As your Perth business grows, the question of how to handle IT becomes more pressing. Do you hire a full-time IT person, or outsource to a managed IT provider? Both have genuine advantages - and genuine limitations. Here's an honest comparison to help you decide.
The Case for In-House IT
Hiring a dedicated IT staff member makes sense in specific situations:
- Immediate availability - an in-house IT person is physically present, can respond instantly to issues affecting specific staff or equipment, and builds deep familiarity with your specific environment
- Business-specific knowledge - over time, they understand your industry, your software, your workflows, and your staff's IT habits in a way that an external provider maintains through documentation rather than daily presence
- Internal IT projects - if you regularly have internal development work, system builds, or complex IT projects, an in-house resource dedicated to that work can be more efficient than engaging an external provider on a project basis
In-house IT typically makes financial sense at 50+ staff, where the workload justifies a full-time salary and the complexity warrants dedicated knowledge.
The Hidden Costs of In-House IT
Perth business owners who calculate the cost of in-house IT often underestimate the full picture:
- Salary - a competent IT generalist in Perth commands $70,000–$100,000+ per year
- On-costs - super, leave entitlements, payroll tax, and recruitment typically add 25–30% on top of salary
- Training and certifications - technology changes rapidly; keeping one person current across networking, security, Microsoft 365, cloud, and endpoints requires ongoing training investment
- Coverage gaps - your IT person gets sick, takes leave, or resigns. During those periods, you have no IT support unless you have a plan
- Breadth limitations - one person cannot be an expert in everything. Complex security incidents, advanced networking, or niche software issues will require external specialists regardless
- Single point of failure - institutional knowledge walks out the door when they leave
The Case for Managed IT
A managed IT provider gives Perth businesses access to a team with varied specialisations - networking engineers, security analysts, Microsoft specialists, helpdesk technicians - for a flat monthly fee. Key advantages:
- Breadth of expertise - complex issues are escalated internally to the right specialist rather than being outside one person's knowledge
- No coverage gaps - no sick days, no leave, no resignation gaps. Support continues regardless of what happens to any individual at the provider
- Proactive monitoring - 24/7 monitoring of your systems without requiring a staff member to be awake and watching
- Predictable cost - flat monthly fee makes budgeting straightforward, with no recruitment cost when skills needs change
- Current knowledge - the provider's team training is their responsibility, not yours
The Honest Limitations of Managed IT
A good managed IT provider will acknowledge these trade-offs rather than pretend they don't exist:
- Response time - remote support is fast, but on-site attendance takes time. A provider with a local Perth team minimises this, but it's never instant in the way a staff member walking to your desk is
- Business familiarity - building deep understanding of your specific workflows and preferences takes time with any new provider
- Less control - you're dependent on their systems, processes, and staff priorities
The Hybrid Model - Often the Best Answer
Many Perth businesses find the best outcome is a hybrid: a managed IT provider handling monitoring, helpdesk, security, and infrastructure, with an internal “IT coordinator” who is not a technical specialist but manages the relationship, logs issues, and handles basic requests internally.
This gives you the breadth of an external team with the internal presence and business knowledge of someone embedded in your organisation.
A Simple Decision Framework
- Under 20 staff: Managed IT almost always wins on cost and capability
- 20–50 staff: Managed IT typically still wins; consider hybrid if you have complex internal systems
- 50–100 staff: Hybrid model - internal IT coordinator plus managed IT provider
- 100+ staff: Internal IT team with managed IT or specialist providers for specific domains (security, cloud, networking)
Frequently Asked Questions
At what size business does hiring an in-house IT person start to make sense?
As a rough guide, in-house IT typically starts to make financial sense from around 50 staff onward, once the workload genuinely justifies a full-time salary and the environment is complex enough to warrant dedicated, ongoing knowledge. Below that, the fixed cost of a single hire is usually harder to justify than a flat monthly fee covering a whole team of specialists.
What happens to IT support if our only in-house IT person is sick or on leave?
This is one of the genuine risks of relying on a single in-house person, coverage simply stops during that gap unless you have a backup plan. It's a common reason businesses either move to managed IT or adopt a hybrid model, since a managed provider's support continues regardless of what happens to any individual staff member there.
Can we use a managed IT provider alongside an existing in-house IT person?
Yes, this hybrid approach is common and often works well. The managed provider typically handles monitoring, helpdesk, security, and infrastructure breadth, while the internal person or coordinator manages day-to-day relationships and business-specific knowledge, giving you both external capability and internal presence.
Is managed IT actually cheaper than hiring someone in-house?
For most small and medium Perth businesses, yes, once you account for the full cost of an in-house hire, salary plus on-costs like super and leave, which typically adds another 25-30% on top. That said, the right answer depends on your specific size, complexity, and internal project workload, so it's worth running the actual numbers for your situation rather than assuming either way.
We provide managed IT services for Perth businesses - and can work alongside an existing in-house team too.
Managed IT Services →Not sure which model is right for your Perth business?
Call 0433 087 091 - we'll give you an honest assessment of whether managed IT, in-house, or a hybrid makes most sense for your situation.
Book a Free ConsultationFor related reading, see our guides to IT Strategy vs Managed IT: Which Does Your Business Need? and How Much Does Managed IT Cost in Perth?.