# In-house vs consulting

Source: https://dropdigital.de/en/vergleich/inhouse-vs-ki-beratung
Language: en
Site: DropD., https://dropdigital.de

Sections on this page:

- #h-anbieter-title, Inhouse, Copilot, Big 4 oder DropD.: Fünf Wege in die KI, mit dem Fall, in dem jeder einzelne gewinnt.

## In-house vs consulting

DropD. is the better fit from about 20 employees when workflows should be implemented rather than slides. A pure Copilot rollout, an in-house team with several engineers, or a Big 4 transformation is the better fit in other cases. The first call on that is 30 minutes and costs 0 euros.

In-house, Copilot, Big 4 or AI consulting | DropD. Five paths into AI for the mid-market. DropD. fits from about 20 employees when workflows should be implemented, not slides. Copilot, in-house and Big 4 win in other cases. Provider comparison In-house, Copilot, Big 4 or DropD. DropD. is the better fit from about 20 employees when workflows should be implemented rather than slides. A pure Copilot rollout, an in-house team with several engineers, or a Big 4 transformation is the better fit in other cases. The first call on that is 30 minutes and costs 0 euros. In-house, a Microsoft partner, Big 4, or a mid-market AI consultancy: which is better? Managing directors do not ask "what is AI". They ask which path is right for this firm. The table is therefore at the top. Below it, the case where each path wins, including ours. Five paths, as of August 2026 Path Fits when Typical duration Weakness In-house (own AI role) You have or will hire 2 to 4 people who will carry this for good. 6 to 18 months until the first workflow holds Know-how builds slowly. One person out, the topic is out. Copilot / Microsoft partner Microsoft 365 is paid for, the work is non-critical text, 200+ seats. Weeks to a few months for the rollout Customer data, personnel files, secrecy. Vendor lock-in. Big 4 / strategy consulting Group or group subsidiary, the board wants a programme, budget from about 150,000 euros. Many months, often slides before code For firms with 20 to 100 people almost always too heavy and too expensive. Freelancer / one n8n workflow One clear workflow, a small budget, someone in-house can keep it afterwards. Days to a few weeks No change work, no works council, no handover across departments. DropD. Mid-market from about 20 employees, implementation not slides, data sovereignty matters. Check 2 to 3 weeks, rollout 3 to 6 months No group programme. No model training from scratch. Below 20 employees rarely a fit. In-house wins You already have two to four people who can carry models, access rights and operations, and you want the knowledge in-house for good. Then an external consultancy is an accelerator at the start, not the permanent state. Build the role. We can help stand up the first workflow and hand it over. The Copilot partner wins Your people live in Microsoft 365, the use cases are internal text, meeting notes, non-critical drafts, and you mainly want licences and training. Then a Microsoft partner is the shorter path. As soon as personnel files, customer data or design work come into play, Copilot alone is not enough. The Big 4 wins You are a group subsidiary, the budget is clearly above 150,000 euros, the board wants a transformation programme with a steering circle. Then PwC, Deloitte, Accenture or McKinsey is the expected address. We are not that, and we do not pretend to be. The freelancer wins You need one n8n or Make workflow, one person in-house can keep it afterwards, and change management is not a topic. Then a freelancer is cheaper and faster. We would be too large for that. DropD. wins You have about 20 to 250 employees, workflows live in people's heads, you want implementation not slides, and data should stay in Germany or in your own house. Vendor-neutral, no commission agenda. That is the case this firm was built for. Other specialists in the same league In the cluster of mid-market AI specialists, houses such as Datasolut, Comma Soft, Alexander Thamm, Adesso or MHP sit alongside us. Anyone who mainly needs classic machine learning, automotive engineering or large systems integration is often better there. Anyone who wants mid-market workflows written down and turned into agents and automations is right with us. A comparison page on which only we win would be an advert. That is why the sentence is here. Who are you the wrong choice for? Below about 20 employees our approach rarely pays off. If you want a group transformation with a six-figure budget and slides for the board, you are better with a Big 4. If you only want to roll out Copilot licences, a Microsoft partner is often enough. We do not run prompt courses or reseller deals. Do you build your own models or do you sell Copilot? Both, depending on which path is cheaper to the goal. Where a standard tool is enough, we save you the custom build. Where data protection or independence matter, we tailor an open-source model to your firm and host it in Germany or on-premise. Are you vendor-neutral, really? Yes. We take no commission on Copilot, ChatGPT or any other tool. The recommendation follows the workflow, not a vendor partner tier.

Link: https://dropdigital.de/en/vergleich/inhouse-vs-ki-beratung#h-anbieter-title
Id: page-vergleich-anbieter