3-Year Total Cost of Ownership — Houston-Market Data, No Email Wall

Managed IT vs In-House TCO Calculator

LayerLogix's free managed IT vs in-house TCO calculator gives Houston business owners an honest, defensible answer to the staffing question every growing company eventually asks: do we hire IT internally or outsource to a managed service provider? The tool is preloaded with current Houston-area salary data, captures the full loaded cost of internal hires (benefits, taxes, training, tools, recruiting, management overhead), models coverage gaps for nights and weekends, and compares the result against a like-for-like managed IT bundle over 36 months. The math sometimes favors in-house — and we built the tool to tell you when that is the case rather than push you toward our own services. Free, instant, no email required, and board-ready when you are done.

Run the TCO Calculator 888.792.8080

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What We Offer

Comprehensive solutions tailored for Houston-area businesses

Houston-Market Salary Data

The calculator is preloaded with current Houston-area salary ranges for help-desk technicians, system administrators, network engineers, security analysts, and IT managers. You can override the defaults with your actual numbers, but you do not have to research the local market — we have already done it.

Full Loaded-Cost Modeling

Salary is only part of the story. The tool captures employer payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement matching, paid time off, training and certifications, recruiting fees, equipment, software licensing, and the management overhead required to run an internal IT team. Loaded cost is typically 1.3–1.5x base salary — and most TCO comparisons forget this.

Coverage Gap Analysis

A single internal IT person cannot cover nights, weekends, vacations, or sick days. The tool flags coverage gaps in your in-house scenario and either prices the additional staff required or shows the unstaffed risk window. Many businesses discover their "cheaper" in-house option leaves them exposed 70% of the week.

Tool & Software Stack Pricing

An effective in-house team needs the same RMM, EDR, ticketing, monitoring, backup, documentation, and security tools that an MSP runs. The calculator includes typical pricing for the toolchain so you see the all-in cost — not just headcount.

Three-Year Side-by-Side Comparison

See managed IT cost and in-house cost laid out month by month over 36 months. Salary inflation, tool renewals, and recruiting cycles are all baked into the model. Where the lines cross — if they cross — is the moment one option becomes more economical than the other.

Board-Ready PDF Export

Export the comparison as a clean PDF formatted for executive and board audiences. Includes a one-page summary, three-year cost chart, assumptions, and a recommendation rationale that finance can defend.

Why Choose LayerLogix?

Serving businesses throughout the Greater Houston area including Houston, The Woodlands, Spring, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, Pearland, Dallas, Austin.

Free — No Email Wall

Run the TCO calculator without entering an email or signing up. The math should be available to any business owner trying to make an honest staffing decision.

Instant Results — No Sales Call

A formal IT staffing cost analysis from a consulting firm runs $10,000–$40,000 and takes weeks. This calculator delivers a defensible first-pass answer in 20 minutes.

Educational — Understand Loaded Cost

Each input field includes a plain-English explanation of why it matters. Most business owners massively underestimate the loaded cost of an internal IT hire — the calculator surfaces every line item so you cannot accidentally lowball the comparison.

No Commitment, No Sales Pressure

There is no automatic follow-up. Use the tool internally, share results with your team, or take the report to a different MSP entirely. We trust the math to speak for itself.

Honest Math — Sometimes In-House Wins

The calculator does not always conclude managed IT is cheaper. For some businesses with predictable workloads and existing internal capacity, in-house IT genuinely is the better economic answer. We built the tool to give you the truth, not to sell you something you do not need.

Our Process

Open the managed IT vs in-house TCO calculator — no signup required

Enter your total user count and number of locations

Input the in-house IT roles you would need to hire (help-desk, sys admin, security)

Override Houston-market salary defaults with your actual numbers if you prefer

Add benefit load percentage, tools, training, and recruiting cost lines

Compare against the LayerLogix managed IT bundle that fits your size

Review the 36-month side-by-side cost chart and breakeven analysis

Export the PDF business case and bring it to your finance or leadership meeting

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate are the Houston-market salary defaults?▼

They are sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Houston-area data, public job board postings, and our own hiring experience. Help-desk roles in Houston typically run $50K–$70K base, system administrators $75K–$105K, network engineers $90K–$130K, and security analysts $95K–$140K. You can override any default with your actual local numbers.

Why does loaded cost matter so much?▼

Most business owners think of an employee as their salary number — but the true cost includes payroll taxes (about 7.65%), benefits (15–25% of salary), retirement match, paid time off, equipment, training, certifications, recruiting fees, and management overhead. Loaded cost is typically 1.3–1.5x base salary. Forgetting this is the single most common reason in-house cost projections come in too low.

Does the calculator account for IT staff coverage gaps?▼

Yes. A single in-house IT person provides roughly 40 hours of coverage per week — leaving 128 hours uncovered. The tool either prices the additional staff required to cover nights, weekends, sick days, and vacations, or it flags the unstaffed risk window so you can make an informed decision about how much exposure you are comfortable with.

What if my IT needs are very predictable and basic?▼

Then in-house may genuinely be the right answer for you, and the calculator will say so. Managed IT is not always cheaper — it is usually cheaper for small to mid-market businesses (10–250 users) because of economies of scale on tools, training, and 24/7 coverage. Below 10 users you may not need either; above 250 users a hybrid approach often wins.

How does the calculator handle one-time costs like onboarding or office moves?▼

Both columns include a one-time cost line for onboarding, recruiting, equipment provisioning, and any large planned events like office moves. These costs are amortized across the 36-month view so the chart stays comparable.

Will LayerLogix contact me after I run the calculator?▼

Only if you click the "request a roadmap review" button at the end. The tool itself runs anonymously in your browser. If you do not opt in, you will not hear from us.

What if I already have an in-house IT person and want to compare adding more vs switching to managed?▼

You can model that scenario by entering your current in-house headcount as the baseline and comparing against either a hybrid model (your existing person plus managed IT) or a full transition to managed services. The calculator handles all three configurations.

Ready to Get Started?

Contact LayerLogix today for a free consultation. We serve businesses throughout Houston, The Woodlands, Spring, and the surrounding Greater Houston area.

Schedule Free Consultation Call 888.792.8080