn't stop when someone is on leave.
There's no fixed number, but many businesses start to benefit from an internal IT lead somewhere between 50 and 150 staff, or earlier if they run specialised on-site systems. The most common setup at that size is hybrid: one internal person who knows the business, backed by a managed provider for helpdesk volume, security monitoring and after-hours cover.
Co-managed IT is a hybrid model where your internal IT staff and an external managed service provider share responsibilities. Typically the internal person handles projects, vendors and business knowledge, while the provider handles helpdesk tickets, monitoring, patching, backup and security tooling.
A proper handover documents every system, admin account, licence and vendor contract, then moves admin access to named accounts with MFA. Shared or personal admin logins should be retired during the transition. Ask any provider to show you their onboarding checklist before you sign.
Yes. Many providers, including Cloudeli, support co-managed arrangements where your internal IT person keeps ownership of the business relationship and projects, while the provider takes on day-to-day support, monitoring and security.
Book a free consultation. We'll look at your headcount, systems and risks, and tell you honestly which model fits, including when hiring is the better answer.
