What does outsourced managed IT really cost for a small or medium-sized business?

"How much does it cost?" is generally the first question asked by SMB owners considering outsourcing their IT. The honest answer is: less than an in-house technician, at an equivalent quality of service, provided you choose the right provider. Here are the ballpark figures, and the pitfalls to avoid.

The real cost of an in-house technician — ballpark figures

Hiring a salaried IT technician in France typically costs an employer between approximately £50,000 and £70,000 per year (gross salary + employer contributions), depending on experience level and location. These ranges reflect what we observe in the Normandy and Île-de-France markets; the salary benchmarks published by Apec and Numeum¹ show similar figures for experienced technician and systems administrator profiles.

On top of salary, you should also factor in:

• The workstation and tools (approximately €3,000/year amortised)
• Ongoing training and certifications (€1,500 to €3,000/year)
• Professional software licences (monitoring, business-grade antivirus, helpdesk: approximately €2,000/year)
• Initial recruitment costs (€5,000 to €10,000 in the first year, including internal time and any search fees)

Typical total annual cost: between approximately €62,000 and €85,000 for a single person.

And yet that person will be working alone. When they are on holiday, off sick, or in training, your urgent issues will simply wait. If they resign, you start from scratch — recruitment, onboarding, and getting up to speed (6 to 12 months).

The cost of outsourced managed IT — ballpark figures

Most managed service providers charge a flat rate per user device. The following ranges reflect what we observe in the SMB market — they vary depending on the provider, the geographic area, and the exact scope covered:

For an SMB with 20 devices, the annual budget for Pro-level managed IT therefore comes to around €35,000–€40,000 (excl. VAT). That is, for a comparable scope, considerably less than a single in-house technician — and for a pooled team rather than just one person.

Beware of false economies, however

Not all per-device packages are equal. What distinguishes a serious offering:

What should be included

• Active monitoring (not merely "if you call us")
• Both preventive and corrective maintenance
• Helpdesk with a contractual response time (SLA)
• Automated security updates
• Verified backups
• Monthly summary reporting

What should be clearly costed

• On-site response times
• Out-of-scope rates (device relocation, project work)
• Costs of optional services
• Exit terms (notice period, return of access credentials)

What should raise red flags

• No written SLA in the contract
• Helpdesk with no stated response time
• Refusal to disclose the monitoring tools used
• Opaque or unacknowledged offshore subcontracting

The real benefit: resilience

The decisive argument is not the immediate cost, but operational resilience.

With an in-house technician:

• 1 person for all subjects (networking, security, devices, servers)
• Personal unavailability = service interruption
• High staff turnover risk

With outsourced managed IT:

• A team with complementary specialisms
• Continuity guaranteed even in the event of absence
• Shared access to professional tools (monitoring, EDR, auditing)
• Access to technical and regulatory intelligence

For most organisations with fewer than 100 devices, the calculation is clear-cut.

When keeping IT in-house still makes sense

Beyond 150–200 devices, a mixed approach is often optimal:

• One or two in-house administrators for strategic oversight and business-specific matters
• An outsourced provider for infrastructure, cybersecurity, and first-line helpdesk

Below that threshold, full outsourcing almost always delivers a better cost-to-quality ratio.

What would IT cost you?

The only way to get a genuine answer is a personalised quote. At IMACS SERVICES, quotes are free of charge, based on a real inventory of your IT estate (we come to you), and delivered within 5 business days.

Before the quote, you can start with our free 15-question pre-assessment — within 24 hours you will receive a report measuring your current IT maturity and quantifying the gaps to address.

In summary

• In-house technician: €62,000 to €85,000/year for a single resource.
• Pro managed IT for 20 devices: €35,000 to €40,000/year for a full team.
• The decisive factor: operational resilience, not the headline price.
• The classic pitfall: choosing the cheapest option without a written SLA.

Well-managed outsourced IT is not a loss of control — on the contrary, it is what gives you back the time to focus on running your business.

Sources

Transparency note: all figures presented are ballpark ranges observed in the French market at the time of writing (2026). Rates and ranges may vary considerably between providers and depending on your exact scope (data volumes, criticality, SLAs, presence of specific business applications). Only a personalised quote will provide reliable figures for your specific situation.

Footnotes

1. Apec (Association for the Employment of Managers) — Salary Benchmarks, and Numeum (the professional organisation for the digital sector, formed by the merger of Syntec Numérique and Tech in France in 2021) — salary benchmarks and studies for digital sector roles. These publications provide annual salary ranges observed for IT technician, systems administrator, and security engineer profiles, by experience level and by region. See apec.fr and numeum.fr. ↩