For many growing businesses, IT eventually becomes a turning point.
Early on, technology is handled as needed with password resets, vendor fixes, and downtime that’s inconvenient but survivable.
As organizations grow, that approach starts to fail. Technology begins running finance, ordering, customer operations, and internal workflows. Security incidents become real business risks, and unplanned downtime impacts revenue as well as productivity.
That is usually when leadership starts asking if IT should be handled internally, outsourced, or shared between both. If you find yourself asking that question, the Varay Managed IT experts are here to break it down and help you find the best path forward.
This guide breaks down IT business process outsourcing, in-house IT teams, and co-managed IT to help you understand how each model impacts daily operations, long-term risk, and which approach is right for your Texas business.
What IT Business Process Outsourcing Really Means
IT business process outsourcing refers to delegating some or all IT responsibilities to a third-party provider, most often a Managed Service Provider, or MSP.
In practical terms, this can include infrastructure management, cybersecurity, help desk support, cloud services, backup and recovery, and ongoing maintenance. What matters most here is not the label, but the scope of responsibility.
Outsourcing IT is rarely an all-or-nothing decision. It exists on a spectrum. Many organizations operate in the middle without clearly defining ownership, and that lack of clarity is where issues tend to appear.
Understanding where responsibility begins and ends is more important than whether IT is technically considered outsourced or internal.
Why Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Fully Outsource IT
For many small and mid-sized organizations, fully outsourced IT is the simplest and most effective option. In this model, an MSP takes responsibility for nearly all IT functions, from day-to-day support to long-term planning.
This approach is common among companies without internal technical leadership or teams that do not want to invest in building one. Outsourcing removes the burden of hiring, training, and retaining IT staff, while providing access to broader expertise than a single internal hire can realistically offer.
From a business perspective, the appeal is stability and predictability. Fully outsourced IT typically provides:
- Predictable monthly costs
- Proactive monitoring and maintenance
- Security oversight from specialists who stay current by default
- Coverage that does not depend on one internal person
There are tradeoffs, however, with the most common concern being control. When IT decisions are made outside the organization, leadership can feel removed from on-the-ground priorities. If expectations are not clearly documented, feedback loops can slow down, and important operational context can be missed. Varay addresses this by working alongside your team to develop a tailored IT strategy and maintain clear communication through a dedicated account manager, so you always stay informed and involved.
For organizations under roughly 100 employees, fully outsourced IT often balances cost, coverage, and risk well. As the business grows, the limitations of this model become more apparent.
Why Growing Businesses Bring IT In-House
As companies pass the 100-employee mark, many begin building internal IT teams. At that stage, technology is tightly woven into how the business operates.
Internal teams often support systems such as ERP platforms, ordering workflows, point-of-sale environments, and industry-specific applications. These systems reflect how the company generates revenue.
Having IT staff who understand those systems deeply is a real advantage. They are close to users, embedded within departments, and able to respond quickly to operational needs.
The challenge here is scale. Hiring experienced IT professionals is competitive and expensive. Small internal teams cannot realistically cover infrastructure, security, compliance, automation, and end-user support at the same time.
As a result, internal IT teams often become reactive by necessity, focused on keeping systems running rather than improving them. Leadership may also struggle to evaluate IT performance because technology is not their core expertise.
Where Managed IT Services Deliver the Most Value
A common misconception is that Managed IT services replace internal knowledge of business systems. In reality, Managed IT delivers the most value when it focuses on the foundation on which everything else depends.
Rather than owning application logic or redesigning workflows, Managed IT services concentrate on areas such as:
- Infrastructure and network stability
- Cybersecurity and risk management
- Monitoring, uptime, and reliability
- Automation and standardization
These foundational layers require constant attention, specialized tools, and up-to-date expertise. Maintaining them well is difficult and costly with a small internal team.
Infrastructure and security often work quietly until they do not. Gaps remain invisible until an incident occurs, and by then the business impact is already underway.
Co-Managed IT: A Practical Middle Ground
Co-managed IT combines an internal IT team with an external MSP, with each side responsible for clearly defined areas.
Internal teams stay close to users and business systems. They support departments, manage internal applications, and drive operational improvements.
The MSP takes ownership of infrastructure, security, monitoring, and scalability.
When structured correctly, this model allows each group to focus on what it does best without duplicating effort or creating confusion.
Why Clear Ownership Matters in Co-Managed IT
Co-managed IT only works when responsibilities are explicit. Without clear boundaries, accountability becomes blurred, and issues fall through the cracks.
Strong co-managed environments clearly define:
- Which systems the internal team owns
- Which layers the MSP is responsible for
- How escalation works
- Who is accountable when problems arise
When this structure is in place, businesses gain stability, visibility, and confidence in their IT environment.
Find the IT support approach that works for your team.
Why Infrastructure is So Hard to Manage Internally
From a leadership perspective, infrastructure is one of the hardest areas of IT to evaluate. When it works, no one notices. When it fails, the consequences are immediate.
Internal teams often lack the time or budget to implement redundancy, regularly test backups, or stay ahead of evolving security threats. Urgent user needs crowd out long-term resilience work.
MSPs operate at scale. By managing infrastructure across many environments, they standardize best practices, invest in advanced tooling, and maintain dedicated security expertise. That scale allows them to deliver stronger infrastructure at a lower per-company cost.
Co-managed IT lets businesses benefit from that scale without losing internal system knowledge.
How to Choose the Right IT Model for Your Business
Rather than asking which IT model is best in general, it is more useful to ask which model fits your business today.
Start by evaluating how critical your internal systems are to daily operations. If revenue depends on complex applications, internal ownership is often necessary.
Next, consider whether leadership can confidently answer basic risk questions. If it is unclear how secure systems are, whether backups are tested, or how quickly the business could recover from downtime, outside expertise is usually warranted.
Finally, look at how internal IT time is spent. If routine maintenance dominates the workload, higher-value initiatives are likely being delayed.
A Texas Perspective on Growing IT Needs
Many growing businesses across San Antonio, El Paso, and Midland–Odessa follow a similar pattern. Operations scale faster than IT strategy, and informal solutions linger longer than they should.
Regional industries, regulatory requirements, and workforce realities all influence how IT should be structured. Working with a partner who understands these local dynamics reduces friction as organizations mature.
Co-Managed or In-House IT: What Is Right for You?
IT business process outsourcing is not a binary decision. Fully outsourced IT, in-house teams, and co-managed models all serve a purpose.
For many organizations, co-managed IT provides a practical middle ground. Internal teams stay focused on business systems, while infrastructure and security are handled by specialists built for scale.
You Do Not Have to Navigate IT Decisions Alone
If you are looking for a partner to help you assess, protect, and optimize your IT without forcing a predefined model, we are here to help.
Find the IT support approach that works for your team.
