In-house service provides direct control. Outsourcing can provide faster scaling, lower staffing cost and established operational infrastructure. The decision is about which operating burden the company wants to own.
In-house
Advantages include direct management, product knowledge and close collaboration. Costs include salary, taxes, benefits, recruiting, management, training, technology, attrition and facilities.
Outsourced
A provider may already supply recruiting, supervisors, QA, workforce planning, global delivery and 24/7 staffing. Tradeoffs include transition risk, vendor dependency and less direct control.
Hybrid
Many organizations keep complex escalations in-house while outsourcing Tier 1, nights/weekends, overflow or seasonal demand.
Bottom line
Do not compare an internal wage to an outsourced hourly rate. Compare the complete operating systems.
Compare in-house and outsourced support economics.