Hire a full-time system administrator or outsource? For a handful of servers, the answer is clear: managed services cost up to 10 times less.
Cost comparison for managing 3 servers:
Note on salary data: The figures below are based on the French job market (2024-2026). In France, employer contributions add approximately 45% on top of gross salary. While exact numbers vary by country, the cost ratio between hiring in-house vs outsourcing remains comparable internationally.
| Level | Gross salary/year | Employer contributions (~45%) | Total employer cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior (0-2 years) | 38,000 EUR | +17,100 EUR | 55,100 EUR |
| Mid-level (3-5 years) | 50,000 EUR | +22,500 EUR | 72,500 EUR |
| Senior (5-8 years) | 65,000 EUR | +29,250 EUR | 94,250 EUR |
| Expert / Lead (8+ years) | 75,000 EUR | +33,750 EUR | 108,750 EUR |
In France, a senior sysadmin costs approximately:
~7,900 EUR / month
(94,250 EUR / 12 months, excluding hidden costs)
A salaried sysadmin works 35-40 hours/week. Who responds at night? On weekends? On public holidays?
For reliable 24x7 on-call support in-house:
Our managed services include 24x7x365 on-call support in the package.
Comparison basis: 1 senior sysadmin = 7,900 EUR/month (140h/month capacity)
| Package | Hours included | Monthly price | vs 1 FTE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 server | 1h/month | 150 EUR | -98% |
| 5-server pack | 2h/month | 600 EUR | -92% |
| 10-server pack | 3h/month | 900 EUR | -89% |
| 20-server pack | 5h/month | 1,600 EUR | -80% |
| 20+ servers | Custom | Custom quote | Contact us |
All packages include:
Additional hours:
In practice:
Unless you run a highly technical stack, 5h/month for 20 servers is generally more than enough.
Already have a sysadmin who designs architecture and manages projects during the day? Combine 1 FTE (7,900 EUR) + outsourced on-call (3,450 EUR) = 11,350 EUR/month for 140h of capacity + 24x7 coverage.
Fleet on-call, 4h response time SLA
3,450 EUR/month - 24x7x365 coverage
Fleet on-call, 1h response time SLA
6,000 EUR/month - Guaranteed intervention within 1h
20-server pack (1,600 EUR): Still cheaper than one FTE (7,900 EUR), even with only 5h included. Need more hours? Even at 20h/month extra (2,400 EUR), you stay at 4,000 EUR -- half the cost of a full-time hire.
100% in-house 24x7? You need 4 sysadmins = 4 x 7,900 EUR = 31,600 EUR/month for 640h of capacity. Do you really need that much?
A single sysadmin cannot master everything. With managed services, you get access to a complete team (systems, networking, security, databases).
No holidays, no sick leave, no surprise resignations. Managed services ensure permanent service continuity.
Need to add 5 servers? No need to hire. Managed services scale with your growth without delay.
No more "bus factor". If your sysadmin leaves, they take their knowledge with them. With us, documentation and procedures are shared across the team.
Calculate the real financial impact of one hour of downtime
Detailed cost breakdown: in-house teams vs outsourced 24/7 monitoring.
Read the article →Complete guide to MSPs: definition, services, and how to choose the right one.
Read the article →Managed services for OVHcloud, Scaleway, Hetzner and more.
Read the article →Managed services from 70 EUR/month (business hours) or 150 EUR/month (24x7) per server. Maintenance, monitoring and on-call support included.
Detailed cost comparison and HR aspects to make the right decision
In-house sysadmin:
Managed services:
Ratio: for 5 servers (9,000 EUR/year), MSP costs 8 to 11 times less than a junior sysadmin.
The challenge: Impossible with just 1 person. Must cover:
In-house team solution: 3 to 4 FTE minimum in rotation = 210-320k EUR/year
MSP solution:
In-house generalist sysadmin:
Specialized MSP team:
For equivalent in-house: 4-5 senior profiles = 300-400k EUR/year
Risks:
In-house solutions (costly):
MSP solution:
Beyond gross salary:
True cost: +60-80% of gross. A 50k EUR gross actually costs 80-90k EUR/year to employer.
MSP: Transparent all-inclusive pricing, no hidden costs.
In-house sysadmin:
MSP:
Required tool stack:
Total: 2,000-5,000 EUR/year minimum
MSP: All professional tools included in monthly fee (monitoring, backup, documentation, alerting).
Analysis by volume:
MSP advantage:
True switching threshold: beyond 50 servers with need for dedicated internal team.
We analyze your situation for free and provide a detailed cost comparison of in-house sysadmin vs MSP tailored to your context.