---
title: "In-house IT technician or MSP | DataRoad IT"
description: "An in-house IT technician costs up to €40,710 a year and leaves 27 working days uncovered. Compare it with managed IT for a fixed fee. No obligation."
language: en
url: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/in-house-it-technician-vs-managed-services/
source: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/in-house-it-technician-vs-managed-services/
publisher: DataRoad IT (DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting), Portugal
---

> An in-house IT technician costs up to €40,710 a year and leaves 27 working days uncovered. Compare it with managed IT for a fixed fee. No obligation.

# In-house IT technician or MSP: the real cost at 30 seats

At a glance For decision-makers short on time.

- 01 An in-house technician costs a 30-workstation SME €30,315 to €40,710 a year.
- 02 Holidays and training leave the company without a technician 27 working days a year.
- 03 An MSP combines networks, security, servers and Microsoft 365 for one fixed monthly fee.
- 04 DataRoad contract: annual, no lock-in.

### In this article

An in-house IT technician in a 30-workstation SME costs the company between €30,315 and €40,710 a year, and even then leaves it without anyone for 27 working days. That is the figure that decides between hiring and handing management to a managed IT services MSP. Below is the full calculation, with every assumption laid out, and the method for setting it beside a fixed-fee contract.

## How much do I really pay for an in-house IT technician?

Much more than the advertised salary. Portuguese law adds costs that never appear on the employee's payslip.

- **Fourteen salary payments** The twelve months are joined by the holiday and Christmas allowances.
- **Social security (TSU)** The company pays Social Security 23.75% on top of pay; the 11% deducted from the employee is a separate amount.
- **Mandatory insurance** Law no. 98/2009 requires workplace accident insurance, with a premium set by each insurer.
- **Meal allowance** A daily allowance for every working day.
- **Training** The Labour Code sets a minimum of 40 hours a year; in IT, networking, security and Microsoft certifications usually exceed it.
- **Equipment and licences** Laptop, phone, remote access, inventory and monitoring software, plus travel.

### Two profiles, the same calculation method

| Profile | Monthly base | Salary payments | TSU 23.75% | Insurance* | Meals* | Training* | Equipment* | Annual cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A: junior | €1,400 | €19,600 | €4,655 | €300 | €1,760 | €1,500 | €2,500 | **€30,315** |
| B: senior | €2,000 | €28,000 | €6,650 | €300 | €1,760 | €1,500 | €2,500 | **€40,710** |

**Assumptions: meals at €8 a day over 220 days; insurance, training and equipment estimated. TSU, holidays and minimum training derive from the law. Replace these figures with your company's own. Recruitment is excluded.*

Reference point: INE records average total gross monthly pay of €1,694 in 2025. Divided over 14 months, it comes close to profile A. Profile B corresponds to someone with more experience.

## What risk do I run when the technician is away?

All of it. There are 22 working days of holiday and around 5 of mandatory training: 27 working days, more than five weeks, with 30 workstations left to fend for themselves. Add sick leave. And on the day the technician resigns, the knowledge of the network walks out with them, and a recruitment process begins.

A server failure in August does not wait for anyone to come back. The company either stops or calls in an outsider to the infrastructure, who charges by the hour. We measured the impact of that downtime in [the price of an hour without systems in a 20-workstation company](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/cost-of-it-downtime-calculation/).

## Can one person cover every speciality?

Rarely. A 30-workstation SME today accumulates very different layers:

- **Network infrastructure** Switches, access points and firewall.
- **Collaboration** Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, with accounts, licences and security policies.
- **Data** A local or cloud server, with backups that someone has to test.
- **Protection** Endpoints, two-factor authentication, password rules.
- **Mixed environment** Printers, phones and Apple workstations living alongside Windows.

The pattern repeats itself: good at user support, weak in networking and cybersecurity. Precisely where a mistake costs the most. An MSP brings specialists in each area who have already solved the same problem at other companies.

## What do I gain from managed IT services instead of hiring?

| Decision-maker's question | Hiring a technician | DataRoad IT Unlimited |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What does it cost per year? | €30,300 to €40,700 in the simulation, excluding recruitment | A fixed monthly fee, set after an assessment |
| Who answers during holidays and sick leave? | Nobody | The team |
| What skills do I get? | One person's | Networks, security, servers, Microsoft 365 and Apple |
| Where does the knowledge sit? | In one employee's head | Documented and shared |
| Is there on-site presence? | Always | Remote, telephone and on-site, the latter included from Premium upwards |
| And out of hours? | Overtime, if available | Nights, weekends and public holidays with Premium 365 |
| Monitoring and security? | Tools paid for separately | Within the fixed fee |

## Are there cases where hiring wins?

Yes. Very specific internal applications, an operational need for someone always on site or the scale for a small team justify a dedicated resource. Even then, the most robust model pairs that person with an external partner for networks, security and absence cover. We describe that hybrid design for 50 to 200 workstations in [in-house IT team or external partner](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/co-managed-it-in-house-lead-msp/).

Below that threshold, and without those requirements, the fixed-fee contract wins on three fronts: cover, specialisation and cost predictability.

## How do I put the two options side by side?

- **Real cost**: fill in the simulation with your company's salaries and costs.
- **A proposal based on an assessment**: demand a fee calculated on your real infrastructure, not a list price per workstation. DataRoad only finalises an [IT Unlimited](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services/) proposal after analysing it.
- **Scope**: confirm call-outs, security, monitoring and hours. Essential, from €395/month + VAT, is remote and telephone only; [IT Unlimited Premium](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/it-unlimited-premium-on-site-support/), from €750/month + VAT, includes unlimited on-site support.
- **Exit**: annual contract, automatic renewal, no lock-in.

Market benchmarks in [IT contract prices for businesses](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services-pricing-plans/). Planning next year? Use the [2027 IT budget](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/it-budget-2027-managed-services-fixed-cost/) guide.

## Proof: how PTR Pharma Consulting settled the question

Pharmaceutical and healthcare consultancy PTR Pharma Consulting handed DataRoad full IT management, under an annual fixed-fee IT Unlimited contract. Workstations, wireless network, printers, servers, backups, internet, firewall and VPN are all in scope. Its corporate website and professional email run on DataRoad servers, with redundant backups and spam and phishing filtering.

Result: one team accountable for the entire environment and a single contract, instead of a lone technician. Details in the [PTR Pharma Consulting success story](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/ptr-pharma-consulting-managed-it-hosting/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the annual cost of an employed IT technician?

Between €30,315 and €40,710 in our simulation, for base salaries of €1,400 and €2,000. The figure adds up 14 salary payments, TSU, insurance, meals, training and equipment, excluding recruitment and cover.

### Is an MSP cheaper than an in-house technician?

In most cases, yes, provided you compare with the total cost and not with the salary. Compare what each model covers, too.

### What does the IT Unlimited fee come to for 30 workstations?

It is a fixed monthly fee set after an assessment. It depends on servers, network, number of locations and plan, Essential, Premium or Premium 365.

### Can an in-house technician and an MSP be combined?

Yes, and it is common. The technician handles day-to-day work; the MSP takes care of security, networks, monitoring, projects and absences.

## Want the comparison done for your company in 10 working days?

We analyse your infrastructure, work out with you the cost of the in-house model and deliver a fixed-monthly-fee IT Unlimited proposal, with no commitment. You decide with both numbers in front of you.

**More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and telephone support.** +351 211 459 950 * · sales@dataroad.pt

**Call to a Portuguese landline.*

## Sources

- [PwC, Tax Guide 2026: Social Security contribution rates](https://www.pwc.pt/pt/pwcinforfisco/guia-fiscal/2026/seguranca-social.html)
- [Diário da República, Law no. 7/2009: continuous training (Art. 131) and holidays (Art. 238)](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2009-34546475)
- [Government of Portugal, INE data on pay in 2025](https://portugal.gov.pt/gc25/comunicacao/noticias/salarios-reais-cresceram-32-em-2025)
- Law no. 98/2009 of 4 September: workplace accidents

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