Offshore IT Staffing for UK MSPs and IT Service Providers

Your best engineers are still clearing tickets. That isn't a hiring problem. It's a capacity problem.

Dijital Team helps UK MSPs and IT Service Providers build a dedicated offshore team in Sri Lanka. Your offshore IT staff work only for you, inside your PSA, RMM and runbooks, on the hours your customers need. You keep control of the work. We take care of recruitment, employment, the office and everything around it.

All-inclusive pricing in pounds · Level 2 Engineers from £21,600 a year · 90 days' notice, no lock-in

120+
businesses supported
350+
team members in Sri Lanka
ISO 27001
certified information security
Trusted by MSPs & TSPs across Australia, New Zealand and the UK
Digit ITProcisionTech EngineCROFTIBurger ITLucid ITA1 TechnologiesQuadtechKPTechStellar SystemsDanetSherpaTech
The challenge

Why UK MSPs hit a hiring ceiling

When a UK MSP grows, the first answer is almost always another engineer. More customers create more tickets, and more tickets need more people.

That maths has got harder. Since April 2025, employer National Insurance has been 15% of salary. Every UK hire now costs more before they have closed a single ticket. You are also competing for the same 2nd-line and Microsoft engineers as banks, retailers and the public sector.

The result is a familiar pattern. Revenue grows, but gross margin doesn't.

Finding people is only part of it. You need engineers who understand SLAs, ticket queues, escalation, time entry and multi-tenant environments. You need people who can talk to your customers. And you need a staffing model that adds capacity without your UK cost base growing at the same rate as revenue. That is what offshore IT staffing, done properly, gives you.

Three colleagues reviewing a ticket together at a desk
Employer National Insurance · from 6 April 2025
Rate
13.8%
15%
Starts at salary of
£9,100
£5,000
Extra employer NI on one £40,000 engineer, every year, before pension or salary rises.
+£986
£5,250 vs £4,264
Your team, not a service

A dedicated offshore team, not a white-label helpdesk

Most MSPs who look offshore start with a white-label NOC or helpdesk. You hand over tickets, and someone else's engineers work them on someone else's platform, alongside dozens of other MSPs' customers. Dijital Team works differently: offshore staffing is not outsourcing. Your people work only for your business, follow your processes, learn your customers and join your meetings. The knowledge they build stays in your business, not with a provider.

Service desk engineers wearing headsets working at their desks
Only you. Not shared across a pool of MSPs.

Your PSA

Tickets, time entry and SLAs in ConnectWise, HaloPSA or Autotask, worked exactly the way your UK engineers work them.

Your RMM

Monitoring, patching and alerts in NinjaOne or whichever RMM you already run.

Your documentation

Your runbooks, your standards and your escalation paths.

Your customers

They learn your clients, represent your brand and become part of your service.

Compared
White-label helpdesk
Dijital Team
Who the engineer works for
Many MSPs
Only you
Whose tools
Theirs, or a bridge to yours
Yours
Who sets process and priorities
The provider
You
Where customer knowledge sits
With the provider
In your business
How you pay
Per ticket, device or seat
One monthly price per role
Roles

Offshore IT roles for UK MSPs, all the way up the stack

Most people assume offshore means entry-level service desk. In reality, the roles that change an MSP's economics most are often further up the stack. Sri Lanka has a deep technology workforce across Microsoft, infrastructure, networking, security, automation, data and development, and we recruit for all of it.

01 / 10

Service Desk Engineers (L1, L2 and L3)

Add service desk capacity that works inside your existing structure, to your SLAs, escalation paths and documentation standards. Every ticket they close is one your senior engineers don't have to.

Works in
ConnectWiseHaloPSAAutotaskNinjaOneMicrosoft 365
Dedicated to your MSP. Recruited and assessed by us, interviewed and chosen by you.

Built for MSPs and IT Service Providers

Plenty of offshore staffing companies can find you an IT professional. Technical skill is the easy part.

MSPs work differently from internal IT teams. Your engineers move between customer environments all day. They need to understand SLAs, ticket queues, escalation, documentation, time entry and the commercial reality of a fixed-fee contract. Someone who has only ever worked in one company's IT department will struggle.

MSPs and IT Service Providers are our focus. After building teams for more than 120 businesses, we know what a good MSP engineer looks like, and we recruit for it.

Platforms our team members work in

PSAConnectWise, HaloPSA, Autotask
RMMNinjaOne and other major RMM platforms
MicrosoftMicrosoft 365, Azure, Entra ID, Intune, PowerShell, Power Platform
AutomationRewst, Pia, n8n, Power Automate
Network & securityMajor firewall, switching and security vendors

What MSP owners say

Read more success stories →
They understand MSP businesses. They make sure that the talent that we get really work and fit within our business.
Digit IT-1Ben DampneyDigit IT
We were struggling to find an L3 Engineer with the right skills both locally and in the Philippines. Dijital Team were able to find the level of expertise we needed.
Paul Foley, ProcisionPaul FoleyProcision
We gained access to offshore specialists (particularly in Microsoft Power Platform) who could immediately fill our capability gaps.
Matt Hinge, Tech Engine AustraliaMatt HingeTech Engine Australia
Dijital Team

How offshore IT staffing works with Dijital Team

You leadYour UK team
Dedicated to youYour team member in Sri Lanka
Works inYour PSA · RMM · docs
We look after recruitment · employment · payroll · HR · the office · equipment · local support
01

Recruitment built to find people who stay

Most offshore providers send a stack of CVs and leave the filtering to you. We don't. Every candidate is assessed on communication, technical ability and cultural fit before you meet them. Depending on the role, that includes screening, a spoken-English assessment, technical testing and a technical interview. You interview the shortlist and make the choice, just as you would in the UK.

The goal is not to fill a seat. It is to find someone who becomes a long-term member of your team.

02

One all-inclusive price per role

Offshore staffing should make your numbers simpler. Each role has one price that covers salary, recruitment, employment, the office, equipment, HR and ongoing support, invoiced monthly in your local currency. No lock-in: cancel for convenience with 90 days' notice.

Annual cost per role · all-inclusive · GBP
Admin Assistant£13,500
Level 2 Engineer£21,600
Data Engineer£24,000
Senior .NET Engineer£27,000
Price up your first hire →
03

An offshore team without an offshore operation

Hiring someone overseas is the easy part. Someone still has to handle employment, payroll, HR, the office, connectivity, equipment and the day-to-day experience of working there. For one or two people, building that yourself rarely makes sense.

We have already built it. Your team members work from our offices in Sri Lanka, dedicated to your business, alongside a wider community of IT professionals and our local support team. As you grow, one hire becomes a team without you ever setting up an overseas entity.

Start with one role

You do not need to offshore your whole service desk, or arrive with a 20-person offshore plan. Most MSPs start with one carefully chosen hire: an L2 Engineer to take pressure off the queue, an Automation Engineer to work through the backlog, or a Sales Administrator to give your account managers their week back.

  1. 1Pick the constraint holding your business back.
  2. 2Identify the role that removes it.
  3. 3Recruit and select the right person.
  4. 4Integrate them properly, into your tools, meetings and culture.
  5. 5Measure the result, then decide what comes next.
Read: Your first offshore hire does not need to be a Level 1 engineer →
The straight answer

Covering UK hours from Sri Lanka

Time zones are usually the first question a UK MSP asks about offshoring. Sri Lanka is 4.5 hours ahead of the UK during British Summer Time and 5.5 hours ahead in winter.

Full UK business-hours cover, 09:00–17:30 UK
Now in London--:--
Now in Colombo--:--SLST · UTC+5:30
London
09:00–17:30
Colombo
13:30–22:00
00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00

Full UK business-hours cover means your team member works from 13:30 to 22:00 Colombo time in summer, and from 14:30 to 23:00 in winter. Not every role needs full UK cover. Most MSPs choose one of three models, and we'll work out the right roster with you for each role.

Full UK hours

Your offshore engineer is on the queue whenever your UK team is.

Overlap

The overnight and early-morning queue is cleared before your UK team logs on, with a live handover during the UK morning.

Extended service window

Cover that starts before your UK day, so customers get a response earlier.

Whichever model you choose, offshore doesn't mean handing work to another country at 5:30pm and hoping it's done by morning. Your offshore team works with your UK team, in the same tools and stand-ups, as one team.

Security and compliance

Security and UK GDPR

Offshore access needs the same discipline as any other part of your security stack. It isn't a username and password handed to a remote worker.

ISO 27001 certified

Dijital Team's information security management system is independently certified to ISO 27001. It covers how our people, offices and devices operate.

Your controls, your policies

Access runs on your identity stack: your MFA, conditional access, permissions and least-privilege rules. You decide exactly what each team member can see and do.

UK GDPR and international transfers

Using offshore staff doesn't remove your UK GDPR obligations. When a team member in Sri Lanka can access personal data, that's an international transfer, so it needs the right contracts, controls and data flows in place. We'll work through those with you as part of setting up your team, rather than leaving it until after go-live.

Talk to us about your security requirements →

Why build your offshore IT team in Sri Lanka?

UK businesses can offshore almost anywhere. We chose Sri Lanka because it brings together four things MSPs need.

01

Technical depth

An established technology sector, with experienced professionals across Microsoft, infrastructure, networking, security, development, data and automation.

02

Professional English

English is widely used across Sri Lanka's professional technology sector, which matters when your team member is working with UK colleagues and customers.

03

Working-day overlap

4.5 to 5.5 hours ahead of the UK, so you can choose full UK cover, a shared overlap or an extended service window.

04

A real workplace

Your team members work from our offices, not alone from home. They're surrounded by other IT professionals and supported by our local team.

FAQs

Offshore IT staffing FAQs for UK MSPs

Something we haven't answered? Tell us about your first hire and we'll come back to you.

Ask us directly

What is offshore IT staffing?

Offshore IT staffing means building a team of IT professionals in another country who work as part of your organisation. With Dijital Team, they are dedicated to your business. You set their responsibilities, systems and priorities. We provide recruitment, employment and the operational infrastructure in Sri Lanka.

How is offshore staffing different from outsourcing or a white-label helpdesk?

With outsourcing, another company delivers an outcome on its own terms and its own platform. With offshore staffing, you keep control of the person and how the work is done. Your team member works inside your PSA, RMM and processes and is managed as part of your team.

Do offshore engineers work for other MSPs too?

No. The person you hire works only for your business. They aren't shared across a pool of MSP customers.

What IT roles can a UK MSP hire offshore?

L1, L2 and L3 Service Desk Engineers, Project and L3 Engineers, Microsoft 365 and Azure Engineers, Automation Engineers, Network Engineers, Cybersecurity and SOC Analysts, Power Platform Developers, Data Engineers and Software Developers. We also build non-technical roles in sales administration, procurement and finance.

How much does an offshore IT engineer cost?

Each role has one all-inclusive price covering salary, recruitment, employment, the office, equipment, HR and support. As a guide, a Level 2 Engineer is £21,600 a year, a Data Engineer £24,000 and a Senior .NET Engineer £27,000. You get one monthly invoice in your local currency.

Is there a minimum term or lock-in contract?

No. There are no three-year contracts. You can cancel for convenience at any time by giving 90 days' notice.

Do you charge extra for recruitment?

No. Recruitment, onboarding and induction are included in the price of each role, along with HR, the office, equipment and ongoing support.

How does offshore staffing improve MSP profitability?

It lowers the cost of delivering certain roles, but the bigger gain is changing who does what. When routine work moves to capable offshore team members, your experienced UK people move to consulting, projects and customer relationships, which is the work that grows margin.

Is offshore staffing suitable for small MSPs?

Yes. Many MSPs start with one role aimed at their biggest capacity constraint. For a smaller MSP, offshore staffing can make specialist capability such as automation or security affordable much earlier.

Can offshore IT staff work UK business hours?

Yes. Sri Lanka is 4.5 hours ahead of the UK in summer and 5.5 hours ahead in winter. Team members can work full UK hours, a shared overlap, or an extended window that starts before your UK day.

Can my offshore team member speak to customers?

Yes. Every candidate's spoken English is assessed before you meet them, and you hear them yourself at interview, so you decide whether they're right for customer-facing work.

Who manages an offshore employee?

You manage their day-to-day work, just as you would a member of your UK team. We look after employment, HR, the office and local support.

Is offshore IT staffing compliant with UK GDPR?

It can be, but using offshore staff doesn't remove your UK GDPR obligations. Personal data accessed from Sri Lanka is an international transfer and needs the right contracts and controls. We work through this with you during setup, and our information security management system is ISO 27001 certified.

Why does Dijital Team use Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka offers technically capable, English-speaking professionals across a wide range of IT disciplines, a useful working-day overlap with the UK, and strong economics. We've built our offices, recruitment and team experience around long-term technology careers there.

How do I start building an offshore IT team?

Start with your biggest capacity constraint. We help you define the role, recruit and assess candidates, and set up their workplace in Sri Lanka. You interview the shortlist and choose. Then treat your new team member exactly as the title suggests: a member of your team.

Build a dedicated offshore team for your UK MSP

Your growth shouldn't depend on finding the next engineer locally.

Whether you need one L2 Engineer or capability across service desk, projects, automation, security and operations, the first step is the same: find the constraint, and the role that removes it. Tell us where you're stuck and we'll show you where to start.

Dijital Team UK · Level 1, 6 London Street, London EC3R 7LP
Prefer to pick a time? Book a call →

We'll only use your details to reply to this enquiry. Privacy policy