In-house IT vs external IT: which works best for your business?

16th April 2025

You should know by now that Interfuture Systems are one of the best providers of IT services in the southeast of England, but should you work with us (or a similar provider)? Or are you better off with an in-house team on-site with you?

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using an in-house IT team and a managed service provider – compare the two and see which is right for you:

In-house

Advantages:

·         Direct control – you can quickly make decisions and changes as you have direct oversight.

·         Tailored solutions – a team designed to work just for you can shape your IT around your needs.

·         Immediate support – as the team is on-site they are usually quicker at solving problems that can’t be dealt with remotely.

·         Confidentiality – greater control over sensitive information and a reduced risk of data breaches.

Disadvantages:

·         Higher costs – hiring, salaries, benefits, training, infrastructure: it all adds up!

·         Limited expertise – an in-house team only know what they know, whereas an external provider may have more people whose knowledge can be drawn upon.

·         Scalability issues – if you suddenly need to expand it will take time and cost money to hire you staff.

·         Resource constraints – limited resources may hinder the ability to handle large or complex problems.

External

Advantages:

·         Cost efficiency – you only pay for the services you need, without the overhead of salaries or benefits.

·         Access to experts – with a broad range of people to pool information from, there are few problems that can’t be handled.

·         Scalability – can easily scale services up and down without the need for hiring or firing.

·         Focus on core business – IT can be stressful and time consuming: by outsourcing it to someone else you guarantee all your energy is focused on what you need to do the most.

Disadvantages:

·         Less control – you may have less control over operations, depending on the provider.

·         Potential delays – response time, particularly to an on-site issue, maybe be slower as the external provider will be covering multiple clients.

·         Security risks – sharing sensitive data with external providers can lead to data breaches if the proper safeguards aren’t in place.

·         Dependency – if you do get an external provider, you can become dependent on them, making it difficult for you to move away if needed.

Obviously, you can expect our conclusion to be biased: we are an external IT service provider after all! However, we understand we aren’t the best fit for everyone, and if you want someone there 24/7, in-house, that is up to you.

At Interfuture Systems, we like to say we are your very own in-house (but external) IT team: we try to treat our clients with the same care and attentiveness as we would if we were in the next room over. We work with you, designing your IT infrastructure to suit your needs, just like an on-site team would.

For more information, please contact us HERE.