How this works
The calculator adds up three ways of paying for IT over one year.
- Today: the hours your team loses to computer problems, times what an hour of their time costs, plus what you already pay for outside help.
- Managed IT plan: a fixed price per person per month, plus the lost time that is left after faster help and prevention.
- In-house IT person: one salary plus 30% for benefits and payroll taxes, plus the same remaining lost time.
The biggest number is usually the lost time, so it is worth a careful guess. Ask two or three people how much time they lost to computer problems last week, and use the average.
Example: a 10-person office
A 10-person office loses about five hours a week in total, pays nobody for IT today, and is offered a plan at $150 per person per month. Here a managed plan costs more than today on paper, but far less than hiring an IT person.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| People who use a computer for work | 10 people |
| Hours your whole team loses to computer problems each week | 5 hours |
| Average cost of one employee hour (pay plus benefits) | $40 |
| What you pay for outside IT help today, per month | $0 |
| Managed IT price per person per month | $150 |
| Share of the lost time a managed plan wins back | 50 % |
| Salary of one in-house IT person | $60,000 |
| Result | Value |
| Cost of time lost to IT problems, a year | $10,400 |
| What IT costs you today, a year | $10,400 |
| With a managed IT plan, a year | $23,200 |
| With one in-house IT person, a year | $83,200 |
| Today minus managed IT, a year | -$12,800 |
| What this means | Today looks cheaper on paper, but most of your IT cost is lost time. If you need more help, a managed plan costs far less than hiring in-house. |
Why lost time matters more than the IT bill
When nobody is responsible for IT, problems are fixed by whoever knows a little more than everyone else. That person stops their own work, often for an hour or more, and the problem tends to come back because the cause was never fixed.
Small interruptions add up quickly. One hour per person per week is 52 hours per person per year, more than a full working week. For a team of 20 people at $45 an hour, that is almost $47,000 a year that never shows up on an invoice.
What a managed IT plan usually includes
A managed IT plan is a fixed monthly price for keeping your computers, email and network running. Plans differ, so compare what is included, not only the price. A full plan usually covers:
- Help desk by phone, email and remote session, with a target response time
- Automatic updates for Windows, Mac and the main business programs
- Antivirus and threat monitoring on every computer
- Backups of email and files, and regular checks that the backups work
- Microsoft 365 user and license management
- A yearly review of what to replace, upgrade or budget for
On-site visits, new hardware and big projects (like an office move) are often billed separately. Ask before you sign.
When hiring in-house makes sense
An in-house IT person is worth it when you have enough work to fill a full-time job and you need someone in the building every day. For most businesses under 50 people, one person is too expensive and too thin: they get sick, take vacations and can't be an expert in everything.
Many growing businesses use both: an in-house person for day-to-day questions and a managed IT provider for security, monitoring, after-hours support and projects.
How to use the result
Treat the result as a starting point for a conversation, not a quote. If the difference is close to zero, the deciding factors are usually response time, security and how much of your own time you want back. If you'd like a second opinion, we're happy to go through your numbers with you in a free 30-minute call.