<\/p>\n
In summary<\/p>\n
In this article<\/p>\n
When an SME reaches a certain volume of IT support requests, the same question always arises: is it worth hiring an in-house IT technician, or does it make more sense to keep\u2014or switch to\u2014an external provider on a retainer? There is no universal answer, but there are objective criteria that help make the decision.<\/p>\n
Salary is only a part of the cost. To this amount, it is necessary to add social charges, allowances, work equipment, continuous training (essential in a rapidly changing field), and the cost of replacement in the event of absence, sick leave or departure from the company \u2014 a period during which the company typically goes without any technical support. Additionally, a single internal technician rarely masters networks, security, cloud, systems and telephony to the same level \u2014 areas that, in an MSP, are usually covered by different specialists.<\/p>\n
Compare the total cost, not the salary.<\/strong> To the gross amount are added social charges, training, certifications, holiday cover and the risk of dependency on a single person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A monthly retainer with an MSP typically includes access to a multidisciplinary team, without the hiring, training and replacement costs associated with an internal employee. The cost is determined by the number of users and the criticality of the infrastructure, and is usually more predictable than the sum of all direct and indirect costs of an internal hire.<\/p>\n The choice is not always binary. Some companies choose to keep an internal person for day-to-day matters closer to the business, complemented by an MSP for 24\/7 monitoring, critical infrastructure management and cybersecurity \u2014 combining the closeness of an internal resource with the technical depth and availability of a specialist external team.<\/p>\n The most reliable criterion is not the isolated price of each option, but the total cost of ownership over 12 months \u2014 including indirect costs and the risks of not having adequate technical coverage for each model. For the majority of Portuguese SMEs without an established IT department, managed outsourcing tends to be the option with the best balance of cost, predictability and breadth of available skills.<\/p>\nThe cost of a retainer with an external supplier<\/h2>\n
When does it make more sense to have an in-house technician<\/h2>\n
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When does it make the most sense to opt for outsourcing<\/h2>\n
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A hybrid model is also possible<\/h2>\n
How to decide<\/h2>\n