The short answer

For many businesses with around 20 to 100 users, managed IT support is more economical than building a complete internal IT department.

However, businesses with complex systems, continuous project work or highly specialised technology may benefit from an internal IT manager supported by an external IT provider.

The best model depends on how much IT work the organisation actually has.

What does an internal IT manager provide?

An internal IT manager knows the organisation well.

They can work closely with management, understand business processes and take ownership of projects.

That is valuable.

The challenge is that one person cannot realistically be an expert in everything.

Modern business IT can include:

• Microsoft 365
• networking
• cyber security
• cloud platforms
• backups
• servers
• laptops
• mobile devices
• telephony
• internet services
• printers
• vendor management
• compliance
• automation
• project management

There is also annual leave, sick leave and after-hours coverage to consider.

What does a managed IT provider provide?

A managed IT provider gives the business access to a broader team.

Instead of relying on one person, issues can be handled by people with different levels of experience and different technical specialties.

A good provider should also have documented processes for:

• onboarding staff
• removing staff access
• device setup
• security updates
• backups
• recurring maintenance
• escalation
• major incidents

What about cost?

An internal IT employee involves more than salary.

The business also has:

• superannuation
• leave
• recruitment costs
• training
• equipment
• software
• management overhead
• coverage when that employee is unavailable

Managed IT turns much of that into a predictable operating expense.

For smaller organisations, this can provide broader capability without employing multiple IT specialists.

When does internal IT make sense?

Internal IT becomes more attractive when technology itself is a major part of the organisation.

Examples include businesses with:

• large development teams
• specialist industrial systems
• highly customised applications
• constant technology projects
• hundreds of staff
• significant internal infrastructure

Even then, many organisations use a hybrid model.

The hybrid model

A strong model for a growing organisation is:

Internal IT Manager + Managed IT Provider

The internal manager concentrates on strategy, management and business priorities.

The external provider handles support queues, monitoring, cyber security, specialist engineering and overflow work.

This reduces the risk of one person becoming responsible for everything.

What works for most Canberra SMEs?

For a Canberra business with 20–100 users and standard business systems such as Microsoft 365, cloud applications, laptops and network infrastructure, a managed service provider will often provide greater coverage than hiring one generalist.

But there is no universal answer.

Start by listing how many hours of support, maintenance, projects and management your organisation genuinely needs each month.

That will make the comparison much clearer.

Need help working out the right model?

ITS Canberra can review your environment and recommend managed, internal or hybrid support based on what the business actually needs.