For a small business, managing technology needs can be an expensive proposition. Whether hiring a full time employee to manage IT, or contracting services from outside vendors, business expenses can skyrocket.

With a full time employee, the average salary plus medical benefits for an IT worker could be between $50K-80K per year depending on the level of expertise. This greatly increases company overhead, and does not always eliminate the need to contract with outside vendors for technical projects or support.

Without a full time IT staff member, you must rely almost exclusively on outside vendors for support, with varying results and unpredictable costs. Furthermore, most support provided in this model is reactive, so it's more difficult to follow best practices and standards. Support costs vary greatly from month to month, depending on what kind of problems arise from day to day.