FAQ’s

Managed Services is the proactive management of an IT (Information Technology) asset or object, by a third party typically known as a MSP, on behalf of a customer. The operative distinction that sets apart a MSP is the proactive delivery of their service, as compared to reactive IT services, which have been around for decades.

Typically, MSPs will have the following distinguishing characteristics:

• Have some form of Network Operation Center (NOC) service

• Have some form of service or help desk service

• Be able to remotely monitor and manage all or a majority of the objects for the customer

• Proactively, compared to reactive, maintain the objects under management for the customer

• Deliver these solutions with some form of predictable billing model, where the customer knows with great accuracy what their regular IT management expense will be

• Data Protection – managing daily data back-up, file or server restores as needed, and data archiving.

• Patch Management – ensuring desktops and servers receive all necessary security patches

• Asset Management – tracking, analysis and reporting of all hardware and software assets on your network

• Support Desk – resource for end-users to receive help with network, email or desktop issues

• Unified Threat Management – firewall management plus gateway malware protection and VPN support

• Network Monitoring – monitoring, alerting, escalation and analysis of your network

• Remote Desktop Management – complete support for users outside your office

• Critical Issue Response – 24×7 immediate access to engineer support for network outages

Managed services are ideally suited to organizations with 2 to 200 employees. The services are for companies of all types interested in saving money and improving the quality of IT support so you can focus on your company’s core competencies.

Nothing. Your monthly bill is based on the number of users beig supported, not on the number of hours of support that you require.

Not at all – in fact, over the long term, most of our clients enjoy lower IT Management costs than they did when they were still on the traditional “break-fix” IT support model. What’s more, Managed Services costs are completely predictable, whereas traditional “break-fix” IT support results in highly unpredictable expenses.

The principle behind it is that by managing your network proactively, we can reduce the requirement for reactive manual intervention.  You’ll actually require less reactive support as time goes on because we’ll be refining the network to the point where there is very little that can actually go wrong. This is good news because it means increased productivity from your staff.

Not at all – in fact, quite the opposite! We perform our network maintenance tasks after hours, during a pre-defined weekly maintenance window that you decide upon. So you’ll never have an annoying slow-down of your machine during work hours. No more prompts, asking you to reboot your machine, etc. It’s all done remotely and out of business hours.

Most networks that we encounter are actually very far from healthy, though the client often doesn’t realize it. There is a lot that can be done to improve the average network if you have the right technical skills, the right network management systems, and are prepared to spend the time on proactively stabilizing the network.

There is no catch. We know what level of network health is achievable on any given network and we know how many hours of support are needed by a network of that complexity when it’s properly managed. We can use those ratios to predict how much support you’re likely to need once we stabilize the network.

No, our contract allows for increases or reductions in your user base. The bill is adjusted automatically as new users are added. When you reduce your user count, just let us know and we’ll reduce the billing accordingly.

We’re confident that you’ll find value in our service. So much so that we’ll allow you to cancel the contract at any time with just a 90-day notice if you find our service isn’t up to scratch.

No, our programs are customizable so we can add services a la carte to match your needs. Smaller organizations tend to be more Full Service since they have little to no IT resources in-house and larger organizations tend to be a la carte to augment existing expertise and change the focus of existing in-house IT resources.

All support labor required to keep your network operational is covered under this agreement. We do not put any limitations on the time spent on covered users’ equipment.

Yes, we plan the migration to fit your needs. We work with you every step of the way, taking into account every detail and any challenges of your specific environment to ensure a smooth and seamless implementation.

Yes, much of the service is performed remotely by our service desk team to speed response and reduce cost. We have established partnerships to fulfill the need if onsite support is required outside our service area.

In most cases, the answer is no. We can log on remotely and perform our maintenance work without requiring a shutdown or reboot. However, some items such as service packs and/or software upgrades do require a dedicated system. Our staff will work with you to perform as many of these critical tasks after business hours as possible to minimize the impact on your business.

Prior to executing a service agreement with your organization, we will survey your network and give you a proposal to get your network to a minimum baseline that we will support and to document your network. This includes an inventory of all hardware and software. You will receive a copy of this documentation for your records upon execution of the Agreement. We highly recommend you have this type of documentation on hand regardless of whom you select for network support for your own protection.

If we cannot resolve the problem remotely, we will travel to your office. All service calls are scheduled on a priority basis depending on the severity of the reported problem. We will either schedule an appointment to resolve any outstanding issues or travel to your site immediately if your network is down.

Zuriel does not use a one-size-fits-all pricing model. We customize a service model that best matches the needs of each client. We can gather the information necessary to provide a proposal to meet your needs.

• Increased operational efficiency

• Reduced capital costs

• Predictable monthly fee for accurate budgeting

• Mitigate costs of business risk

• Maximize business continuity/disaster recovery

• Proactive maintenance and patching to eliminate the high cost of emergency repairs