What you actually get
The install, written down.
A Virtuoso network build is a fixed scope with a deliverable at the end of it. Here is what is in the box and what leaves with you.
Firewall & routing
Managed perimeter with content filtering, intrusion prevention and a VPN for staff working off-site.
Configured
Switching
Gigabit switching with VLANs separating staff, guest Wi-Fi, payments and cameras onto their own segments.
8–48 ports
Wireless
Access points placed by site survey, room by room, rather than one router hoping to reach the back of the shop.
802.11ax
Backup
An appliance onsite for fast restores plus an offsite versioned copy kept out of ransomware's reach. Restores tested, not assumed.
RPO 15 min
Documentation
Network diagram, port map, labelled cabling and every credential in a vault you own. If we vanished, the next person could read it and carry on.
Handed over
Monitoring
Round-the-clock monitoring on the firewall, switches, access points and backup jobs, with a monthly report in plain English.
24/7
What you get
What managed IT support includes
A fixed monthly scope. Everything below is standard, not an upsell added once the agreement is signed.
Round-the-clock monitoring
Servers, workstations, firewall, switches and backup jobs watched continuously. Most of the faults we deal with are resolved before anyone on your floor notices them.
Endpoint protection
Behavioural anti-malware on every workstation and server, centrally managed and reported — not a licence somebody forgot to renew.
Patching on a schedule
Operating system and application updates tested and applied to a timetable, so you are not the business caught out by a vulnerability that was fixed six months ago.
Backup and recovery
An appliance onsite for fast restores plus an offsite versioned copy kept out of ransomware’s reach. Restores are tested rather than assumed.
Local helpdesk
A real person in the Lower Mainland, reachable by phone or email during business hours, who already knows how your network is put together.
Documentation you keep
Network diagram, asset list, port map and every credential in a vault you own. If we disappeared tomorrow the next person could read the file and carry on.
How it runs
How we take a network on
Four stages. You know the monthly number before the second one starts.
IT assessment
We map what you are running, what is still supported, what is out of warranty and what is quietly failing.
Stabilise
We clear the faults generating tickets: failing drives, unpatched machines, backups that have not actually run in months.
Standardise
Same protection, same patching and same backup on every machine, documented as we go.
Watch
Monitoring goes live, you get a monthly report in plain English, and the ticket count drops.
Symptoms
What we usually find on day one
None of these look urgent. All of them are expensive on the day they matter.
- A laptop that has not backed up since March
- Antivirus licences expired without anyone noticing
- One person holding every password, currently on holiday
- Out-of-warranty servers with no replacement plan
- Staff installing whatever they need to get the job done
- Windows machines two feature updates behind
- No record of what is actually connected to the network
- Three vendors who each blame the other two
The difference
Break/fix versus managed support
The difference is not the hourly rate. It is whose interest is served when something goes wrong.
| Call someone when it breaks | Managed support | |
|---|---|---|
| When you call | After something has already stopped | Before you notice it |
| Cost | Unpredictable, worst in your worst month | Fixed monthly |
| Patching | When somebody remembers | On a schedule |
| Backups | Assumed to be working | Monitored and restore-tested |
| Their incentive | More faults means more billable hours | Fewer faults |
| Documentation | In one technician’s head | Handed over to you |
Service area
Where we provide managed IT support
We are based in Surrey and work across the Lower Mainland. Onboarding and hardware work happen on site; most day-to-day support is handled remotely, usually the same hour.
Questions
Managed IT questions we get asked
What does managed IT support actually include?
Monitoring, patching, endpoint protection, backup management and a helpdesk, all for a fixed monthly fee. Hardware and project work are quoted separately so there are no surprises in either direction.
How much does managed IT support cost for a small business?
It is normally priced per user or per device, so a ten-person office pays roughly a third of what a thirty-person one does. We give you the number after the assessment, based on what you actually run rather than a package tier.
Is managed support better than calling someone when something breaks?
For most businesses, yes — because the expensive failures are the preventable ones. Break/fix means nobody is checking your backups until the day you need them, and that is the worst possible moment to find out.
Do you support Macs as well as Windows?
Yes. Mixed environments are normal in small business and both are monitored, patched and backed up the same way.
How quickly do you respond?
Under an hour during business hours for anything stopping work, and we are usually already aware of infrastructure faults through monitoring before a ticket is raised.
Can you work alongside the IT person we already have?
Often, yes. Some clients keep an internal person for day-to-day requests and use us for infrastructure, security and out-of-hours cover. We agree who owns what in writing at the start.
Next step
Let's see what you're running now.
One visit. We map what you have, tell you what is fine, and put a number against what is not. Nothing owed afterwards.