Managed IT Services: Eight Pillars, Done Right.
Soup-to-nuts IT support for professional services firms across Ventura County and Los Angeles: devices, software, security, training, and advice from people who know your business.
How the pillars fit together.
Most clients start with managed support. A small agent on every computer lets us monitor it, keep its software patched, protect it from malware, and back up its data. The other pillars build on that foundation.
Our largest clients also get proactive consulting, with Chris acting as a part-time CTO.
Cybersecurity services.
You are swimming in the same polluted water as everyone else. We help you stop drinking it.
A lot of business owners still believe hackers are not interested in them. Attackers do not need to pick you out. Automated tools find whoever is unpatched or careless with a password, and AI has made phishing emails much harder to spot.
Accounting and law offices get targeted for the sensitive data they hold, so cybersecurity is one of the areas we invest in most heavily.
Managed malware protection
Protection on every desktop, laptop, and server we manage, watched by our team instead of left to run on its own.
Email security and encryption
Filtering, encryption, and archiving that work with Outlook, Microsoft 365, and Google. Encrypted email helps with HIPAA, PCI, and SOX requirements.
Endpoint monitoring
Failed logon attempts, malware alerts, and other warning signs come to us, so we can act before a small problem turns into a breach.
Network defense
Firewalls and network security handled in the same plan as everything else you rely on.
Two-factor sign-in
Two-factor authentication set up and managed across the accounts your team depends on.
Security awareness training
Training that helps your people spot phishing, including the AI-written scams that are getting harder to catch.
Managed IT support.
A family doctor for your technology. Someone who knows your history and your people, and picks up the phone.
We are third-party IT support for small businesses, soup to nuts. The rule we train our team on is simple: the person you are working with matters more than the problem you are trying to solve. Most problems get solved faster once we understand what that person is trying to do.
We do not hire technicians who would rather work with machines than people. When you call, you get someone who treats your staff like colleagues.
Helpdesk support
Help from people who know your setup, so you are not explaining your office from scratch every time you call.
Remote support
With your permission, we share your screen and fix the problem while you watch.
Onsite support
Onsite help from Ventura to the South Bay for malware cleanup, performance problems, and setup and tear-down. Available with no contract required.
After-hours help
Something breaks in the middle of the night? Reach out and we will get you taken care of. After-hours work is billed separately.
Vendor coordination
When the problem sits with Microsoft, your internet provider, or a hardware vendor, we deal with them for you.
Network management.
Networks fail at the worst possible time. We design them so the worst possible time is rare.
Network problems are where onsite help still matters most. Some fixes need someone standing in the server closet, and we come out for those.
We set up and maintain firewalls, switches, and wireless networks. We also keep track of the licenses and renewals behind that equipment, because a lapsed license can take a whole building offline.
Network setup and configuration
Wired and wireless networks configured around how your office actually works.
Firewall setup and management
Business-grade firewalls, configured and kept current.
Network monitoring
Ongoing monitoring so problems get caught before they turn into downtime.
Licensing and renewals
Equipment licenses and renewal dates tracked, so a missed deadline does not knock your network out.
Wifi troubleshooting
Slow or dropping wifi diagnosed and fixed.
Cloud and remote work.
Your team is not going back to the office five days a week. We build for the firm you actually run.
We set up and manage cloud infrastructure and remote work tools so your team can work securely from anywhere. Most firms run on Microsoft 365. Some run on Google Workspace, and a few need full remote desktop environments. We work with all of them.
We are also honest about what the licenses cost. A lot of IT firms mark up Microsoft 365 by 200 to 1,000 percent. Microsoft publishes its pricing online, and we will show you what you are paying for.
Microsoft 365
Deployment, setup, and day-to-day management of email, files, and accounts.
Google Workspace
Setup and management for firms that run on Google.
Cloud migration
Moving email and files to the cloud without losing anything along the way.
Remote access
Secure access to your files and systems from home or on the road, including full remote desktop environments.
Cloud backup
Your cloud email and files backed up, along with the computers in your office.
Compliance and risk management.
Insurance carriers and clients ask questions your office manager cannot answer. We help you answer them.
Compliance management is a newer practice for us. We built it for firms that are now held to a cybersecurity standard but have no idea how to meet it, measure it, keep it up, or report on it.
It comes up constantly with accounting and law firms facing tighter insurance and client requirements. Our job is to translate the standard into plain steps and help you document what you have done.
Where you stand today
A plain-English look at the standard you are held to and the gaps between it and your current setup.
Cyber liability insurance
Help understanding what your carrier is asking for and putting the right controls in place.
Security policies
Data protection and security policies written for your firm, in language your people will read.
AI usage policy
A written policy for how your team can and cannot use AI tools, customized for your firm.
Standards explained
Frameworks like HIPAA, PCI, SOX, and SOC 2 explained in terms your partners can follow.
Keeping it current
Help maintaining your controls and reporting on them as requirements change.
Device and endpoint management.
Every laptop is a tiny door into your network. We keep those doors locked, patched, and accounted for.
Technology quality has dropped over the past decade, especially since the pandemic. A $300 laptop from Costco can look like a $1,300 business machine and still cost you more in lost time. We will tell you which one you actually need.
When you buy hardware through us, we mark it up 20 percent and tell you that up front. It covers our cost of finding, ordering, and delivering it.
Monitoring on every device
A small agent on each desktop, laptop, and server reports warning signs like failing drives, low disk space, memory errors, and crashing applications.
Software updates
Updates tracked and applied, with failures flagged so nothing quietly falls behind.
Workstation setup
New computers set up and ready for your team, and old ones retired properly.
Repair or replace
Honest advice on when to fix a machine, when to replace it, and what to buy.
Hardware at a disclosed markup
Twenty percent, stated before you buy.
Business continuity and backup.
A hardware failure, ransomware attack, or human error should not turn into a business-ending event.
We manage backup for both PCs and servers, with local and cloud storage.
We test recovery, not just backup, because a backup you have never restored is not a real plan.
PC backup
Set-and-forget backup for desktops and laptops, fully encrypted.
Server backup
Fully managed, always-on server backup to local and cloud storage.
Recovery testing
We test restores so you know the backup works before you need it.
Cloud data backup
Backup for your cloud email and files, alongside the machines in your office.
Disaster recovery planning
A plan for what happens when something fails, and who does what next.
Technology consulting.
A budget conversation that does not require you to learn what a SAN is. We translate. You decide.
For our larger clients, Chris acts as a part-time CTO or CIO. They get proactive consulting instead of waiting for something to break.
Technology costs money, and good support costs money. We will tell you what things should cost, and we will not sell you something you do not need just because we can.
Part-time CTO or CIO
Senior technology guidance from Chris for firms that need it, without hiring a full-time executive.
Technology planning
A roadmap for what to upgrade, replace, or retire, and roughly what it will cost.
Buying advice
Straight answers on whether something is worth buying, including when the answer is no.
AI readiness
Help deciding where AI makes sense for your firm, and a usage policy in place before your team starts pasting client data into it.
If your IT firm has not called you back, we should talk.
Tell us what is going wrong. We will tell you whether we can help, what it would cost, and what we would do first. No pressure, no contract on the first call.