Fractional IT Manager or MSP for 20 Staff

Somewhere around 15 to 25 staff, IT stops being something the office manager can handle between other jobs. Laptops need replacing on a schedule, Microsoft 365 licences pile up, someone asks whether you meet the Essential Eight, and a staff member has already started pasting customer data into a free AI tool. You need help, and in Adelaide most owners end up choosing between two kinds: a managed service provider (MSP) or a fractional IT manager.

They do different jobs. Picking the right one depends on what is actually going wrong in your business.

What a managed service provider does

An MSP looks after your IT for a monthly fee, usually priced per user or per device. That normally covers a helpdesk, patching, backups, monitoring, antivirus and some security tooling. When a printer stops working or someone gets locked out, you log a ticket and the MSP fixes it.

For a 20-person business this is the standard arrangement. What is included varies a lot between providers, so compare the scope as well as the price.

An MSP's strength is keeping things running. Its weak spot is direction. Most MSPs will do what you ask, but few will sit down with you each quarter to decide what you should be asking for.

What a fractional IT manager does

A fractional IT manager is an experienced IT manager you engage for part of their time, such as a set number of days a month. They do the work an in-house IT manager would do in a larger company: plan the IT budget, decide what to buy, manage vendors (including your MSP), own security policy, and report to the owner or board in plain language.

They generally don't answer the helpdesk phone. Their job is to make decisions and make sure the people doing the hands-on work are doing it well. You can read more about how we run this at Essetech on our fractional IT manager Adelaide page.

Side by side

	Managed service provider	Fractional IT manager
Main job	Fix problems, keep systems patched and backed up	Set IT direction, manage vendors, own risk and budget
Day-to-day support	Yes, via helpdesk and tickets	Limited; escalation and oversight only
IT strategy and roadmap	Sometimes, often as an extra	Yes, it is the core of the role
Security (Essential Eight, M365 settings)	Implements tools and controls	Decides the target, checks it is met, reports to you
Vendor management	Usually manages its own products	Manages all vendors, including the MSP
Typical pricing	Per user per month	Monthly retainer for a set number of days
Best fit	Stable business that mainly needs things to work	Growing business with decisions, projects or compliance pressure

Four common situations

Your IT is stable and nothing big is coming

If you run a 20-person office with Microsoft 365, a few line-of-business apps and no major changes planned, an MSP is usually enough. Make sure backups are tested, multi-factor authentication is on for everyone, and someone reviews the security settings at least once a year. See our managed IT services in Adelaide for what that looks like with us.

You have a project you don't know how to run

Moving off an old server, opening a second site, changing accounting systems or working toward Essential Eight Maturity Level 1: these projects need someone to scope the work, pick suppliers and hold them to a plan. An MSP can do the technical work, but you still need someone on your side deciding what “done” means. A fractional IT manager fills that gap for the length of the project, then can scale back.

You already have an MSP but don't know if they're any good

This is common. The invoices arrive, tickets get closed, and nobody in the business can tell whether the security is adequate or whether you're paying for licences nobody uses. A fractional IT manager can review the MSP's work, reconcile licences, read the reports and tell you plainly where things stand. Often the outcome is keeping the MSP with a clearer scope.

Staff are already using AI tools

Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude are probably already in your business, whether you approved them or not. Rolling them out safely needs an AI use policy, the right Microsoft 365 data settings, and some training. That is a management decision first and a technical task second, which makes it a good fit for a fractional IT manager working with whoever handles your support.

Can you combine both?

Yes, and for many 20-person businesses that is the best setup. The MSP handles tickets, patching and backups. The fractional IT manager sets priorities, approves spending and checks the MSP is delivering what you pay for. You get day-to-day support plus someone senior looking at the whole picture, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time IT manager's salary.

There are two ways to set it up. You can keep your current MSP and add a fractional IT manager from a separate firm, which gives you independent oversight. Or you can use one provider for both. Essetech offers both services, so we can do either: act as your fractional IT manager alongside an existing MSP, or provide managed IT and the management layer together. If we do both, ask us how we report on our own work so you can still see the numbers yourself.

How to decide

Ask yourself a few questions. Who in the business currently decides what IT to buy? If the answer is “whoever shouts loudest” or “the MSP”, you probably need management as well as support. Do you have a project or compliance requirement in the next 12 months? If so, a fractional arrangement for that period is worth costing. Is everything working and are you comfortable with your security? Then a well-scoped MSP agreement may be all you need.

Our fractional IT manager packages are 2 days a month for $2,200 plus GST or 4 days a month for $4,400 plus GST, with additional days at $1,200 plus GST. For one-off work outside an agreement, our rate is $150 an hour plus GST during business hours and $225 an hour plus GST after hours. All our prices are on our pricing page.

Talk it through

Essetech is an Adelaide IT and AI implementation partner based in Brooklyn Park, working with small and medium businesses across the Adelaide metro area.

Call Jonathon on 0404 311 791 or email jonathon@essetech.com.au to work out which setup fits your business. You can also read more about our fractional IT manager service or our managed IT services.

Fractional IT manager or managed service provider: which suits a 20-person business?