Your tech department · Outsourced IT for small businesses
Your whole tech department, for less than one hire
A senior person who owns your technology plan, with the developers and sysadmin to build it, run it and keep it secure.
Four suppliers, and nobody in charge of the bits in between
Most businesses of 10 to 100 people end up with three or four technology suppliers at once. An IT support company for the laptops, an agency or freelancer who built the website and the CRM, a hosting company nobody has spoken to in years, and the office manager holding it all together on top of the day job.
Each supplier does its own bit well enough. The trouble is in between. Who checks the CRM's backups? Who notices the developer's access never got removed? Who decides whether the next thing should be built, bought or left alone? Usually nobody, until something breaks, and then everyone points at everyone else.
Plenty of firms will sell you a fractional CTO who advises. We sell one with developers and a sysadmin behind them to do the work. One team plans it, builds it, runs it and answers for it.
Five things, one team
We don't fix printers
"IT support" gets used for two quite different jobs. The first is desk support: a laptop won't start, the printer is offline again, someone is locked out. It needs someone quick, patient and ideally nearby. Good local IT support companies do this well, and we don't pretend to be one.
The second is everything behind the desk: the systems, the software, the servers, the security and the plan. That's what Your tech department covers.
So for laptops, printers and password resets, we help you choose a good local IT support company, write their brief and keep them on track. Rob spent years on the IT side before Dev Partners, so we know what to ask them. We don't take commission from them, so the only reason to recommend one is that they're good. If you already have one you like, keep them. We'll agree a clear split of who does what.
How it compares with the other ways of doing it
Every option here is good at something. The question is how many of them you need to cover the lot, and who's responsible for the gaps between them.
| IT support company | Software house | Freelancer | Fractional CTO | In-house hire | Your tech department | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plans your technology | Sometimes, lightly | For its own projects | No | Yes | Depends on the person | Yes |
| Builds software | No | Yes, per project | Yes, per job | No, manages it | If they're a developer | Yes |
| Runs servers and cloud | Office network, often | Sometimes | Sometimes | No | Depends on the person | Yes |
| Security and Cyber Essentials | Often | For what it builds | Rarely | Oversees it | Depends on the person | Yes |
| Backups tested | Sometimes | For what it hosts | Rarely | Checks someone does | Depends on the person | Every quarter |
| Manages suppliers | Their own | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desk support (laptops, printers) | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No, we brief and manage a local firm |
| Notice | Often a fixed-term contract | Per project | None | Usually monthly | Employment notice and HR | One month |
| Who owns the code | Not applicable | Check the contract | Check the contract | Not applicable | You | You, from day one |
When something else is the better choice
An IT support company is the right answer for keeping laptops, printers, email and the office network going. That's why we work alongside one rather than instead of one.
A software house is a sensible choice if you need one large, well-defined system built and you have people to run it afterwards. We'd know: Dev Partners works that way too, and for plenty of clients it's still the right route. The difference with Your tech department is that the planning, hosting, security and the next ten changes are part of the same arrangement, rather than separate quotes.
A freelancer is great for a small, clear job, and risky as the only person who understands something the business depends on. We've written about what to do when that person leaves.
A fractional CTO on their own is the right call if you already have developers or IT staff and need someone senior to lead them. If you don't, you're paying for decisions with nobody to carry them out.
An in-house hire often makes sense once you're nearer 100 people, ideally with outside specialists behind them. Below that, one hire gives you one set of skills, no holiday cover and someone expected to be six people at once.
There's more on each in our guide, fractional CTO, IT support or an in-house hire.
Look first, then plan, then build in turn
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1
A review of everything
Every system, subscription, supplier, server and login: what it does, what it costs and who has the keys. Written down where you can read it.
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2
A written plan
What's risky, what to fix first, what to stop paying for, and what to build, buy or leave alone.
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3
Monthly work
Servers patched and backed up, suppliers managed, the plan kept up to date, and someone to ring when something's wrong.
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4
Builds from one list
Things to be built or changed go on one list, and we agree the order with you. They're built in turn, with no quote for each change.
Businesses of about 10 to 100 people
Your tech department suits businesses with no IT department, or one person holding everything together. You probably have a handful of suppliers, a few systems nobody fully understands, and a list of things you'd like built or fixed that never quite gets started.
It's not the cheapest way to fix one problem. If you only need a website tweaked or a single server sorted, we, or someone else, can do that as a one-off for less. It makes sense when you're tired of juggling suppliers and want one team that owns the lot.
Already have software we built or look after? Our support and maintenance covers looking after what you have. Your tech department is the bigger version: the plan, the building and the running, together.
One monthly fee, worked out for your business
We don't publish a price, because it depends on two things we'd need to know first: how big the business is, and how much is being built at once. A 15-person firm that mainly needs its servers and suppliers looked after is a different job from an 80-person firm with three systems in development.
What we can say: it's one monthly fee, with a month's notice. Hosting and licence bills are paid direct to the provider, so you always own the accounts. And it costs less than one in-house hire. One in-house IT person costs about £55,000 a year once salary, employer costs, training and kit are added up. Our guide on what an IT department costs shows where that figure comes from.
The easiest way to find out is to talk to us. We'll ask a few questions and tell you what it would cost, and whether you need it at all.
What people ask us
An outside team that does the job an in-house IT and development department would: planning the technology, building and looking after software, running servers, keeping things secure and managing suppliers. Ours is led by a fractional CTO, with developers and a sysadmin doing the work, for one monthly fee.
No. We plan, build, run and secure your systems, including custom software, but we don't do day-to-day desk support such as laptops, printers and password resets. We help you choose and manage a local IT support company for that.
Yes, and most businesses do. Your IT support company keeps the desk side going, and we look after the systems, software, servers, security and planning, with a clear split of who is responsible for what.
It is one monthly fee, worked out from the size of the business and how much is being built at once, with a month's notice. It costs less than one in-house hire, which is about £55,000 a year all in. Talk to us and we will tell you what it would be for you.
No. Things to be built or changed go on one list, we agree the order with you, and they are built in turn as part of the monthly arrangement. One-off projects outside the package still work the way they always have.
You do, from day one. Code, hosting accounts, domains and logins are in your name. If you leave, we hand everything over properly, with a walk-through for whoever takes over.
Then this probably is not the right fit. It is designed for businesses that want their whole technology setup looked after. For a one-off job, we can quote for it on its own, or suggest someone better suited.
Further reading
Have us run the lot
Book a call and we'll tell you what we'd look at first.
Tell us roughly how many people you are, what systems and suppliers you have, and what keeps going wrong. If Your tech department isn't the right fit, we'll say so.
What we will cover:
- What the first review would cover
- What we'd expect to fix first
- How the monthly fee would be worked out
- How we'd work with your IT support company
Rather talk now? Book a call or ring 01474 639 089.
We reply within one working day.
