Managed IT vs In-House IT: The Real Cost Comparison for Kenyan SMEs

Every growing Nairobi business faces the same question: at what point do we hire a full-time IT person, and is that actually cheaper than outsourcing? The answer depends on your size, complexity, and risk tolerance — but the numbers often surprise business owners who have not done a full cost comparison.

The true cost of an in-house IT hire

A mid-level IT support engineer in Nairobi commands a gross salary of KES 80,000–120,000 per month. But the total employment cost is significantly higher:

• Gross salary: KES 100,000
• NSSF, NHIF, employer contributions: ~KES 12,000
• Equipment and tools: KES 8,000/month amortised
• Training and certification: KES 6,000/month amortised
• Recruitment cost: KES 4,000/month amortised over 2 years
• Management overhead: KES 5,000/month
• Total: ~KES 135,000/month

And that is for a single generalist — one person who covers all your needs during business hours, takes leave, gets sick, and may not have deep expertise in every area you need (security, networking, software, cloud).

What a managed service provider (MSP) costs

Argenix offers managed IT packages from KES 35,000 per month for organisations of 10–25 users, scaling to KES 85,000 for 50–100 users. This includes:

• 24/7 helpdesk support with 2-hour response SLA
• Proactive monitoring of all servers, network, and endpoints
• Patch management and security updates
• Monthly security reports and quarterly reviews
• Access to a team of certified specialists across networking, security, and cloud

The breakeven analysis

For organisations under 30 users, managed IT is almost always cheaper — and better. You get a team instead of one person, 24/7 coverage, and specialist expertise on demand. The breakeven point is typically around 50–80 users, at which point an in-house team of 2–3 people begins to make economic sense.

A hybrid model is often best

Many of our clients eventually land on a hybrid: one internal IT coordinator who manages the relationship and handles basic requests, supported by an MSP for specialist work, after-hours emergencies, and project delivery. This gives you the best of both worlds — local presence and deep expertise.

The real question is not "can we afford managed IT?" — it is "can we afford the risk of not having it?" A single ransomware attack or extended outage costs most SMEs more than a year of managed IT fees.