Managed IT FAQs
These are the exact questions growing SMBs ask when evaluating a Managed IT provider – answered clearly, honestly, and without a sales pitch.
This page covers how our Managed IT Services work in practice, from support hours and SLAs to cybersecurity, IT support, escalation, and long-term IT strategy.. If you’re comparing providers or doing your due diligence, this is designed to give you the transparency you should expect before starting a conversation.
Still have a question that isn’t answered here? That usually means it’s worth asking.
Support & Service Delivery
How support works day to day is one of the most important factors when choosing an MSP. These questions cover availability, coverage, and what your team can expect.
What are your hours of support?
Our standard support hours are 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time. While routine requests are handled during these hours, we monitor customer systems 24/7 and often schedule maintenance and changes outside business hours to avoid disruption.
How is off-hours support handled and charged?
If support is required outside standard hours, issues are triaged based on severity and business impact. Some issues can safely wait until the next business day, while others may require immediate attention.
If off-hours work results in an additional charge, approval is obtained before proceeding. Our goal is to balance responsiveness with cost efficiency.
Do you provide vacation coverage?
Yes. Our managed services include 100% vacation coverage. Whether a customer’s internal IT staff is away for vacation, illness, or other reasons, we ensure continuity of support so there is no gap in service.
Do you provide onsite support?
Yes. Onsite support is provided when it makes sense — such as hardware installs, physical troubleshooting, or scheduled visits. We also use onsite time to better understand your environment, culture, and evolving needs.
Do you have a ticketing system, and how does it work for end users?
Yes. We use ConnectWise, a purpose-built MSP service platform.
End users can submit tickets:
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By email
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By phone
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Through our customer portal (web-based or embedded in Microsoft Teams)
Tickets can be tracked from submission through resolution, with status updates provided along the way.
How are service requests and escalations handled?
All service requests follow defined incident management workflows. Issues are logged, prioritized, assigned to the appropriate resource, and resolved according to severity and SLA targets.
If an issue cannot be resolved at the initial support tier, it is escalated through engineering leadership or vendor support as needed.
How often are tickets reviewed?
Tickets are reviewed daily by the Service Desk and multiple times per week by leadership. Customers also have real-time visibility into ticket status through the customer portal.
Services & Scope
Understanding what is — and is not — included in managed services helps set clear expectations and avoid surprises.
What services do you offer?
Our Managed IT Services are organized into a Workplace Suite that includes:
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Managed IT for users and endpoints
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Microsoft 365 management
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Cloud and infrastructure management
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Security and risk management
Services can be bundled or delivered individually depending on business needs.
What services do you not offer?
We focus on delivering consistent, scalable managed services rather than highly customized one-off support models. While we’re flexible through add-ons, we generally avoid service structures that reduce reliability or increase long-term costs.
Do you offer procurement and managed services?
Yes. We assist with procurement of hardware and software and manage those assets through their full lifecycle. Catalogs and recommendations are curated per customer.
Do you manage applications?
We manage and support general business applications within our core competencies (such as Microsoft, browsers, and collaboration tools). Line-of-business application functionality typically remains the responsibility of the customer or the software vendor, though we ensure applications are accessible and deployable.
What is your stance on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)?
We support BYOD when appropriate and implement it using Microsoft Endpoint Manager and related controls. BYOD strategies are tailored based on business risk, executive sponsorship, and security requirements.
Do you manage Macs and iOS devices?
Our primary expertise is within Microsoft ecosystems. We have limited Mac management capabilities but do support iOS and Android devices through Microsoft Endpoint Manager.
Security, Backup & Compliance
Security, data protection, and compliance are foundational to modern Managed IT. Our approach combines proactive cybersecurity, resilient backup and recovery, and secure cloud architecture to reduce risk and support long-term growth. These practices are closely aligned with our broader cloud and security approach, ensuring consistent protection across users, devices, and cloud environments.
How do you ensure security and compliance?
Security is built into every layer of our Managed IT Services and is treated as a core operational requirement, not an add-on. We design and enforce security controls based on industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and the risk profile of each customer.
Our approach to cybersecurity includes identity protection (MFA and privileged access management), device and endpoint security, encryption, continuous monitoring, and user security awareness. Where applicable, we align controls to compliance requirements related to data protection, financial controls, and privacy.
Rather than relying on third-party bolt-ons, we prioritize Microsoft-native security tooling and layered defenses to provide consistent protection across users, devices, applications, and cloud infrastructure.
How do you handle data backup and disaster recovery?
Data protection and recovery are foundational to both business continuity and cybersecurity. Our approach covers data, workloads, and cloud infrastructure, ensuring systems can be restored quickly and securely after incidents such as ransomware, accidental deletion, or system failure.
By default, we provide continuous backups with cloud-based replication in Canadian locations. Backups are monitored and restoration processes are tested regularly to ensure reliability. Disaster recovery scenarios are designed with the assumption of full failure, allowing most customer environments to be restored within 24 hours.
This approach supports both operational resilience and cyber incident recovery, reducing downtime and business risk.
Do you remotely monitor and manage systems?
Yes. We continuously monitor and manage workstations, servers, and infrastructure using a combination of Microsoft-native platforms and MSP-specific tools. This enables proactive issue detection, performance monitoring, and security alerting across customer environments.
Remote monitoring plays a critical role in cybersecurity and risk management, allowing us to detect abnormal behavior, system health issues, and potential security events early. For security reasons, we do not publicly disclose specific toolsets, but customers have visibility into monitoring outcomes and service activity through reporting and reviews.
Do you provide end-user training?
Yes. Our customer portal includes a growing library of end-user training content, including Microsoft 365 enablement and security awareness materials.
Process, SLAs & Governance
Strong process is what separates proactive MSPs from reactive ones. These FAQs explain how we operate behind the scenes.
What is your Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
Our SLA defines response and resolution targets based on issue impact and urgency. Incidents are classified and prioritized to ensure business-critical issues receive immediate attention.
We measure SLA performance continuously and review it with customers.
Do you offer SLA penalties?
No. We believe penalties create the wrong incentives. Instead, we focus on transparency, measurement, and continuous improvement, supported by regular reporting and customer feedback.
What is your change management process?
All changes follow a structured process that assesses risk, impact, approvals, scheduling, and validation. Changes are documented, tested, and reviewed to minimize disruption.
How do you handle communication and reporting?
We provide regular reporting, monthly cadence meetings, and Technology Business Reviews (TBRs). Customers also have real-time visibility through the customer portal.
Do you assist with IT budgeting and strategic direction?
Through regular planning sessions and Technology Business Reviews, we help customers align IT budgets and priorities with their broader digital transformation strategy.
Experience & Differentiation
These questions help customers understand who we work with and how we’re different from other MSPs.
What types of organizations do you work with?
We focus on SMBs with 25–150 employees, particularly in knowledge-worker-heavy industries such as finance, legal, HR, and professional services.
Do you have experience with organizations similar to ours?
Yes. We regularly work with organizations of similar size and complexity and can provide references upon request.
How are you different from other MSPs?
We focus on proactive, preventative managed IT built on Microsoft-native platforms, transparent communication, and structured processes. Our Managed IT Services approach is designed specifically for modern SMBs rather than one-size-fits-all support models.
Do you outsource support to third-party vendors?
We deliver services internally within our core competencies. When specialized expertise is required, we leverage trusted peer partners with customer approval.
What certifications and accreditations do you hold?
Our team maintains a wide range of industry certifications across Microsoft, Citrix, security, networking, and cloud platforms, along with multiple industry recognitions.