What managed IT support means in practice
Most businesses under a few hundred staff can't justify a full internal IT department, but they still need someone to answer when a laptop won't boot at half eight on a Monday. Managed IT support fills that gap: you get a service desk, monitoring, patching and device management for a fixed monthly fee, instead of paying an hourly rate every time something breaks.
The difference between managed support and break-fix is the incentive. Under break-fix, your supplier earns more when things go wrong. Under a managed contract, they earn the same either way, so it pays them to stop the fault happening in the first place. That's why monitoring and patching are included rather than sold as extras.
What's included
- Unlimited helpdesk: phone, email or the support portal, staffed Monday to Friday, 9 to 5
- Remote support: most issues are resolved in minutes without anyone travelling
- On-site visits: included in the plan when hardware needs hands on it
- Proactive monitoring: disk failures, failed backups and low storage flagged before they stop work
- Patch management: Windows and third-party updates applied on a schedule, not whenever someone remembers
- Device setup and onboarding: new starters ready to work on day one, leavers offboarded cleanly
- Asset register: every device, licence and warranty documented and kept current
How support works
Your staff contact us directly, with no gatekeeping through an office manager. Each request is logged with a reference so nothing gets lost, and you can see the status at any time in the portal. Urgent problems that stop people working take priority over routine requests like a new mailbox.
Because we monitor your systems continuously, a fair number of tickets never get raised by you at all. We spot the failing drive or the backup that stopped running and deal with it before anyone notices.
Local matters more than people expect. We're in Mansfield, so when something needs an engineer in the room, whether that's a failed switch, a server that won't come back up or a new office fit-out, we're a short drive away rather than a scheduled visit next Tuesday.
What it costs
Support is priced per user or per device and billed monthly. The figure depends on how many staff you have, how many sites, and whether you want support alone or bundled with security, backup and cloud. There's no minimum term dressed up as a discount. Give 30 days' notice and you're out.
We quote after a free review rather than over the phone, because a quote given without seeing your estate is a guess, and guesses get revised upward later.
Who this suits
Businesses between roughly 10 and 400 staff across Mansfield, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Worksop and Newark. It works particularly well for firms that have outgrown "the director's nephew who's good with computers" but aren't large enough to hire an IT manager, and for those already paying a provider who takes three days to answer.
Common questions
How quickly do you respond?
Priority depends on impact. Anything stopping a whole site or team working is treated as critical and picked up first; single-user issues with a workaround are scheduled. All response targets are agreed in writing before you sign, so you can hold us to them.
Is support really unlimited?
Yes, for the devices and users covered by your plan. We don't count tickets or bill by the minute, because charging per call trains staff not to report problems, and unreported problems get worse.
What if we need help outside 9 to 5?
The service desk runs Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00. Anything raised outside those hours is picked up first thing the next working day. If your business needs extended cover, talk to us and we'll discuss what's practical.
Do you support Macs as well as Windows?
Yes. Most businesses run a mix these days, along with mobile devices, and all of it can sit under the same agreement.