The Financial Madness: Expecting £400k Worth of Expertise for £50k

Yesterday we talked about the Dave from IT problem. Today, let's get brutal about the numbers, because what I shared on the podcast with Mauven will make your accountant weep.

Let me paint you a picture that'll make your accountant weep.

You've got Dave on £50k. Business owners think they've got themselves a bargain because that's "only" £50k for their entire IT department.

Where are you going with this, you ask?

Here's what they're actually expecting for that £50k. And when I break this down, you'll understand why your Dave is drowning and your IT strategy is built on financial delusion.

The Core Roles: What You're Actually Demanding

Let's start with the basics. Every small business IT environment needs these fundamental roles covered. You're asking Dave to master all of them.

Network Administrator: £45,000 minimum

This isn't "the person who plugs cables in." A proper network admin understands routing protocols, VLAN configuration, firewall rules, bandwidth management, and network security. They can troubleshoot connectivity issues without breaking everything else in the process.

In London, you're looking at £55k starting salary. Manchester or Birmingham? Still £42k minimum for someone competent. Even in smaller cities, £38k is entry level for someone who won't accidentally take down your entire network while "fixing" a switch.

But Dave's supposed to master networking while also handling seven other specialist domains.

Cyber Security Specialist: £55,000 starting salary

Security isn't an add-on skill you pick up from YouTube videos. It's a constantly evolving discipline requiring continuous education, threat intelligence awareness, and deep technical knowledge across multiple domains.

A junior security analyst in the current market starts at £55k. Someone with actual incident response experience? £70k+. A security architect who can design proper defence strategies? £90k+.

Security professionals command premium salaries because the cost of getting it wrong is catastrophic. Yet somehow Dave's supposed to be your security expert while fixing printers and managing user accounts.

Help Desk Manager: £35,000

Someone needs to handle user requests systematically, manage service level agreements, coordinate with vendors, and ensure issues get resolved efficiently. This requires people management skills, technical troubleshooting ability, and process management expertise.

A competent help desk manager in the UK market: £35k minimum. Someone who can actually improve user satisfaction while reducing costs? £45k+.

But in the Dave model, there's no help desk management. There's just Dave, constantly interrupted by whoever shouts loudest.

Systems Architect: £60,000 plus

Your technology infrastructure needs strategic planning. How do systems integrate? What happens when you grow from 20 to 50 employees? How do you ensure scalability without massive disruption?

Systems architecture requires business analysis skills, technical expertise across multiple platforms, and the ability to plan 2-3 years ahead. Market rate for competent systems architects: £60k starting, £85k+ for senior level.

Dave's supposed to handle strategic architecture planning between fixing email problems and explaining why the internet is slow today.

Strategic IT Consultant: £80,000 if you're lucky

Someone needs to translate business requirements into technical strategy, evaluate vendor proposals, plan technology budgets, and ensure IT investments align with business goals.

Good IT consultants understand both technology and business. They can explain technical concepts to management and business requirements to technical teams. They command £80k+ because this skill set is rare and valuable.

But you expect Dave to provide strategic consultancy while being your entire technical support team.

We're already at £275,000 for the basic roles. But modern IT requires additional specialists.

The Expensive Specialists: Beyond Basic IT

Cloud Specialist: £70,000

"Moving to the cloud" isn't just "putting stuff on the internet," despite what your nephew told you. Cloud architecture involves understanding service models, security implications, cost optimisation, backup strategies, and integration challenges.

AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications don't happen overnight. Cloud specialists command £70k+ because they prevent costly mistakes like the business that racked up £15k in cloud costs in one month because nobody understood auto-scaling.

Dave's supposed to master cloud computing while managing your on-premises infrastructure and handling daily support requests.

Compliance Expert: £65,000

GDPR isn't just "ask permission before collecting data." Modern compliance involves data mapping, privacy impact assessments, breach response procedures, vendor due diligence, and ongoing monitoring.

Add industry-specific regulations (financial services, healthcare, legal), and compliance becomes a full-time specialty. Market rate for compliance experts: £65k+.

But Dave's supposed to handle all compliance requirements while keeping your systems running and users happy.

Data Protection Officer: £50,000 minimum

GDPR mandates DPO appointment for many organisations. This role requires legal knowledge, technical understanding, and the ability to balance privacy requirements with business needs.

Competent DPOs start at £50k for part-time roles, £75k+ for full-time positions. Large organisations pay £100k+ for experienced DPOs because the fines for getting it wrong are catastrophic.

Dave's supposed to provide DPO services while handling technical support and strategic planning.

Total demand on Dave: £460,000 worth of expertise for £50,000 salary.

The Regional Reality Check

These aren't London-inflated salaries. Let me break down regional variations to show this madness exists everywhere.

Northern England (Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds):

• Network Admin: £38k-48k

• Security Specialist: £50k-65k

• Help Desk Manager: £32k-42k

• Systems Architect: £55k-75k

• IT Consultant: £70k-90k

• Cloud Specialist: £60k-80k

• Compliance Expert: £55k-70k

• DPO: £45k-60k

Total: £405k-£530k

Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow):

• Network Admin: £35k-45k

• Security Specialist: £48k-62k

• Help Desk Manager: £30k-40k

• Systems Architect: £52k-70k

• IT Consultant: £65k-85k

• Cloud Specialist: £58k-75k

• Compliance Expert: £52k-65k

• DPO: £42k-55k

Total: £382k-£497k

Wales and Southwest:

• Network Admin: £33k-42k

• Security Specialist: £45k-58k

• Help Desk Manager: £28k-38k

• Systems Architect: £48k-65k

• IT Consultant: £60k-80k

• Cloud Specialist: £55k-70k

• Compliance Expert: £48k-62k

• DPO: £40k-52k

Total: £357k-£467k

Even in the most affordable UK regions, you're demanding £350k+ worth of expertise from someone you're paying £50k.

The Hidden Employment Costs Nobody Calculates

But wait, there's more financial madness you're not accounting for.

Dave's True Employment Cost:

Base salary: £50,000 Employer NI contributions: £5,500 Pension contributions: £2,000 Office space allocation: £3,600 Equipment and software: £2,500 Training and development: £1,500 Holiday cover arrangements: £2,000

Real cost of Dave: £67,100 annually

Now compare this to what you're actually demanding:

If you hired each specialist separately:

• Basic salaries total: £400k+

• Employer costs (22% additional): £88k+

• Office space for 8 people: £28,800

• Equipment for 8 specialists: £20,000

• Training across 8 specialties: £12,000

Total cost for proper coverage: £548,800 annually

You're trying to get £548,800 worth of specialist expertise for £67,100. That's 88% discount expectations.

The Skills Premium: Why Specialists Cost What They Do

"Why can't Dave just learn this stuff?" you ask. Because the market rewards specialist expertise, and for good reason.

Cybersecurity Example:

• 3-year computer science degree

• 2 years general IT experience

• Security-specific certifications (CISSP, CEH, OSCP)

• Continuous threat intelligence training

• Regular professional development

• On-call incident response capability

Total investment to become competent: 6+ years, £15k+ in training costs.

Cloud Architecture Example:

• Understanding multiple cloud platforms

• Networking and security expertise

• Cost optimisation knowledge

• Integration and migration experience

• Vendor-specific certifications

• Business analysis skills

Time to competency: 4+ years, £10k+ certification costs.

You're asking Dave to master 8 different specialties simultaneously while handling daily operational tasks. Even if Dave had 48 hours per day, the learning curve is impossible.

The Opportunity Cost Catastrophe

Here's what nobody calculates: the cost of Dave being mediocre at everything instead of excellent at anything.

Real-world example: Small law firm, 25 staff. Dave handles "cybersecurity" along with everything else. Missed obvious phishing attack because Dave was troubleshooting printer issues. Ransomware infection, 5 days offline, £85k recovery costs, £200k+ in lost billings.

Cost of proper security monitoring: £2,400 annually. Cost of Dave missing security threats: £285k+.

Another example: Marketing agency, 30 staff. Dave designed their "cloud strategy" between help desk calls. Misconfigured backup system, data loss during migration, 3 clients lost, £150k revenue impact.

Cost of cloud migration specialist: £8k project fee. Cost of Dave's cloud mistakes: £150k+.

Third example: Manufacturing company, 40 staff. Dave handles compliance "documentation" along with daily support. GDPR audit reveals massive gaps, £175k fine, plus £50k consultant costs to fix violations.

Cost of proper compliance expert: £15k annually. Cost of Dave's compliance gaps: £225k.

The pattern is consistent: trying to save money on specialist expertise costs exponentially more when things go wrong.

The Management Psychology Problem

Why do business owners make these irrational financial decisions? Because they fundamentally misunderstand IT complexity.

The "It's Just Computers" Fallacy

To non-technical managers, IT looks like one domain. "It's all computers, right? How hard can it be?"

This is like saying medicine is "just bodies" so your GP should handle surgery, psychiatry, radiology, and pharmaceutical research. The complexity is hidden from view.

The Sunk Cost Bias

"We've already got Dave. Hiring specialists means admitting Dave isn't enough." So they pile more responsibilities on Dave rather than acknowledging the model is broken.

The False Economy Trap

"Dave costs £50k, specialists cost £400k, we'll stick with Dave." But they're not comparing like with like. They're comparing inadequate coverage to proper coverage and choosing inadequate because it appears cheaper.

The Visibility Problem

When Dave somehow keeps things running (through 60-hour weeks and constant stress), management thinks the model works. They don't see the technical debt accumulating, the security gaps growing, or the strategic opportunities missed.

The Comparison Test That Reveals The Madness

Let's apply this logic to other business functions and see how insane it sounds.

Finance: "We've hired one person for £50k to handle bookkeeping, tax compliance, financial analysis, audit preparation, payroll, credit control, management accounting, and strategic financial planning. They should also handle insurance claims and property negotiations."

Sounds mental, right? You'd never expect your bookkeeper to handle tax law, audit requirements, and strategic finance.

Legal: "Our £50k legal assistant should handle employment law, commercial contracts, property transactions, intellectual property, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance, and criminal defence. They're all legal issues."

You'd be laughed out of any law firm making this suggestion.

Marketing: "Our £50k marketing coordinator should handle brand strategy, digital marketing, content creation, graphic design, market research, event management, PR, and sales training. It's all marketing."

No marketing professional would accept responsibility for mastering eight different specialties.

But somehow, expecting Dave to master eight technical specialties for £50k seems reasonable to you.

The MSP Reality Check: What Professional Support Actually Costs

"MSP support is expensive," you say. Let's examine the actual numbers.

Comprehensive MSP Support (20 users):

• Monthly per-user cost: £120-180

• Annual cost for 20 users: £28,800-43,200

• Includes: help desk, monitoring, security, backup, compliance support, emergency response

Dave + Basic MSP Support:

• Dave's employment cost: £67,100

• MSP support: £28,800

• Total: £95,900

Dave + Comprehensive MSP Support:

• Dave's employment cost: £67,100

• MSP support: £43,200

• Total: £110,300

You're getting Dave plus professional specialist backup for £110k. Compare this to the £548k cost of hiring all specialists internally.

But somehow Dave alone for £67k seems like the "economical" choice.

The Scale Economics Nobody Considers

MSPs achieve cost efficiency through economies of scale impossible for single-business IT managers.

Security Monitoring Example:

• Cost to establish internal SOC: £200k+ annually

• MSP security monitoring: £2,400 annually per client

• MSP serves 100+ clients, spreads SOC costs across entire client base

Specialist Expertise Example:

• Training one person across 8 specialties: impossible

• MSP employs specialists in each area, clients access expertise as needed

Emergency Response Example:

• Dave handles emergencies alone, during family time

• MSP provides 24/7 coverage with multiple specialists available

The economics work because MSPs serve multiple clients, spreading specialist costs across larger client base.

The Recruitment Reality When Dave Finally Cracks

"We'll just hire another Dave," you think. Let's examine current recruitment realities.

UK IT Skills Shortage Statistics:

• 173,000 unfilled IT positions across UK

• Average time to fill IT roles: 89 days

• 67% of IT managers report difficulty finding qualified candidates

• Salary inflation in IT roles: 15% year-over-year

Recruitment Costs for Dave Replacement:

• Recruitment agency fees: £10k-15k

• Interview time and costs: £2k

• Training and onboarding: £8k-12k

• Productivity loss during transition: £15k+

• Knowledge transfer costs: £5k-10k

Total replacement cost: £40k-54k

Plus the original problem remains: you're still expecting one person to master eight specialties.

The True Cost of the Single Dave Model

Let's calculate the real financial impact of persisting with this broken model.

Annual Costs:

• Dave's employment: £67,100

• Overtime and stress-related costs: £8,000

• Knowledge concentration risk: £15,000 (annualised disaster probability)

• Missed strategic opportunities: £25,000

• Technical debt accumulation: £12,000

• Compliance gaps and risks: £10,000

Total annual cost of Dave model: £137,100

Plus eventual crisis costs:

• Dave burnout and departure: £50,000

• Knowledge loss and system recovery: £25,000

• Emergency consultant costs: £30,000

• Business disruption: £75,000

Crisis costs: £180,000 (when, not if)

Compare to sustainable model:

• Dave's employment: £67,100

• Comprehensive MSP support: £43,200

• Reduced risk and improved performance: -£25,000

Total annual cost: £85,300

The "expensive" option saves you £51,800 annually, plus eliminates the £180k crisis risk.

The Action Plan: Moving Beyond Financial Delusion

Week 1: Calculate Your Real Numbers

Document exactly what you're expecting from Dave. List every role, responsibility, and specialist skill required. Research market rates for each specialty in your region.

Create a spreadsheet:

• Column 1: Required role/skill

• Column 2: Market salary for specialist

• Column 3: Training cost to achieve competency

• Column 4: Time investment required

Total the costs. Compare to Dave's salary. The gap will shock you.

Week 2: Cost Alternative Approaches

Research MSP pricing for your business size. Get quotes from three providers for different service levels. Calculate total cost of Dave + MSP support.

Research cloud services that could reduce technical complexity. Calculate migration costs vs. ongoing savings.

Investigate specialists for one-off projects (security assessment, network audit, compliance review). Compare project costs to ongoing risk exposure.

Week 3: Build Business Case

Present the numbers to your decision makers:

• Current Dave model costs (including hidden costs and risks)

• Professional support model costs

• Risk mitigation value

• Strategic opportunity value

Include real examples of businesses that suffered disasters due to inadequate IT support. Quantify the potential impact on your organisation.

Week 4: Begin Transition

Start with areas where Dave is weakest or most at risk. Usually security monitoring and emergency support.

Implement basic improvements that reduce Dave's workload: cloud email, automated backup, help desk ticketing system.

Begin documentation process to reduce knowledge concentration risk.

The Bottom Line: Economics Don't Lie

The single Dave model isn't economical. It's expensive incompetence disguised as cost savings.

You're demanding £400k+ worth of specialist expertise for £50k salary. You're ignoring hidden costs, opportunity costs, and crisis risks. You're comparing inadequate coverage to proper coverage and choosing inadequate because it appears cheaper.

The mathematics are brutal and unavoidable:

• Dave model true cost: £137k annually + £180k crisis risk

• Professional support model: £85k annually + minimal crisis risk

The "expensive" option saves money while delivering better results.

Stop expecting miracles from mortals. Start investing in proper IT support before your financial delusion becomes financial disaster.

Source	Article
Reed	IT Salaries Guide 2024
Robert Half	Technology Salary Guide 2024 UK
CWJobs	UK IT Job Market Report 2024
Indeed	IT Manager Average Salary UK 2024
Tech Nation	UK Digital Economy Report 2024
HMRC	Employment Costs Calculator 2024
ONS	UK Labour Market Statistics 2024
CompTIA	IT Skills Gap Study 2024