In-house IT hire vs
outsourced managed IT
You're choosing between one employee who sits with the team, and a supplier that covers more hours, more specialisms and the gaps a single hire cannot fill.
Hiring an IT person puts someone on your payroll who learns the office, the people and the way work actually happens. They can walk to a desk, sit in your meetings and hold context that a remote supplier has to rebuild. For firms with enough IT work to fill a week, that presence is the main reason to hire.
An outsourced managed IT provider is a team, not a person. Monitoring runs overnight, specialists cover Microsoft 365, Azure and cybersecurity, and the service doesn't stop when one engineer is on leave. You pay a monthly retainer instead of a salary, National Insurance and recruitment. Wanzo provides the outsourced side. If you already have a hire, the two can run together. We don't recruit into your payroll.
| Factor | An in-house IT hire | An outsourced managed IT provider |
|---|---|---|
| Presence on site | They sit with the team. A laptop problem can be handled at the desk, and they pick up context from being in the room every day. | Most support is remote. On-site visits can be arranged, but they are planned, not a person who is already walking the floor. |
| Hours and cover | One person works contracted hours. Holidays, illness and evenings leave a gap unless you hire cover or accept the wait. | A managed service monitors around the clock, with a four-hour response commitment. Cover doesn't depend on one employee's diary. |
| Breadth of skill | One hire brings one mix of skills. Few people are strong across Microsoft 365, Azure, cybersecurity, networking and the next tool you add. | The provider can draw on specialists. Microsoft 365, Azure and cybersecurity sit in the same service rather than on one person's CV. |
| How you pay | You pay a salary plus National Insurance, pension, equipment, training and recruitment. That cost sits on the books every month, quiet week or not. | You pay a monthly retainer against a defined scope. Wanzo's AI + Managed IT plan starts at £1,250 a month. The figure moves with users and sites. |
| Business knowledge | They learn how your firm actually works: who to ask, which systems are fragile, and what a quick fix would break. That knowledge stays in the room. | A supplier builds that context over time, through tickets and reviews. That learning is slower, and it lives with the provider rather than with someone on your staff. |
| When people leave | When they leave, the knowledge often leaves with them. Recruitment takes time, and cover in the gap is usually informal or absent. | The service belongs to the provider, not to one engineer. If a named contact moves on, the monitoring, records and response commitment stay in place. |
When An in-house IT hire is the right call
- You have a full week's IT work and need a person on site who reports to you, not to a supplier.
- Floor-walking, in-person training and sitting in operational meetings matter more than overnight cover.
- You can recruit, manage and retain a capable person, and accept the gap when they are off.
When An outsourced managed IT provider is the right call
- You need cover beyond one person's working hours, including evenings, holidays and sick leave.
- Microsoft 365, Azure and cybersecurity need specialists, not one generalist trying to cover every discipline.
- You want a monthly retainer with 24/7 monitoring and a four-hour response, without taking on another employee.
What we’d recommend
Hire in-house if you have a full-time job's worth of IT work, need someone on the floor, and can recruit and manage that person. An outsourced provider is the better fit if you need cover beyond one diary, specialist depth across Microsoft 365, Azure and cybersecurity, or a defined monthly service instead of another employee. A hybrid is common: keep a hire for presence and add a provider for monitoring, holidays and specialist work. For most firms of 10 to 500 people, we'd recommend the outsourced route, because one person rarely covers hours, skills and continuity at once. If you already have a capable hire, we work alongside them. We provide managed IT from £1,250 a month. We don't fill a vacancy on your payroll.
Questions people ask
Is it cheaper to hire in-house IT or use a managed provider?
It depends on headcount, the work, and what you compare. An in-house hire costs salary, National Insurance, pension, equipment, training and recruitment, with a gap when they are off. A managed provider charges a monthly retainer against a defined scope. Wanzo's AI + Managed IT plan starts at £1,250 a month. For a small team with modest IT needs, a retainer is usually the lighter commitment. For a firm that already has a full-time IT job on the floor, the hire can be the better spend.
Can a managed IT provider replace an in-house IT person?
For many small and medium-sized firms, yes: day-to-day support, Microsoft 365, monitoring and cybersecurity can sit with a provider. What you lose is someone in the building with the firm's context already in their head. That gap matters if someone needs to be in the room for training, hardware and the conversations that never become tickets. If you already employ IT staff, we can take agreed areas while they stay in post. A replacement only makes sense if the hire cannot cover hours, specialisms or continuity on their own.
Should I hire an IT manager or use an MSP?
Hire an IT manager when there is a full-time job of prioritising technology, sitting with leadership and knowing the operation from the inside. Use a managed service provider when the work is support, monitoring, Microsoft 365, Azure and cybersecurity, and you don't want that sitting on one person. Some firms do both: an internal manager who owns priorities, and a provider who does the operational work. Wanzo would usually take the operational side on a monthly retainer from £1,250, and work with an internal manager if you have one.
What happens if our in-house IT person is on holiday or leaves?
Cover is the weak point of a single hire. Holidays, illness and resignations leave the business without IT unless you have a backup arrangement. A managed provider keeps monitoring, the helpdesk and the response commitment in place when one engineer is away, because the service isn't tied to one person. If you already have a hire and want cover around them, Wanzo can take that on. If they leave and recruiting again is not the plan, the same monthly service can become the primary support.
Ready to talk?
Book a free, no-obligation discovery call. We'll learn about your business and show you exactly how Wanzo can help — with a bespoke proposal within 48 hours.
No commitment. No sales pressure. Just honest advice.