Most small business IT problems announce themselves for weeks before anyone notices.
A backup that stopped running in March. A drive filling up. A server warning nobody reads because nobody is subscribed to the alerts. Managed support is simply the arrangement where that’s somebody’s job — a fixed monthly fee, agreed up front, in exchange for keeping the boring things done so the expensive things don’t happen.
What it covers
- Monitoring — drive health, free space, backup jobs, antivirus status and machines going offline. We see the alerts, not you.
- Patching and updates — Windows, drivers and common applications kept current on a schedule, tested rather than trusted.
- Backup management — backups checked that they ran, and periodically checked that they would actually restore. An untested backup isn’t a backup.
- Security — antivirus and endpoint protection deployed and monitored, admin rights kept sensible, and staff accounts tidied up when people join or leave.
- Microsoft 365 administration — licences, mailboxes, shared drives and permissions, so nobody is paying for six accounts that belong to people who left.
- Helpdesk — a number your staff can ring when something isn’t working, without anyone having to ask permission first.
- Asset records — what you own, how old it is and when it will need replacing, so budgets aren’t a surprise.
How it works in practice
No two businesses need the same thing, so we start by looking at what you’ve actually got rather than quoting from a brochure.
- An audit first — machines, server, network, backups, licences and where the risks are. You get the findings whether or not you go ahead.
- A plan sized to you — priced per user or per device, fixed monthly, with what’s included and what’s charged separately written down plainly.
- Agreed response times — set with you at the start, and different for a whole office being down than for one slow printer.
- Remote first, on site when it matters — most things are solved remotely in minutes. We’re in Donvale when they aren’t.
- A regular review — what broke, what’s ageing, what’s coming up. Short, and in plain English.
When you don't need it
Managed support suits a business with a server, shared data, staff who can’t work when the system is down, or compliance obligations to meet. It earns its money by preventing the day that costs you a week.
If you’re two or three people with laptops, cloud email and no server, an ongoing plan may well be more than you need. Ad-hoc help when something goes wrong is often the better deal, and we’re happy to work that way — that’s our IT support page.
We’ll tell you honestly which of the two you’re in. Being talked into a monthly fee you don’t need is a good way to end up resenting your IT provider.
Frequently asked
Is there a lock-in contract?
Terms are agreed before you sign anything and we’ll walk you through them. If a plan stops making sense for your business, we’d rather change it than hold you to it.
Do you take over from our current provider?
Yes, and it’s more common than you’d think. We’ll document what exists, get proper administrative access, and change over without dropping anything in the middle.
What if something falls outside the plan?
You get told before the work starts, not after. Hardware, projects and new equipment are normally quoted separately, and that’s written into the plan from day one.
Can staff ring you directly?
Yes. Support that has to be approved by the owner before anyone calls just means nobody calls, and small problems get big.
Do you work with businesses outside Donvale?
Yes. Most support is remote, and we cover the eastern suburbs on site.