Co-Managed IT Services
Should You Hire an IT Person, Outsource IT, or Both?
The short answer is that it depends on how many computers your business has, and whether you already have a good IT person or team in place.
You can hire your own IT person, hand everything to an IT provider, or keep your IT person and give them a full team behind them. That last option is called co-managed IT, and this page walks you through which one suits your business, with real Perth costs.
In-house, co-managed or outsourced: what's the difference?
In-house IT
You employ your own IT people, and they look after everything: the help desk, the servers, security, projects and the late nights.
Co-managed IT
Your IT person or team stays in charge, and an IT provider works alongside them, adding the cover, depth and specialist skills they don’t have on their own. You might also hear it called hybrid IT.
Fully outsourced IT
An IT provider becomes your IT department: help desk, onsite support, cybersecurity, compliance, projects and strategy, usually with an account manager who acts as your IT manager.
The pros and cons of each
| In-house only | Co-managed IT | Fully outsourced IT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who’s in charge | You, through your IT staff | Your IT lead or CIO, working with your IT provider | Your IT provider, with an account manager who acts as your IT manager and reports to you |
| Someone in the building | Yes, while they’re at work | Yes, your own person, plus the provider’s onsite engineers when needed | Onsite engineers when needed, ideally the same people each visit |
| Cover for leave, sick days and after hours | Only as deep as your team | Built in, so your team is no longer the only one on call | Built in, with someone always on call for critical issues |
| Skills | Whatever your people know | Your people plus a whole team: security, Microsoft 365, networks, compliance and projects | A whole team |
| Knowledge of your business | With your team, and often in one person’s head | Stays with your people, and the provider documents everything | With your provider’s account manager and engineers, documented in a system you can see |
| Cost | Salaries, super, training, tools and recruiting | Your IT staff plus a monthly fee for what the provider takes on | One fixed fee per computer, with no IT salaries |
| Biggest risk | Everything relies on one person | Unclear roles, unless the split is agreed in writing | Less IT knowledge in the building day to day, unless the same engineers visit each time |
Can I keep my IT person and still use an IT provider?
Yes, that’s exactly what co-managed IT is. Here are the four most common ways an IT provider works alongside an IT person or team.
Your help desk
The provider takes the day-to-day support calls, remote and onsite, so your IT person can focus on bigger things. Both work in one shared ticketing system, so your IT person can see everything that’s done.
Your project team
The provider delivers upgrades, migrations, Microsoft 365, network and security projects alongside your team, scoped and priced before work starts.
Your project manager
The provider plans and runs IT projects with your suppliers and your team, so they land on time without your IT lead juggling every piece.
The team behind your CIO
Your CIO, IT manager or systems integrator sets the direction, and the provider is the team that delivers it, from support and security to infrastructure and after-hours cover.
Who does what in a co-managed arrangement?
| If your provider is your | Your team looks after | Your provider looks after |
|---|---|---|
| Help desk | Systems, suppliers, strategy and the relationship with the business | Day-to-day support, remote and onsite, new starters and leavers, and after-hours cover for critical issues |
| Project team | Day-to-day support and running your systems | Upgrades, migrations, Microsoft 365, network and security projects, scoped, priced and documented |
| Project manager | The technical work and the final say | Planning, scheduling, working with suppliers and reporting, so projects land on time |
| Team behind your CIO or integrator | Direction, budget and priorities | Support, security, infrastructure, after-hours cover and project delivery |
Whatever the split, it should be agreed in writing at the start: who looks after which tickets, who calls who when something goes wrong, and who signs off changes.
How many computers can one IT person look after?
It’s best to size your IT needs by the number of computers and laptops in your business, rather than the number of staff. As a rough guide, one IT person doing general support can look after 50 to 100 computers.
Here’s what usually suits a business at each size.
Under 50 computers
Outsource your IT. There isn’t enough work for a full-time IT person, and one person can’t cover everything a business needs, from password resets and day-to-day support through to high-end security settings, Microsoft 365, backups and 24/7 support.
50 to 250 computers
Choose co-managed IT. Keep your IT person and give them a team behind them. They look after the day-to-day and know your business, and an IT provider covers what one person can’t: security, after-hours support, projects and leave.
250+ computers
Choose co-managed IT. Your IT team stays in charge, and an IT provider adds the specialist skills, security monitoring, after-hours cover and project capacity that a team that size still needs.
Your IT person is leaving
Before you advertise the role, look at all three options. An IT provider can keep everything running while you decide.
Whatever your size, if you’re working towards Essential Eight, ISO or DISP, or filling in a cyber insurance renewal, someone needs to own that work, either alongside your team or for you.
Is it cheaper to hire your own IT person or outsource?
Most businesses start by pricing a salary. The real comparison is what that one person has to cover, and what it costs once everything is added.
Here’s a worked example for a business with 60 computers on one site, comparing one in-house hire, a fully outsourced IT department and co-managed IT. Prices exclude GST.
Hire one Level 2 IT person
About $125,000 a year once super, leave, payroll tax, training and tools are added.
You can’t hand your IT to someone straight out of training, so you need someone with real experience, which puts them at Level 2. With 60 computers it’s a busy role. They’ll look after everything, from password resets and onboarding new staff through to projects, security and the more complex problems, so they’ll be pulled in a lot of different directions at once. That’s simply how a one-person IT role works.
The one thing to plan for: when they’re sick or on leave, there’s no one there to cover for them.
Outsource to Perigon One
60 computers at $140 a month plus a $250 site fee is $8,650 a month, about $103,800 a year. That gets you a whole team:
- A help desk team, with 24/7 cover for critical issues
- A Technical Account Manager, your go-to person with the skills of an IT manager
- An onsite team
- A cybersecurity team
- A compliance team
- A project team
Co-managed IT
Keep your IT person or team, and Perigon One takes on the role you need to fill. That might be:
- The IT manager layer, including managing an IT provider you already have
- Compliance, such as ISO or Essential Eight
- A project team that rolls out your projects
- Help desk support for the day-to-day calls
You only pay for the part you need.
So for most businesses, outsourcing costs about the same as one Level 1 hire and less than one Level 2 hire, and you get a whole team instead of one person.
What does an IT person really cost in Perth?
A proper IT department needs a mix of skills, from day-to-day support through to systems, management and automation. Here’s what each of those roles costs to hire in Perth, going by live job ads in October 2026. On top of salary, allow about 25% for super, leave, payroll tax, training and tools.
| Role | What they do | Advertised in Perth | Typical salary | Real cost a year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 support | Password resets, new starters, printers and everyday “it’s not working” calls. Needs someone more senior to guide them. | $70,000 to $95,000 | About $80,000 | About $100,000 | About $8,350 |
| Level 2 systems | Servers, networks, Microsoft 365, backups and security tools, plus anything Level 1 can’t fix. | $85,000 to $115,000 | About $100,000 | About $125,000 | About $10,400 |
| IT manager | Projects, budgets, suppliers, security planning and the IT roadmap, reporting to your leadership team. | $120,000 to $200,000 | About $150,000 | About $187,500 | About $15,600 |
| AI, automation and process specialist | Works out how your business really runs, finds what’s worth automating, then builds it and looks after it. | $140,000 to $160,000, more with automation skills | $160,000 plus | About $200,000 | About $16,650 |
Most businesses can only afford to hire one of these people, and then expect them to cover the work of all four. Outsourcing or co-managed IT gives you all of those skills for about the cost of one hire.
Not sure which suits you? Schedule your FREE 15-minute consultation with us.
What does a proper IT department save you?
The biggest cost of IT is usually the time it takes from everyone else. When IT is one busy person, or nobody, your leaders end up chasing suppliers and fixing their own laptops, the same problems keep coming back, and your staff sit waiting for help.
About $41,600 a year
of leadership time back, if two directors each get four hours a week back at $100 an hour.
About $65,000 a year
of staff time back, if 20 staff each save 15 minutes a day, which is 1,300 hours at $50 an hour.
Those are real figures from an engineering business deciding whether to hire or outsource, and together they came to more than the cost of a managed service.
An internal IT person will always be busy. The real question is whether they’re spending their time on what saves your business the most, or just on whatever lands on their desk next.
Do you need an AI and automation person in-house?
Start with your processes, not the technology. Good automation comes from understanding how your business really works and where the time goes, and the tools come last. So the person you need understands your business and its processes, not just AI tools.
Someone really good in this role costs $160,000 plus in Perth, and the work comes in two stages. First there’s the build, where your processes are mapped and automated, and then there’s the upkeep, which is much lighter. If you hire full-time for the build, you can end up paying for a role you don’t need once it’s done.
For most businesses it makes more sense to bring in a specialist team, like our sister business Perigon Labs, to do the build and then look after it on a small ongoing arrangement. Hiring makes sense if you’re building your own software or running a system that needs someone every day.
What happens when your only IT person is away or leaves?
With one IT person, everything waits until they’re back, and if they resign, everything they know about your systems goes with them. That’s the biggest risk with in-house IT, and it’s why even a business with a great IT person still needs someone outside to fill the gap.
With co-managed IT, your IT provider already knows your setup, so leave, sick days and after hours are covered. If your IT person moves on, the provider keeps everything running while you decide whether to hire again or outsource, and everything is documented in a system you can see at any time.
Does your IT person need a team behind them?
It’s usually time when a few of these sound familiar:
- They’re doing the help desk, the security and the strategy all at once.
- Projects keep slipping because support calls always come first.
- There’s nobody to cover them on leave, when they’re sick or after hours.
- If a cyber attack hit, it would all land on one person.
- Your board, insurer or customers are asking security questions they can’t answer alone.
- The business has grown faster than your IT team.
None of that means replacing them. It means giving them a team, which is exactly what Pressure Dynamics did.
Building a scalable IT function for growth
- Full technical team capability
- Strategic focus for internal IT leadership
- Reliable day-to-day operational support
- Scalable model for future growth
As Pressure Dynamics Group continued to grow, technology became increasingly important to supporting operations, infrastructure, communications, and business-critical systems across multiple locations.
Perigon One implemented a co-managed IT model that combined internal ownership with the capability of a full technical team. By providing operational support, technical expertise, infrastructure management, and project delivery, Perigon One enabled Pressure Dynamics’ internal IT leader to focus on business priorities, executive engagement, vendor management, and strategic initiatives.
The result is a more mature and scalable IT function that supports growth while providing the depth, capability, and reliability of a full IT department.
Three questions that usually decide it
1. Do you have an IT person you want to keep?
If you do, co-managed IT protects what they know and takes the load off them. If you don’t, outsourcing is usually simpler and costs about the same as one hire.
2. What does an hour of downtime cost you?
If the answer is a lot, especially after hours, you need more cover than one person can give, whichever option you choose.
3. Is anyone asking about your security?
Essential Eight, cyber insurance forms and customer audits take specialist time that a busy internal team rarely has.
Where co-managed IT goes wrong, and how to avoid it
Two ticket systems. Work gets lost between them, so make sure your provider works in one shared system that your IT lead can see.
Nobody’s sure who owns what. Agree it in writing at the start and review it with your IT lead as things change.
A provider that wants to replace your IT person. A good co-managed provider is there to back them up. If you ever decide to fully outsource, that should be your call, not theirs.
“Co-managed” that’s really just projects. It should be an ongoing arrangement with an account manager, a shared ticketing system and agreed response times, not a quote every time you need something.
Knowledge stuck in one head. Everything should be documented in a system your team can see at any time.
Not sure which way to go? Show us your current setup and we’ll tell you honestly what suits you, even if the answer is to keep doing what you’re doing.
FAQs
If you have fewer than about 50 computers, outsourcing is usually cheaper and gives you far more skills than one hire. Above that, if you already have a good IT person, keep them and add a provider behind them, which is co-managed IT. If you don’t have anyone, outsourcing costs about the same as one hire and gives you a whole team.
It’s where your own IT person or team stays in charge and an IT provider works alongside them, taking on the help desk, projects, security, after-hours cover or whatever part you need.
With co-managed IT, your IT person or team stays in charge and an IT provider adds to them. With fully managed IT, the provider is your whole IT department.
As a rough guide, one IT person doing general support can look after 50 to 100 computers. It’s the number of computers and laptops that matters, more than the number of staff.
Going by live Perth job ads, and adding about 25% for super, leave, payroll tax, training and tools, a Level 1 support person costs about $100,000 a year, a Level 2 systems person about $125,000 and an IT manager about $187,500. A good AI and automation specialist is $160,000 plus in salary alone.
Usually. For a business with 60 computers, outsourcing to us costs about $103,800 a year plus GST. That’s about the same as one Level 1 hire and less than one Level 2 hire, and you get a whole team with 24/7 cover for critical issues.
Level 1 handles everyday requests like password resets, new starters and printers. Level 2 looks after servers, networks, Microsoft 365 and anything Level 1 can’t fix. Level 3 is senior engineering, like design, complex problems and projects. Most businesses need all three, and one person can’t cover them all.
Usually not straight away. Start with your processes rather than the technology. Automation has a build stage and then a much lighter upkeep stage, so a full-time hire can leave you with a role you don’t need. A specialist team like Perigon Labs can do both, unless you’re building or running your own system that needs someone every day.
Yes, that’s co-managed IT, and it works well even with just one IT person. They stay in charge and keep the knowledge of your business, and they get a team behind them for leave, after hours, security and projects.
Not with us. Co-managed IT is there to back them up, so they stop being the only person everyone calls.
Your IT lead or CIO. The provider’s account manager works with them, and who looks after what should be agreed in writing at the start.
It depends on what we take on. Full support starts from $140 per computer per month, the same as our IT Management service. A smaller role, like just the help desk or projects, is usually a fixed monthly fee and often less. Prices exclude GST.
Look at both options before you advertise the role. An IT provider can cover the gap straight away and then help you decide whether to hire again and go co-managed, or fully outsource.
Yes. Onsite support across Perth metro is unlimited and included, usually from the same one or two engineers who know your people and your setup, with regular visits to remote and mine sites.
Yes. There’s no lock-in contract, so the arrangement can change as your team does.
We share one ticketing system and your IT lead can see everything. Your staff can contact us directly or go through your team, and your IT lead talks to our Technical Account Manager about priorities and plans.
It can. Many clients use us for the security and compliance work their team doesn’t have time for, including our security team watching every computer around the clock, Essential Eight, cyber insurance forms and customer audits.
Yes. Some clients have a CIO or integrator setting the direction, and we’re the team that delivers it: support, security, infrastructure and projects.