IT support & administration
The IT work that only gets noticed when it stops
Someone in your company is already doing this. Usually whoever is most comfortable with computers, squeezed between their actual job and a laptop that won't join the Wi-Fi. That arrangement works until it doesn't, which is generally the day someone leaves and nobody can get into their mailbox.
What this covers
Everything between the person and the plug
Some of it is scheduled and dull. Some of it is the thing that has stopped three people working this morning. Both matter.
Accounts and identity
Starters, leavers and movers handled properly, with access granted on the first day and removed on the last one rather than at the next quarterly review.
Email and collaboration
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace: mailboxes, shared drives, groups, calendars, and an honest look at how many licences you're paying for versus using.
Devices
Laptop setup and enrolment, disk encryption, update policies and remote wipe, through Intune or Jamf. So a lost machine is an inconvenience rather than an incident.
Backup and recovery
Including the things people assume are already backed up. Microsoft 365 retention is not a backup, and most businesses find that out at the worst possible moment.
Patching and monitoring
Updates applied on a schedule rather than when something forces the issue, and alerts when a service stops so you hear it from us and not from a customer.
Domains, DNS and certificates
Including the renewal nobody has a calendar entry for. Expired certificates and lapsed domains cause an outsized amount of damage for how avoidable they are.
Security basics
Multi-factor authentication, password management, phishing-resistant sign-in, and permissions that shrink over time instead of quietly accumulating.
Day-to-day support
The tickets themselves. Access requests, printers, shared mailbox permissions, the file someone deleted, and the software nobody can install.
Where we come in
The three calls we get most
"Our office manager has become the IT department."
It works for a while and then quietly stops scaling. Usually the fix isn't replacing them, it's taking the specialist half off their desk so they can do the job they were hired for.
"Someone left and we couldn't get into their account."
Almost always a symptom of missing offboarding rather than a one-off. The account is recoverable; the process is the thing worth fixing.
"We failed a client's security questionnaire."
Increasingly common, and increasingly a blocker on winning work. Most of the questions are about controls you can genuinely implement in weeks rather than months.
How it works
An inventory first, because nobody has one
We start by writing down what exists. Who has an account, what devices are out there, what is licensed, what is backed up, what is exposed to the internet, and who holds the keys to each. Almost nobody has this document, and producing it usually surfaces two or three things worth fixing that week.
Then we agree what we take on and what stays with you. Some companies hand over everything, others keep a capable person in-house and use us for the specialist parts. Both work, as long as the boundary is written down rather than assumed.
After that the work is routine, which is the entire point. The measure of this arrangement is that you stop thinking about it, and the only time it's front of mind is when you're reading the monthly summary.
On response times
We agree these in writing when we set up a managed arrangement, based on your size and what actually stops you trading. We'd rather commit to something we can hold to than publish a number on a website that sounds impressive and gets quietly missed.
Tools
What we work with
Standard platforms with standard administration, so any competent IT person can pick up where we left off.
- Microsoft 365
- Entra ID
- Intune
- Google Workspace
- Jamf
- Veeam
- MFA
- Password management
- Patch management
- DNS & certificates
- Monitoring
- Endpoint encryption
Answers
Questions about IT support
Is Microsoft 365 already backed up?
No, and this catches people out constantly. Microsoft protects the service, not your data. Retention policies and the recycle bin are not a backup, and deleted mailboxes do eventually go for good.
Do you replace an in-house IT person?
Either. We can cover everything for a company with nobody internal, or take the specialist work off someone who is already stretched. We'll tell you honestly which one your situation calls for.
How quickly do you respond?
Response times are agreed in writing when we set up a managed arrangement, sized to what actually stops you trading. We won't quote you a headline number before understanding your setup.
Can you help with a client security questionnaire?
Yes. We implement the technical controls the questions ask about and document what was done, so you can answer accurately. We aren't auditors and won't certify you ourselves.
We're a small team. Are we too small for this?
Probably not. Small teams often carry the most risk, because one person holds every password and there's no process for what happens when they're away.
Do you supply hardware?
We'll specify what you should buy and set it up when it arrives, but we don't resell it. You'll get better prices direct and there's no margin clouding our advice.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Get in touch
Tell us who currently gets asked when something breaks.
That answer tells us most of what we need to know about how your IT is set up today.