Expert-as-a-Service · A Full Bench, On Demand

Senior Engineering Talent, Without the Headcount.

A subscription to a full team of architects and engineers across networking, security, datacenter, cloud, and OT. Priced near a single hire. Zero management overhead. Strategic advisory included.

A Full Bench. Without the Headcount.

The Decision Most CIOs Get Wrong

Four Ways to Solve a Technical Need.

When a skills gap shows up, most teams default to one of three traditional plays. Each comes with hidden trade-offs that most procurement processes never surface. EaaS is the fourth path.

Hire FTE

One person. One skillset. Twelve months minimum.

$150k - $240k+
all-in TCE per year
Hidden Trade-offs
  • Recruitment 3-6 months
  • Single point of failure
  • Specialization gaps
  • Turnover doubles the cost
Best for: Continuous, predictable workloads that fit one engineer's domain.
Hire a Contractor

Short-term skills, premium hourly rate.

$150 - $400 / hr
plus agency markup
Hidden Trade-offs
  • Knowledge leaves with them
  • Limited team integration
  • Classification risk
  • IP ownership debates
Best for: A defined, time-bounded project with a clear deliverable.
Hire a Consulting Firm

A team you rent at premium rates.

$300 - $600 / hr
or fixed-price with change orders
Hidden Trade-offs
  • Premium pricing
  • Scope-creep change orders
  • Knowledge transfer gap
  • Generic methodologies
Best for: High-stakes, complex projects where breadth of skill is required.
The Fourth Path
BlackHawk EaaS

A full bench. No headcount. Predictable OPEX.

Subscription
priced near a single FTE
What You Get
  • No long recruitment cycle
  • No single point of failure
  • No knowledge loss
  • No surprise costs
Best for: Organizations that need cross-domain expertise without managing it.

We wrote the whole story in a guide so you can take it to your CFO. Navigating Hiring and Contracting: The Real Costs →

What an FTE Actually Costs

The Number Most Procurement Templates Miss.

A senior network engineer's base salary is $80k - $120k. Total Cost of Employment is closer to $150k - $240k+ once you add benefits, recruitment, ramp-up, and the cost of carrying a single point of failure.

Direct Compensation

  • Base salary
    Senior network engineer, mid-market
    $80k - $120k
  • Performance bonus
    Annual incentive, retention-tied
    10% - 15%

Mandatory Benefits

  • Payroll taxes
    Social Security, Medicare, unemployment
    10% - 12%
  • Workers' comp
    Industry-rate dependent
    1% - 2%

Optional Benefits

  • Health insurance
    Individual to family plans
    $7.5k - $20k+
  • 401(k) match
    Employer contribution
    3% - 6%
  • PTO accrual
    Vacation, holidays, sick
    4% - 8%
  • Perks & training
    Tuition, wellness, certifications
    $1k - $5k

Recruitment & Onboarding

  • Recruiter fees
    Of first-year salary
    20% - 30%
  • Onboarding cost
    Background, training, ramp-up
    $2k - $5k
  • Workplace setup
    Hardware, software, licenses
    $3k - $7k

Hidden & Intangible

  • Ramp-up productivity
    Time to full effectiveness
    3 - 6 months
  • Turnover risk
    If they leave in year one
    ~2x
  • Single-point risk
    PTO, illness, departure exposure
    Unquantified

A single FTE costs roughly 1.75x to 2.0x base salary all-in. EaaS gets you a whole bench for something close to the cost of that one hire.

The Three Tiers

One Service. Three Engagement Depths.

Every organization is at a different point on the technology maturity curve. Pick the tier that matches where you are now; move up as your environment grows.

Essential

Core Support & Maintenance

Small to mid-sized organizations with limited technical resources.

  • On-Demand Expert Access
    Networking, security, and IT troubleshooting during business hours.
  • 24/7 Monitoring + Alerts
    Continuous network and system monitoring with critical-issue alerting.
  • 8-Hour SLA
    Guaranteed response time for incident resolution during business hours.
  • Monthly Health Check
    Performance and security posture review with executive-readable summary.
  • Knowledge Base Access
    Self-service documentation and runbooks for common tasks.
Hours included
20 hrs/month
Pay-as-you-go for additional hours
Most Popular
Professional

Enhanced Support + Strategic Insights

Mid-sized organizations needing proactive management and tailored guidance.

  • Extended Expert Access
    Dedicated support 7 AM - 10 PM with 4-hour response SLA.
  • Proactive Maintenance
    Regular patches, optimizations, and configuration tuning across the stack.
  • Customized Reporting
    Detailed monthly reports with actionable insights and recommendations.
  • Quarterly Strategic Reviews
    Align IT with business goals; advice on emerging technologies.
  • Prioritized Incident Escalation
    Senior engineer escalation path for critical events.
  • 40 hrs/month Project Support
    Bundled project hours for ongoing work without separate SOWs.
Hours included
40 hrs/month
Discounted overage rate; rollover within quarter
Premium

Fully Managed + Tailored

Large enterprises and mission-critical environments requiring end-to-end ownership.

  • 24/7 Expert Availability
    Round-the-clock access; guaranteed 1-hour response on P1 incidents.
  • Fully Managed Operations
    Complete ownership of network, security, and IT operations.
  • Customizable Packages
    OT/IoT, cloud migrations, datacenter optimization, AI infrastructure.
  • Dedicated Account Manager
    Single point of contact for seamless coordination across pillars.
  • Advanced Analytics + Dashboards
    Real-time visibility with trend analysis and proactive recommendations.
  • Unlimited Project Support
    Flexible hours with priority access to senior engineers.
  • On-Site Support (as needed)
    Engineer deployment for critical implementations.
Hours included
Unlimited (flexible)
Fully customized pricing by size and complexity

Feature by feature

A quick side-by-side so you can take this to procurement.

Capability
Essential
Professional
Premium
Expert availability
Business hours (on-demand)
Extended hours (dedicated)
24x7 (dedicated + on-call)
SLA response time
8 hours
4 hours
1 hour
Monitoring
Alerts only
Alerts + optimizations
Fully automated response
Strategic planning
Basic recommendations
Quarterly reviews
Continuous collaboration
Project hours
Pay-as-you-go
40 hrs/mo included
Unlimited (flexible)
Reporting
Monthly basic
Detailed insights
Real-time dashboards
Dedicated account manager
On-site support
On request
Why EaaS Wins

Nine Reasons CIOs Choose EaaS Over Hiring.

Each of these maps to a real cost line item or operational risk you can quantify in your own budget.

Comprehensive Expertise at a Fixed Cost

A diverse team across networking, security, voice, datacenter, cloud, and OT - priced near a single staffed resource.

Flexibility and Scalability

Scale resources up or down as needs evolve. No long-term commitment to specific skill sets.

Reduced Management Burden

We handle training, onboarding, scheduling, and escalation. No HR overhead, no productivity supervision.

Faster Time-to-Value

Address technical challenges or launch projects without recruitment or onboarding delays.

Predictable OPEX Model

Subscription-style pricing with transparent, upfront costs. No surprise contractor fees or scope creep.

Better Knowledge Retention

The same team stays across your engagement lifecycle, building deep familiarity with your environment.

Improved Quality of Service

Seasoned professionals with a track record across networking, security, and OT/IoT environments.

Focus on Core Business Goals

Your team focuses on strategic initiatives, not firefighting. Technical issues are absorbed by ours.

Single Partner for Multiple Needs

Combines staffing, contracting, and consulting into one unified relationship. Vendor consolidation, simplified.

One Bench, Four Pillars

Cross-Domain Expertise on Day One.

EaaS is not a single specialist on retainer. It is a coordinated team that can reach across pillars when your problem crosses a domain boundary, which it almost always does.

Networking
Cybersecurity
Datacenter & Cloud
Collaboration
Resource Guide

Navigating Hiring and Contracting: The Real Costs

A CFO-ready breakdown of Total Cost of Employment, contractor markups, consulting firm pricing, and how EaaS compares line by line.

The Fourth Path

Stop Hiring for Every Skill Gap. Start Subscribing to the Bench.

Tell us about your current environment and the gaps you are trying to close. We will recommend the right tier and walk you through the cost comparison with your CFO in the room.