For most law firms with 5 to 25 people, outsourcing IT costs less than one full-time hire and covers more ground. Fully managed IT from Tomorrow's Technology Today runs $200 to $350 per user per month, with our Gold plan starting at $200. A 12-person firm would pay $28,800 to $50,400 a year. By comparison, the median salary for a computer user support specialist in Ohio is $59,720, before benefits, payroll taxes, training, or tools.
Cost isn't the only factor, though. A firm that already has a capable IT person has a third option, co-managed IT, that often beats both. Here's how to decide.
The Numbers Side by Side
| Option | Annual cost | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Fully managed IT, 5-person firm | $12,000 to $21,000 | Help desk, security monitoring, backup, patching, planning |
| Fully managed IT, 12-person firm | $28,800 to $50,400 | Same |
| Fully managed IT, 25-person firm | $60,000 to $105,000 | Same |
| In-house support specialist (Ohio median) | $59,720 salary | One person's time and skills; tools, benefits and training extra |
| In-house systems administrator (Lima-area median) | $80,510 salary | Same |
Salary figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, medians, salary only.
The salary is only the starting point. An in-house hire also needs security and monitoring tools, a backup system, training to stay current, and a plan for who covers when that person is out.
The Coverage Gap With One Person
One IT person is one set of skills and one calendar. When they're on vacation, out sick, or asleep, nobody is watching. Compare that with what our clients get:
- A live technician answering the phone from 7am to 5pm on business days, and an answering service that tracks down a technician after hours
- Security monitoring by a human-staffed security operations center
- Guaranteed critical-issue response: 120 minutes on Gold, 60 minutes on Platinum and Titanium
- Every backup restore-tested every other week, with screenshot proof
- A team with current vendor certifications, rather than one generalist
For a law firm, the gap matters most at the worst moment: a system outage the morning of a filing deadline, or a suspicious email on a Friday afternoon.
The Third Option: Co-Managed IT
If your firm already employs someone who handles IT, you don't have to choose. We support a mix of clients, some with full-time IT staff and some without. With co-managed IT, your person keeps handling day-to-day needs they know best, while our team adds security monitoring, backup, patching, after-hours coverage, and a second set of hands for projects. Your IT person gets backup instead of being a single point of failure. If you're already running IT in-house, see how to manage in-house IT support.
A 3-Question Decision Guide
- Do you already have a capable IT person on staff? If yes, look at co-managed IT before replacing or adding to them.
- Would one salary cover your security, backup, and after-hours needs? If you'd still need to buy monitoring, backup, and coverage separately, managed IT is usually the simpler path.
- Who answers when your IT person is out? If the honest answer is "nobody," that's a risk to client confidentiality and to your deadlines.
What to Check Before You Outsource
If outsourcing makes sense, the agreement is what protects you. Read what should be included in an IT support agreement, and see the full breakdown of what managed IT costs for a small law firm.
Why Law Firms Work With Tomorrow's Technology Today
- More than 20 years in business, headquartered in St. Henry, Ohio, serving firms across Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana
- Woman-owned and woman-led
- Every technician is security-trained to CJIS standards and background-checked
- Owner Lisa Niekamp-Urwin wrote Sitting Duck, a #1 Amazon Best Seller, and is a past president of InfraGard Toledo
- Microsoft Partner
See how we support law firms across Ohio and Indiana.
Not sure which option fits your firm? Book a 10-minute discovery call. Call us at (419) 678-2083 or visit www.TomTechToday.com/discoverycall to schedule yours.