Tools & Resources
IT Cost Calculator
See what it actually costs to staff and run IT in-house — help desk, systems administration, security, and leadership — then compare it with TenisiTech.
Managed IT cost calculator
What it really costs to run IT yourself
Running IT well takes more than a help desk. Someone has to support your people, keep systems patched and backed up, watch for threats, and lead it all. This calculator puts a dollar figure on building that team in-house, then compares it with having TenisiTech run it.
Company size
≈ 156 devices at 1.25 per employee · Medium company
Service levelHelp desk, systems administration and security, run as one team, with IT management included.
SalariesCalifornia median pay
Time frame
Build it in-house
$560,766
Team $473K (3.29 people)Setup $32KTools $56KRunning in 6–9 monthsEstimate
Partner with TenisiTech
$225,731
One monthly price: the team and every tool includedRunning in 6–10 weeksEstimate
Estimated; your quote is based on your environment.
$335,035estimated savings over the first year with TenisiTech, 60% below the in-house cost, for IT Foundations at 125 employees.
Where the money goes
In-house
TenisiTech
IT team salaries and benefitsSetup timeSoftware and toolsTenisiTech, team and tools included
Line by line
Salaries are California medians. Tool prices are each vendor's published price for a company buying directly. TenisiTech's monthly price includes the team and every tool listed. TenisiTech figures are estimated; your quote is based on your environment.
| Item | Basis | In-house | TenisiTech |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time setup project | |||
| Research & selectEstimate | 60 hrs of security analyst time | $5,710 | Included |
| ConfigureEstimate | 90 hrs of security analyst time | $8,565 | Included |
| ImplementEstimate | 120 hrs of systems admin time | $8,773 | Included |
| AdoptEstimate | 120 hrs of systems admin time | $8,773 | Included |
| Your team's time with TenisiTechEstimate | 10 hrs: requirements, approvals, access | – | $731 |
| Your IT team | |||
| Help desk technician Answers tickets, sets up new hires, fixes everyday problems | 1.79 FTE · $113,671/yr incl. benefitsSource 2Source 4 · 1 per 70 employeesSource 6 | $202,985 | Included |
| Systems administratorEstimate Keeps servers, Microsoft 365, network, patching and backups running | 0.75 FTE · $152,057/yr incl. benefitsSource 2Source 4 | $114,043 | Included |
| Security analystEstimate Watches alerts, investigates, leads incident response | 0.5 FTE · $197,957/yr incl. benefitsSource 2Source 4 | $98,979 | Included |
| IT managerEstimate Sets priorities, manages the team and vendors, owns the IT budget | 0.25 FTE · $228,571/yr incl. benefitsSource 3Source 4 | $57,143 | Included |
| TenisiTech service | Estimated; your quote is based on your environment | – | $225,000 |
| Security tools | |||
| Antivirus Microsoft Defender for Business | 125 usersSource 10 | $4,500 | Included |
| 24/7 threat monitoring & response Huntress Managed EDR | 156 endpointsSource 9 | $16,829 | Included |
| Identity threat detection Huntress Managed ITDR | 125 identitiesSource 9 | $7,200 | Included |
| Vulnerability scanning ConnectSecure | flat monthly feeSource 12 | $3,600 | Included |
| Security awareness training KnowBe4 | 125 usersSource 13 | $2,955 | Included |
| Email security Defender for Office 365 P1 | 125 usersSource 10 | $3,000 | Included |
| IT operations tools | |||
| Device management & patchingEstimate NinjaOne | 156 devicesSource 11 | $7,020 | Included |
| Help desk & service management platform Professional-tier help desk, $120/agent/mo | 4 agentsSource 7 | $5,760 | Included |
| IT team password vault 1Password Business | 4 usersSource 8 | $432 | Included |
| Backup (Microsoft 365 & cloud)Estimate Market estimate | 125 users | $4,500 | Included |
| Total, first year | $560,766 | $225,731 | |
The team you'd be building
- 1.79
Help desk technician
Answers tickets, sets up new hires, fixes everyday problems.
- 0.75
Systems administrator
Keeps servers, Microsoft 365, network, patching and backups running.
- 0.5
Security analyst
Watches alerts, investigates, leads incident response.
- 0.25
IT manager
Sets priorities, manages the team and vendors, owns the IT budget.
What this doesn't count
- The cost of an incident. The average U.S. data breach cost $10.22M in 2025Source 14. It's left out so the comparison stands on operating costs alone.
- Recruiting fees, turnover, and the gap while a role sits open. The median non-executive role takes 39 days to fillSource 15, and an in-house plan means hiring several roles.
- Coverage when someone is out. A small in-house team has no backup for vacations, sick days or a resignation.
- Project work, such as office moves, new systems and upgrades. TenisiTech quotes project management and implementation separately, and an in-house team would need its own project budget too.
- Hardware, Microsoft 365 licenses and compliance work. You pay for these either way, so they're left out of both columns.
Want a real number for your environment?
We'll walk through your setup and tell you plainly which approach makes sense.
Assumptions we used
- Company sizes. Small is 10–50 employees, medium 50–200, larger 200+, with 1.25 devices per employee.
- People costs. California median pay, divided by 70% to include benefits and payroll taxes: help desk $79,570, systems administrator $106,440, security analyst $138,570, IT manager $160,000, IT director $218,290. IT manager pay is the Robert Half salary guide midpoint, because BLS groups IT managers and directors together. Three-year figures add 3.3% a year.
- Help desk staffing. One technician per 70 employees, the ratio Gartner research suggests.
- IT leadership. Every organization needs some IT leadership. IT Foundations includes part of an IT manager's time on the in-house side; IT Scale replaces it with an IT director, matching TenisiTech's account management and director-level strategy. If you already have an IT leader, tick the box at the top and that role drops out.
- Tools. Each vendor's published price for a company buying directly, including vendor minimums. Help desk and password tools are licensed for the IT team (rounded up to whole people). Backup is estimated at $3 per user per month. Tool prices are held flat over three years.
- TenisiTech. Estimates based on TenisiTech's standard pricing for IT Foundations and IT Scale, with the team and every tool listed included, rising 5% a year. About 10 hours of your team's time at any size. Your quote is based on your environment.
| In-house staff (FTE) | Sys admin | Security analyst | IT manager (Foundations) | IT director (Scale) | Running in: in-house vs. TenisiTech |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (10–50) | 0.35 | 0.25 | 0.15 | 0.25 | 4–6 months vs. 4–6 weeks |
| Medium (50–200) | 0.75 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 0.5 | 6–9 months vs. 6–10 weeks |
| Larger (200+) | 1.5 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 9–12 months vs. 10–14 weeks |
Staffing levels other than the help desk ratio, setup hours, timelines and backup pricing are TenisiTech planning estimates, not published data.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (median pay, May 2025): computer user support specialists $61,860; network & computer systems administrators $99,130; information security analysts $129,180; computer & information systems managers $175,140. bls.gov
- California median pay, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (via WageDex): computer user support specialists $79,570; network & computer systems administrators $106,440; information security analysts $138,570; computer & information systems managers $218,290. wagedex.com
- IT manager pay, Robert Half salary guide midpoints: $128,000 national (2027 guide); San Diego $160,000 (2027 guide; Los Angeles $167,680, San Francisco $169,425). Used because BLS reports IT managers and directors as one occupation. roberthalf.com
- BLS, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026: wages are 70.0% of private-industry compensation. bls.gov
- BLS Employment Cost Index: compensation costs up 3.3% for the year ended June 2026. bls.gov
- Help desk staffing: about 1 support person per 70 employees, a ratio Gartner research suggests (as reported by SolarWinds). solarwinds.com
- Help desk platform modeled at $120 per agent per month, in line with published professional-tier prices: Zendesk Suite Professional $115 (Richpanel, June 2026) and Freshservice Pro $99 per agent per month. richpanel.com
- 1Password pricing: Business $8.99 per user per month, billed annually. 1password.com
- Huntress pricing (list): Managed EDR $8.99/endpoint/mo, Managed ITDR $4.80/identity/mo; 50-seat minimum for direct buyers. huntress.com
- Microsoft Defender for Business $3/user/mo; Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 about $2/user/mo (TrustedTech). trustedtechteam.com
- NinjaOne, about $3.75/device/mo for smaller deployments, ~50-endpoint minimum (third-party estimate, Faddom 2026). faddom.com
- ConnectSecure pricing: plans start at $300 per month. connectsecure.com
- KnowBe4 pricing, security awareness training: $2.40 (25–50 seats), $1.97 (101–250), $1.80 (251–500) per seat/mo. knowbe4.com
- IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025: U.S. average $10.22M (via CyberScoop). cyberscoop.com
- SHRM 2025 Recruiting Benchmarking: median 39 days to fill non-executive roles. shrm.org
Prices and figures as of October 2026.