Before approving another IT hire or requesting a provider quote, list the work that needs covering. A backlog of daily support, an unfamiliar platform and an uncovered evening shift can each require a different response.
This worksheet helps compare hiring, external support and a combination of the two. Use your own workload, coverage requirements and cost figures. The example tasks are illustrative, not staffing recommendations or a description of Virteva’s scope.
Name the gap before you price it
Start by distinguishing four types of need. A task may involve more than one.
Persistent internal workload. Recurring tickets, patching, onboarding and access requests need ongoing capacity. Use workload records to assess the volume and how much time it takes from other priorities.
A specialist skill. Work requires expertise the team does not currently have, such as a tenant consolidation or a security configuration review. Establish how often the skill is needed and whether hiring, training or external support could supply it.
A coverage window. The business operates outside the hours IT currently covers. The question is what staffing or service arrangement can cover those hours with the required skills and backup.
Project capacity. A migration, an acquisition, or a security program needs sustained attention for six months, and the people who could lead it are the same people keeping the lights on.
A new hire may address several needs, depending on the person’s experience and schedule. External support may cover selected tasks or hours. Compare both against the same requirements before deciding which is a better fit.
The worksheet
Work through the six parts below. Copy the tables into your planning document and add rows as needed. Leave uncertain figures blank and note how you will obtain them; do not treat missing costs as zero.
Part 1: Task inventory
List the work that is actually driving the request. Be honest about hours; pull them from your ticketing system if you have one.
| Task or category | Hours per week now | Who does it today | Skill level needed | Time-sensitive? | Can be done remotely? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: password and access requests | Tier 1 | Same day | Yes | ||
| Example: endpoint patching and compliance | Tier 2 | Weekly | Yes | ||
| Example: Microsoft 365 administration | Tier 2 to specialist | Varies | Yes | ||
| Example: after-hours incident handling | Depends on incident type | Per agreed priority | Depends on task | ||
| Example: vendor coordination (ISP, phones, line-of-business apps) | Generalist with context | Varies | Yes | ||
| Example: security alert review | Depends on alert and action | Per agreed priority | Depends on task | ||
| Example: migration or integration project | Specialist | Deadline-driven | Mostly | ||
| Add your own rows |
Total the hours. Then mark each row with one of the four gap types from the section above. If most of the hours land in “persistent workload,” you are looking at a different decision than if they land in “specialist skill.”
Part 2: Coverage windows
| Location or team | Business hours | Hours IT is currently staffed | Uncovered window | What breaks in that window |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | ||||
| Site 2 | ||||
| Remote staff or other time zones |
If the uncovered window is the problem, ask whether one more hire closes it. One person cannot cover nights and weekends indefinitely, and a rotation needs enough people to survive vacations and departures.
Part 3: Skill gaps
| Skill or platform | How often it is needed | Who has it today | Consequence when it is missing | Could a generalist learn it in time? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example: Microsoft identity and conditional access | ||||
| Example: backup and recovery testing | ||||
| Example: security operations and incident handling | ||||
| Example: tenant migration |
Use the last column to assess a realistic training option. Consider the person’s starting skills, the time available, access to experienced support and how often the skill will be used. Do not assume that a generalist cannot develop specialist expertise, or that every provider can supply it.
Part 4: Management capacity
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Who would manage a new hire day to day? | |
| How many hours a week can that person give to onboarding and supervision for the first six months? | |
| Who covers when the new hire is out? | |
| Who manages a provider relationship instead, and how many hours a week does that take? |
A hire is a management commitment. A provider is a vendor-management commitment. Neither is free, and the person who would carry each one is often the same overloaded IT lead who made the request.
Part 5: Budget inputs
Use a common comparison period, such as the first year, and the same tasks, coverage hours and service levels for each option. Enter figures from your hiring budget and actual proposals.
| Input | Hire option | External support option |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks, hours and service levels covered | ||
| Recurring cash costs during the comparison period | ||
| One-time recruiting, onboarding or setup costs | ||
| Additional tools, licenses and training not included above | ||
| Retained internal supervision or vendor-management time | ||
| Leave, absence and uncovered-hour arrangements | ||
| Extra project work, exceptions and other exclusions | ||
| Time until the required coverage is available | ||
| Remaining gaps and the cost or consequence of each |
List incremental cash costs separately from existing employee time allocated to either option. A fraction of a salary is not necessarily the cost of adding a staffable shift. If a hire covers work the provider quote excludes, include the cost of covering that work in the external option, or state the difference rather than presenting the totals as equivalent.
Check for double-counting: tools may already be included in a provider fee or employment budget. Record assumptions and uncertain figures, and discuss costs alongside coverage and ownership rather than choosing the lowest total in isolation.
Part 6: Ownership needs
| Responsibility | Must stay in-house | Could be shared | Could be delegated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology roadmap and budget | |||
| Business application ownership | |||
| Vendor relationships | |||
| Security policy and risk decisions | |||
| Daily user support | |||
| Endpoint and infrastructure maintenance | |||
| After-hours coverage | |||
| Project delivery |
Identify who will perform the work marked “must stay in-house” and whether the current team has capacity. For shared or delegated work, record the approval authority and internal effort that would remain. These decisions inform both the job description and the provider scope.
Reading the results
Hiring may fit when there is sustained work for the role, close involvement in the organization matters, and the proposed schedule covers the need. Check whether a suitable candidate, management capacity and absence cover are available.
External support may fit when you need intermittent expertise, specific coverage windows or additional project capacity. Verify the provider’s relevant experience, available hours, escalation arrangements and exclusions rather than assuming the required specialist is always available.
A mixed model may fit when you need both internal ownership and additional operational support. For example, a hire could manage business applications while a provider handles agreed user-support hours. A co-managed arrangement needs a clear division of tasks and authority, not just a decision to buy both.
Dedicated staff versus a shared team
An employee can build deep knowledge of your environment, but that takes time and documentation. An external arrangement might provide a shared service team, a named specialist or dedicated staff. Ask which model is being quoted and how continuity of knowledge is maintained.
Neither is better in the abstract. The questions to ask a provider are practical:
- Who are the named contacts, and what do they own?
- How does the shared team learn our environment, and where is that knowledge kept?
- What happens when we need someone who knows our history rather than someone who is available?
- How do escalations reach our own team, and who decides?
Use the answers to evaluate the actual delivery arrangement, including its limits, rather than treating “shared” or “dedicated” as a measure of quality by itself.
What the worksheet cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether the people you would hire exist in your market at the salary you can pay, or whether the provider you are considering is any good. It cannot capture the value of an internal person who has been there eight years and knows why the finance system is configured the way it is. Fill it in, then put those things back into the discussion.
Considering Virteva for the external portion?
Virteva offers managed IT and co-managed support for mid-market organizations. Areas to discuss include service desk coverage, endpoint management, Microsoft 365 administration, security operations and project work. Confirm the specific services, responsibilities and coverage available for your engagement.
If your worksheet identifies work you want to delegate, contact Virteva with the tasks, hours and expertise you need. Keep your hiring comparison alongside the proposed external scope so you can assess both options.
Frequently asked questions
Should we do the worksheet before or after we get provider quotes? Start before requesting quotes so providers have a defined requirement. Update the cost and coverage sections when proposals arrive, including any assumptions or exclusions they reveal.
How do we account for the value of institutional knowledge? Identify which work depends on company-specific context, who holds that knowledge and how it can be documented or shared. Decide which responsibilities must remain internal and what an external team would need to learn. Not every context-dependent task has to stay in-house.
What if the answer is a hire and a provider? Define the hire’s role and the provider’s scope together, then check the combined cost and remaining gaps. Record who performs, approves and escalates each shared area of work. The result depends on your requirements, not a headcount threshold.
