Question 1

How does a first conversation with you usually work?

Accepted Answer

It starts with your business, not your kit list. We ask what's getting in the way day to day, what's coming up over the next year and where technology is already causing friction.

From there we'll tell you honestly what's worth doing first, what can wait and whether you need a partner like us at all. No proposal lands until we both agree on the problem.

Question 2

How hard is it to change IT provider?

Accepted Answer

Less painful than most organisations expect, provided the handover is planned. The work is mostly documentation: admin access, licence tenancies, network details, supplier contacts and any systems only your current provider can reach. A typical move runs over four to six weeks with no downtime for users. The one thing worth checking before you start is your notice period and who owns your data and licences.

Question 3

Do we still need our own IT person?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes - and that's a good thing. An internal person knows your business, your people and your line-of-business systems in a way no external partner will. Co-managed support works alongside them: we take the volume, the out-of-hours cover and the specialist work, they keep the relationships and the business knowledge.

Question 4

How small is too small to work with a partner?

Accepted Answer

There's no cut-off. What matters more is whether technology problems are costing you time you can't afford. Ten people with no IT support and a lot of dependence on Microsoft 365 can feel more urgent than fifty with an internal team.

Question 5

What counts as proactive support rather than just fixing things?

Accepted Answer

Patching, monitoring, licence reviews, backup checks, starter and leaver processes and spotting the device that keeps failing before it takes someone's morning. The best IT support often goes unnoticed. If the only time you hear from a provider is when something has already broken, that's a reactive arrangement with a proactive label on it.

Question 6

What response times should we expect?

Accepted Answer

Ask any provider for response times by priority, and separately for typical resolution times. Response is how quickly someone picks it up; resolution is when the person can get back to work - the second number is the one that matters to your team. Also ask what happens outside working hours and who decides how urgent something is: you or them.

Question 7

Can you work with our existing suppliers and systems?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most organisations have a practice management system, a finance package or a phone provider that sits outside general IT support. The useful arrangement is one where your partner will pick up the phone to those suppliers on your behalf rather than telling your team to log it themselves.

Question 8

Where should we start with security when everything looks urgent?

Accepted Answer

Multi-factor authentication on every account, a leavers process that actually removes access, admin rights limited to the people who need them, email spoofing protection configured and a backup you've tested restoring from. Those five cover the majority of incidents that affect organisations your size. Progress matters more than perfection.

Question 9

Do we need Cyber Essentials?

Accepted Answer

You need it if a client, insurer or funder asks for it - and increasingly they do. Beyond the certificate, it's a sensible baseline that forces you to tidy up patching, access control and device configuration. It isn't a security strategy on its own, but it's a reasonable place to start and a straightforward thing to work towards.

Question 10

Is security awareness training worth it?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when it's short, regular and free of blame. People are the ones who spot the odd invoice or the unexpected login prompt, and they'll only report it if reporting feels safe. Annual hour-long sessions rarely change behaviour. A few minutes each month usually does.

Question 11

Isn't Microsoft 365 backed up already?

Accepted Answer

Not in the way most people assume. Microsoft protects the service; your data is your responsibility. Deleted items and retention windows help, but they're time-limited and they won't cover a mailbox emptied by someone with access. A separate Microsoft 365 backup closes that gap, and it's where organisations most often get caught out.

Question 12

Why does our Microsoft bill keep going up?

Accepted Answer

Usually a mix of licences for people who've left, higher tiers than anyone needs, duplicate tools you're paying for twice and storage quietly filling up. A licence review takes a few hours and often pays for itself. Most organisations use a fraction of what they already pay for.

Question 13

Are we ready for Copilot?

Accepted Answer

Copilot surfaces whatever a person already has access to. If your SharePoint permissions are loose or old files are shared with everyone, Copilot will find them and quote them back. The preparation work is an access review and some data tidying. Get that done and Copilot becomes useful rather than uncomfortable.

Question 14

How do we know our backups actually work?

Accepted Answer

By restoring from them. A backup report that says 'successful' only tells you data was copied - not that it can be brought back, or how long that takes. Ask when the last test restore happened, how long it took and who watched it. If nobody can answer, that's the first job.

Question 15

How long would it take to get us running again after an incident?

Accepted Answer

That depends on what you've agreed in advance, not on how good the technology is. Two numbers matter: how much data you can afford to lose, and how long you can afford to be down. It's impossible to predict every incident, but it's totally possible to be prepared for them.

Question 16

How does IT support pricing usually work?

Accepted Answer

Most commonly per user or per device, with a fixed monthly fee. Per user tends to suit organisations where people have several devices; per device suits shared machines and shift patterns. The number itself matters less than what sits inside it. Ask what's excluded, how projects are charged and whether out-of-hours work costs extra.

Question 17

What usually sits outside the monthly fee?

Accepted Answer

Typically hardware, software licences, project work such as migrations or office moves, and third-party services. Some providers also exclude on-site visits or out-of-hours support. None of that is unreasonable - it just needs to be written down before you sign, so nothing arrives as a surprise in month three.

Question 18

How long a contract should we expect to sign?

Accepted Answer

Twelve months is common and reasonable. Anything longer should come with a clear reason and a sensible exit. Check the notice period, what happens to your data and licences if you leave, and whether prices can rise mid-term.

The questions we get asked most

Where to go next

Got a question that isn't answered here?