By the Integrated Business Systems engineering team · Last updated 27 October 2026
When a company opens an office abroad, IT support usually comes from one of three places. None is right for everyone. This guide compares them honestly, including when we are not the best choice.
one provider runs IT for all your offices remotely, with local field partners for physical work.
a company in the new office's city supports that office, usually with its own on-site engineers.
you employ an IT person or team in the new office.
| Remote-first MSP | Local IT provider | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offices in several countries | One team, runbook and SLA | Usually one country | Hard to scale beyond one site |
| Hours | Often 24/7 monitoring | Often business hours | Business hours of one person |
| Language | Usually English-first | Usually the local language | Depends on the hire |
| On-site work | Through local field partners | Own engineers, fastest on site | Always on site |
| Security depth | Specialist security engineers | Varies widely | Depends on one person's skills |
| Cost model | Monthly, per user or device | Monthly or hourly | Salary, tools, training and holiday cover |
Three common models: (1) head-office IT covers the new office in its own hours, which leaves the European morning unsupported; (2) a local provider covers local hours, but security and tools may differ from head office; (3) a provider that runs 24/7 operations and agrees covered hours per office. Ask any provider for its critical-incident response time outside business hours, in writing.
It can be, because on-site work goes through a field partner rather than a resident engineer. That's why it suits offices where most issues can be fixed remotely.
Yes. Co-managed IT pairs an internal IT person with a managed provider for monitoring, security and out-of-hours cover.
We run IT for the London offices of US and international companies: helpdesk, Microsoft 365 security, office networks and backups, under the same SLA as your other offices. Monitoring never switches off, and a vetted London field partner takes care of anything physical.
Many US companies run their European operations from Dublin. We run IT for those offices: helpdesk, Microsoft 365 security, networks and backups, under the same SLA as your US sites. We watch your systems day and night and send a vetted Dublin engineer when something needs a physical fix.
We run IT for the Amsterdam offices and European headquarters of US and international companies: helpdesk, Microsoft 365 security, networks and backups, in English and under one SLA. Systems are monitored continuously, and local field partners we've vetted cover on-site jobs around the Randstad.
We run IT for the Barcelona offices of US and international companies: helpdesk, Microsoft 365 security, office networks and backups, under one English-language SLA. Our engineers monitor your systems around the clock, and vetted local partners handle anything that needs hands on site.
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