In-house IT department vs. outsourcing: the hybrid model for 50 to 200 employees

7 min read · DataRoad

In-house IT department or outsourcing? For a company with between 50 and 200 employees, the answer is rarely one or the other. A purely internal department becomes expensive and fragile before it has any real impact; outsourcing without anyone inside the company loses its connection to the business. The model that works best is the hybrid: an internal IT manager who decides and coordinates, and a managed services partner (MSP) who performs, monitors, and protects.

This article is for those at this growth point. If your company has 20 or 30 employees and the question is whether to hire a technician, the detailed account is in In-house IT support vs. outsourcing.

Why 50 posts change the question

Up to 30 or 40 positions, a technician or an assistant solves the essentials. From there, IT gains layers: several remote offices or teams, more business applications, customer and auditor requirements, tighter security rules. In some sectors, the NIS2 directive It now demands cybersecurity measures and management accountability.

At the same time, there are decisions that can no longer be made from the outside: which software to buy, how to integrate an acquisition, what priorities to give to the budget. This is where the idea of “setting up a department” arises.

What does an internal IT department costing 100% cost?

A department that covers a company of 100 employees needs at least:

• someone to provide daily support to users (service desk);
• someone with expertise in networks, servers, and the cloud;
• someone with expertise in security — firewall, equipment protection, access management, incident response;
• a person who plans, negotiates with suppliers and talks to the management.

With just one person filling multiple roles, it’s not a department: it’s a single point of failure. With two, someone is left alone whenever the other is on vacation. With the assumptions in our example, each technician costs the company between €30,300 and €40,700 per year; a minimum team of three costs over €90,000. This is in addition to tools — monitoring, security, backups, order management — and off-hours coverage, which a small in-house team cannot guarantee without shifts.

The hybrid model: what goes in and what comes out

In the hybrid model, the company hires a person — the IT manager — and hands over the technical operation to an MSP. The internal person is not the “technician who solves everything”: he or she knows the business, defines priorities, and ensures that the partner delivers. In practice, this is the model of IT department which we propose to companies of this size.

When every model makes sense

How to make the hybrid work

The hybrid model fails when nobody knows who does what. It works when:

1. The division of responsibilities is written — as in the table above — and is stated in the contract.
2. There is only one order system, shared by the internal administrator and the MSP, so that nothing is lost in emails.
3. The documentation is from the companyInventory, network diagram, access points and backup policies, always updated.
4. There is a regular meeting between the internal responsible and the MSP, with indicators: requests, response times, incidents, projects and the alerts from monitoring.
5. The internal responsible person has authority to decide and a direct channel to the administration.

No IT Unlimited From DataRoad, security — managed firewalls, probes, equipment protection, 2FA/MFA and alarm monitoring — is included. For operations that cannot be stopped at night or at the weekend, the tier Premium 365 It adds coverage for nights, weekends, and holidays: it is the only one with 24/7 support and monitoring. The contract is annual, with automatic renewal, 60 days’ notice, and no commitment.

A real case: Velv by OnRising, about 200 posts

Velv by OnRising, a nearshore software development company with offices in Porto, Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, has expanded its IT Unlimited contract with DataRoad to approximately 200 jobs.

The scope clearly shows what a company of this size takes on internally: service desk for users, management of firewalls and network security, management of the wireless network, support for servers, cloud, printing and the internet, preventive and corrective maintenance, and 24/7 monitoring with alerts and reports, in the Premium 365 tier. Read more Case Velv by OnRising.

Frequently Asked Questions

From how many positions does it make sense to have an IT department?

There is no fixed number, but between 50 and 200 employees, most companies benefit from an in-house IT manager combined with an MSP. A fully in-house department is only justified by the size of a full team, with multiple specializations and holiday coverage.

What does the internal IT manager do in the hybrid model?

Define priorities with the management, manage the budget and business software vendors, approve changes, and monitor the work of the MSP. The day-to-day technical operation — support, networks, servers, security, and backups — is handled by the external partner.

Can I switch from an internal department to a hybrid model without any risks?

Yes, if the transition is planned: lifting of the infrastructure, documentation, passage of access points and a period of work in parallel. The knowledge of the internal team becomes documented, instead of being concentrated in individuals.

Does DataRoad provide support outside of business hours?

Yes, in the Premium 365 tier of IT Unlimited, which includes coverage for nights, weekends, and holidays, with 24/7 support and monitoring.

Your IT model designed in 10 working days

We analyze your infrastructure and your team, and deliver a proposal for the division of responsibilities — what should stay within, what should be outsourced — with the IT Unlimited proposal closed. For companies with more than 10 seats · contract of assistance · remote, on-site and telephone support.

Sources

• PwC Fiscal Guide 2026 — Social Security (employer’s contribution rate: 23.75%)
• Labour Code (Law No. 7/2009), Diário da República — continuous training and leave