Why are more IT Directors looking to do more with less?

Do more with less by implementing a service that lowers costs but improves quality and reliability.

IT Directors are under increasing pressure to reduce IT support costs while maintaining reliable IT infrastructure and services.

Research shows managed services can cut IT costs by 45%

To alleviate this pressure, many are now switching to outsourced IT support to help them cut IT overheads, improve performance, reduce risk, and gain access to expert IT professionals that internal teams often struggle to retain.

Outsourced IT delivers both financial and operational benefits and comes in two primary models: fully managed IT support is where a business outsources its entire IT function to a managed service provider and co-managed IT support is where a business outsources specific IT needs and the provider collaborates with its internal IT team.

The financial and operational strain of internal IT

Operating an in-house IT function comes with unavoidable cost most of which extend beyond salaries. Reducing IT support costs is an ever evolving headache. A typical two-person IT team will draw a combined salary which depends on their experience and level, can sometimes exceed £150,000. When factoring in employer contributions, training, licensing, hardware, and downtime-related losses, that figure can dramatically rise. More importantly, this investment rarely translates into complete service coverage. A small internal IT team may be technically proficient, but they are often overstretched, reactive, and need constant training and investment to stay up to date.

Operational strain often shows up for internal IT teams with long and inconsistent response times, inconsistent patching, incomplete backups, and over-reliance on a few individuals and when they are off sick or annual leave the business is crippled .

For mid-sized businesses, they encounter bottlenecks during periods of rapid change, where systems or users require support that outpaces internal capacity. Unless trained and paid well, internal IT departments can typically be recipients of high staff turnover which creates disruption and requiring costly recruitment fees.

Outsourced IT is a scalable and predictable solution

Fixed monthly budget, unlimited expertise with no hidden costs

Businesses that appoint a Managed Service Provider (MSP) transform their IT function from a fragmented, internal cost centre into a streamlined, externally managed function with IT consultants on hand around the clock. Reliable and often financially backed service-level agreements guarantee performance, uptime, and response times. One of the other benefits of outsourced IT is the fixed monthly fee that typically includes support, monitoring, security tooling, patching, backup, and project management.

Businesses who move to the outsourced IT model avoid recruitment fees, reduce internal HR and training costs, and benefit from access to enterprise grade IT management tools which are often unaffordable to internal IT teams. The predictability in monthly spend helps their finance teams plan with more accuracy, while the operational gains are seen in quicker resolutions, broader expertise, and around-the-clock support.

Your outsourced IT team can be scaled up at very short notice which is especially valuable during business growth or restructuring. New users, sites, or service requirements can be added in your monthly cost without needing to hire new staff or delay any initiatives due to lack of technical bandwidth.

Choosing between fully managed and co-managed IT support

Outsourced IT doesn’t follow a one-size-fits-all structure. Businesses can select a model that suits their current team and goals.

With fully managed outsourced IT, the managed service provider acts as the businesses entire IT department. This is ideal for businesses with no internal IT or those that want to shift all operational responsibilities externally. The MSP handles everything from end-user support and hardware management to long-term planning and cybersecurity.

There is also another option called co-managed IT support, this is where the MSP supports an internal IT team by absorbing routine tasks and supplementing skills the business lacks in-house. Internal IT might remain focused on business systems or digital transformation while the MSP manages helpdesk, infrastructure monitoring, or compliance tasks. This balance allows the internal team to deliver more value without overextension and is more common in larger businesses.

Both outsourced IT options enable a more structured, proactive, and accountable approach to IT. The difference lies in the level of control the business retains and how responsibilities are distributed.

Outsourced IT benefits for IT Directors

MSPs bring access to wider expertise, helping IT leaders modernise infrastructure and reduce operational risk. By shifting their daily support tasks to a managed service provider, IT Directors have more time to focus on higher-value initiatives such as cloud adoption, AI, Cyber security or automation.

Finance Directors gain visibility and control over IT expenditure and transform their IT costs into a predictable and consistent monthly fee. The outsourced IT model also helps to reduce capital expenditure by bundling tools and systems into service agreements, shifting costs into manageable monthly operating expenses.

Operations Directors see improvements in continuity and responsiveness as system downtime and user frustration decrease when support is available 24/7. Standardised processes and documented SLAs contribute to operational efficiencies and better performance tracking.

Outsourced IT support cost comparison

Here is an overview of a current client of ours:

An 80-person professional services company had two internal IT staff handling everything from helpdesk support, printer issues, Cyber Essentials certifications to server maintenance.

As the business grew, helpdesk delays became common and major upgrades were being postponed due to lack of time and agreed investment. Finance flagged overspending on one-off consultants, and operations expressed concern over inconsistent system performance as well as their cyber security posture.

The company adopted a co-managed support model with Opus. Within one year, their annual IT spend dropped from £172,000 to £120,000.

Average first-response times for support issues fell to under 15 minutes. The internal IT lead was able to focus on infrastructure modernisation and cloud migrations, while Opus ensured daily service coverage, monitoring, security and compliance. The shift enabled the business to expand to a new location without additional internal hires.

Get in touch to find out what an optimised outsourced IT model could look like for your business and they can also walk you through our current case studies.

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CLIENT CASE STUDY

We helped modernise Westminster Wealth Management’s IT infrastructure to cut monthly costs by £3,000 and boost productivity by 15%.

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