MANAGED IT
With managed IT, Geekland IT takes charge of the IT your business runs on every day. Employees know where to ask us for help, and we maintain and monitor the computers on your plan without someone in your office having to keep track of the upkeep. When we recommend a change, we explain why it would help.
Each person on the plan is set up as either a Lite user, for someone who works mainly in email and shared files, or a Full user, for someone who works at a computer we manage. The comparison below shows what each includes, and before services begin, we agree in writing on what Geekland IT will manage.
YOUR EVERYDAY IT
LITE AND FULL USERS
Every managed IT plan includes business-hours employee support. The table shows how the rest of the plan differs between Lite users and Full users, followed by the services that can be added and the work we quote as a separate project.
| Service | Lite user | Full user |
|---|---|---|
| Business-hours employee support by Client portal, email, phone, and remote session | Included | Included |
| 24/7 emergency on-call support | Available | Available |
| Account administration: onboarding, offboarding, and permissions | Included | Included |
| Email security (anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-malware) and email encryption | Included | Included |
| Client portal with a knowledge base | Included | Included |
| Monthly health report | Included | Included |
| One managed workstation | Not included | Included unless the order says otherwise |
| Operating system, third-party, and critical security patching | Not included | Included |
| Monitoring, including service availability monitoring | Not included | Included |
| Endpoint protection: EDR, advanced threat detection, MDR, and ITDR | Not included | Included |
| Network management: Wi-Fi, firewall, VLANs, DNS management and filtering, and on-site storage and backup appliances | Not included | Included |
Managed plans also include MFA setup, periodic access reviews, and security awareness training.
For Lite and Full users, Microsoft 365 licensing and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account backups can be added to the plan.
For Full users, local and cloud computer backups and mobile device management for company phones and tablets can be added as well.
Deploying a laptop purchased through Geekland IT is part of the managed plan, using Intune and Autopilot to load your company’s settings and applications so it’s ready to use. Setting up a new camera recording system, or NVR, with its cabling is quoted as a separate project, and so is other work that falls outside the plan.
THE EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
Managing IT involves more than responding when an employee reports a problem. Computers still need updates and maintenance when nobody’s complained, and that work is easy to put off when everyone has other things to do.
With a managed plan, employees bring their computer, email, and application problems to Geekland IT, and we handle updates and monitoring for managed computers so those jobs don’t depend on someone in your office remembering to do them.
Your staff can ask for help through the Client portal, by calling (612) 439-5444, or by emailing [email protected]. Each request becomes a ticket, and you’ll get email updates while it’s open so you can follow what’s happening.
The Client portal also includes a knowledge base where staff can look for help with common questions before opening a ticket.
When a business application needs its vendor involved, we help troubleshoot and pass along what we find. That saves your staff from having to explain the technical details of a problem that may involve both the application and the computer it runs on.
Business-hours support is included from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, and 24/7 emergency on-call support is available outside those hours.
See support hours and emergencies in the FAQEven a computer that seems to be working fine can need updates or maintenance. We handle that upkeep for the computers on your plan, including patches for the operating system and third-party software such as browsers and PDF readers. When a serious flaw requires an urgent patch, we handle those critical fixes too.
Monitoring checks for disk problems, updates that haven’t gone through, security issues, network trouble, blue screens, driver errors, and critical systems going offline. It also checks that key services stay available, since a failure in any of these areas can interrupt someone’s work.
We review alerts to determine what needs attention and open a support ticket when there’s a problem to address.
We also manage the Wi-Fi, firewall, and VLANs. VLANs divide a network into separate segments, so guest Wi-Fi, for example, can be kept separate from your accounting files. Network services include DNS management, web filtering to block known malicious sites, and support for on-site storage and backup appliances.
You’ll get a monthly health report to keep you informed about the systems we manage. Mobile device management for company phones and tablets can be added if you need it.
Keeping computers working also means protecting the information people use on them. Everyone on the plan gets email security to filter phishing, spam, and malware, plus encryption for messages that need protection when they’re sent. Managed plans also include security awareness training for employees.
For people with a managed computer, next-generation endpoint protection includes endpoint detection and response (EDR), which looks for suspicious activity as well as known viruses. Advanced threat detection adds another layer, and managed detection and response (MDR) includes investigating and acting on alerts. Identity detection and response (ITDR) watches for suspicious account activity, such as a stolen password being used from an unfamiliar place.
We plan backups around what your business would need to recover, with Microsoft 365 account backups and local or cloud computer backups available to add. If a mailbox is damaged or a laptop fails, those backups provide copies to recover from. We’ll discuss where that coverage is needed, especially if important information currently lives in only one place.
See our approach to securityOnce you’ve bought a Microsoft 365 subscription, the accounts and licenses still need to keep up with the people working in your business.
We handle onboarding, offboarding, and permission changes as people join the business or take on different roles, and you request those changes through a form in the Client portal. We also help with Outlook, Teams, and the other Microsoft 365 applications employees use, and you can purchase the licenses through Geekland IT if you’d rather have us manage them too.
Explore Microsoft 365 & cloud servicesA newer model coming out isn’t enough reason to replace a computer. We look at reliability, security, and whether it still works with your business applications before recommending that you retire it.
For work outside the plan, we explain what the project would fix and how it fits with the equipment you already use, so spending decisions are made with the full picture in front of you.
A WORKING RELATIONSHIP
If a problem comes back, we refer back to the earlier troubleshooting in your Client portal ticket history rather than asking you to explain it all again. That record helps us see what’s already been tried and what needs another look.
That history, along with the monthly health report, gives us a practical basis for planning what your business should fix, upgrade, or leave as it is.
We learn which computers and applications people use, which accounts they need, and which vendor supports each application. When several people report the same problem, that knowledge helps us tell whether it sits with one computer, the network, or the application.
That knowledge matters when you’re planning a change, too, because a computer that runs a particular business application has to meet that application’s requirements, even if another model would work fine for someone else.
We handle operating system updates and patches for third-party software on managed computers, including browsers and PDF readers. You also receive a monthly health report for the systems on your plan.
If an employee reports that a computer keeps showing a blue screen, we look at that problem alongside the driver errors, updates, and other issues flagged by monitoring.
Before you authorize an IT purchase, we explain what it would fix, why it matters for your setup, and whether it can wait.
If a recommendation involves a software vendor or a separate project, we say so up front, so you know who would do the work before you agree to it.
GETTING STARTED
Whether you’re changing providers or bringing in managed IT for the first time, getting started follows three steps. We’ll talk through which services Geekland IT would take over and how employees would ask for help under the new plan.
We learn who uses email and shared files, who needs a managed computer to run business applications, and how each person asks for help today. That tells us who should be a Lite user with account-level services and who should be a Full user who also needs computer, security, and network services.
You’ll get a written proposal that explains the managed services and what they cost, so you can review the scope and pricing before deciding to go ahead.
Once you approve the plan, we put the support and management in place and show your staff the three ways to reach us: the Client portal, [email protected], or a phone call.
Pricing depends on the number of users and computers in your plan, how many people are Lite users and how many are Full users with a managed computer, and how complex your setup is. Two offices with the same headcount can have different costs if one runs more complex systems.
Geekland IT takes over IT support entirely if that’s what you need, or works alongside your current IT person through co-managed IT. Before work begins, we agree on which responsibilities Geekland IT handles and which stay with your IT person.
Yes. Every user gets email security and encryption, and people with a managed computer also get endpoint protection with EDR, managed detection and response, identity detection and response, and web filtering. Security awareness training and backup planning are part of managed plans too.
We look at whether the equipment still runs your business applications, receives the updates it needs, and works reliably, and we explain any problem we find before recommending a replacement, so you know why a change is needed.
LET’S TALK
Think about the last computer problem that landed on your desk. Did the employee know where to ask for help, or did the request make its way around the office first?
Tell us how support works in your office today and which IT jobs keep landing on your desk. We’ll talk through which of those jobs Geekland IT would handle under a managed plan.
Lakeville, Minnesota
