The Hidden Costs of Hiring an IT Tech

If your business is at the point where you’re thinking about hiring a fulltime IT tech, congratulations!
Having enough consistent needs to fill this role means you’ve worked hard and made good decisions that drove
business growth. Our best advice? Don’t stop now!
Moving forward with hiring requires a lot of analysis to avoid major consequences down the line, though. One
of the biggest decisions whether you’ll hire someone directly or use a third-party MSP (Managed Service
Provider). In this article, we’ll get into the specifics of both scenarios.
Why Do You Need an IT Tech at All?
In the past, business people and tech people were two different breeds. Over the years, the gap has
gradually shrunk to the point that many people are tech-savvy enough to get by for the little things. As
your business has grown, though, you likely have needed to delegate many of your previous duties, like IT —
even if you feel perfectly capable of handling them yourself. After all, when do you think was the last time
Jeff Bezos packaged a shipment? Your IT needs have also likely grown much more complex.
If you don’t choose to delegate now, you fall into a major pitfall of leaving IT duties unassigned. In our
current landscape, leaving an IT post open could be a death wish. Cyber attacks of all types are on the
rise, and the amount of damage each one could impose is ballooning. For example, in 2016, the average
ransomware attacker demanded $522. In 2020, that average sits around $84,000! Sadly, many of these attacks
take place as a result of not having someone the wheel.
In addition, there’s the issue of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Being lax over time can make your
systems out of date, making it harder for everyone to get their work done at a reasonable rate. In addition,
only replacing equipment when it’s broken and not when it functionally obsolete can create situations where
portions of or your entire workforce will be unable to do any work at all for a time.
An In-House Solution
So, let’s say you’re on board with having one or more people make up your IT team, and you make the decision
to hire them directly. One certain benefit is that you can look through a collection of qualified candidates
and pick just the right person(s) that you want! But then the other shoe drops.
Just like any other employee, before you hire someone for your IT needs, you have to consider the costs. For
instance, the average price of an IT professional is $60,000 per year. Alright, so you budget out $60,000 —
then you’re all set, right? Far from it!
Where is this person going to work? Maybe you already have space for them, but these professionals require
more expensive hardware and monitor setups. Additionally, you need to factor in the network diagnostic
software plus any industry-specific software. Since they’ll generally be on call, they’ll need a phone with
a good plan so you can always reach them and possibly a company car (or at least some form of vehicle
reimbursement) if you have multiple locations. Don’t forget that expense account!
Besides the specific expenses mentioned above, remember that this person is still an employee, so you have
all the other general costs your other employees have associated with them. This can include health/life
insurance, vacation time, sick time, 401K plus any bonuses or overtime pay they may rack up.
And what do you do if they leave? The implicit and explicit costs can be truly staggering when you take the
time to add it all up.
A Safer Option
In the past, the above option was the only choice most employers had available to them. Based on the high
costs (both known and unknown) associated with hiring an IT professional, it’s no surprise that companies
have flocked to an alternative option: MSPs.
With an MSP, you have all the benefits of a fulltime employee without the downsides.
They will be consistently available, knowledgable in your network, and focused entirely on IT rather than
other day job expectations. Need assistance when it’s time for regular upgrades or maintenance? Want someone
to redesign your entire IT setup? Looking for someone to completely take over your IT operations, including
telephone, so you can focus 100% on your core business? These are the sorts of services you can get out of
an MSP.
Even better, the price you sign in the contract is the price you know you have to pay month after month,
unlike the many unknown costs of an employee. There are no HR issues to worry about and the work is on the
shoulders of a company, not an individual.
If your company is at the point where you know you need dedicated IT personnel but are unsure about which
direction you’d like to go, contact us ASAP. We would be more than happy to go over your needs and discuss
the best options.