Managed IT services?

[M.alex]

Currently exploring options for a managed IT service provider.

The needs would be to maintain a network file and email server, physically located in an office in south Calgary, that 3 employees access 100% remote all the time. File server basically just holds excel, word, and pdf files (although requires fast transfer/access because usually multiples of the same excel file will be open doing financial calculations) and have proper backup and security. Servers already exist, nothing needs to be built, but they would take over maintenance of them (part replacement, etc.). If requirement is they build a new server so they're familiar with their setup, I'm not opposed to that.

Does anybody have any recommendations to look at - I've spoken to a few companies but either the needs are too small for them to want to do (i.e., they want atleast 20-50 staff to take care of) or it's clear when there are issues I'm going to be put on hold with "Bob" in India (has to be local support).

Also, any thoughts on what a fair price for the above is. $10k/yr? $20k? $30k?

I could do it myself, but my knowledge of network security is weak (my solution is localhost and sandbox everything) so I'd rather have some experience handling it given cyber security is critical today.

[BokCh0y]

I have a contact, shot you a PM.

[M.alex]

Turns out a lot of Beyonders are in IT, go figure

Got several leads after only a few hours, I feel the love

[ercchry]

So… what’s so special that you need physical servers for 3 people vs… say, google workspace for $29.49/month?

[ExtraSlow]

Cloud is easier and more reliable and potentially even more secure....

[killramos]

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Cloud is easier and more reliable and potentially even more secure....

It certainly sounds like a good use case for an MS 365 Subscription you are likely already paying for and SharePoint.

Guess it depends how complicated the financial models are. We often reverted to physical file servers for those because SharePoint had a nasty habit of blowing up models with iterative calculations.

I guess coming around I get it.

[ExtraSlow]

I can see that. If there's some kind of large data file that's too large to be used while calling from an offsite server, and you have dedicated physical workstations etc to run that in a physical location, on-site might be the way to go.

You know how I do it, nothing larger than a slide deck, and if at all possible, not even a big one of those. Actually, Off-topic, but that's one of my big projects this month. Cut down a really dense 116 slide presentation to about 50 slides. It's going to upset some of the bosses, but I think the customers will like it.

[bjstare]

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I can see that. If there's some kind of large data file that's too large to be used while calling from an offsite server, and you have dedicated physical workstations etc to run that in a physical location, on-site might be the way to go.

You know how I do it, nothing larger than a slide deck, and if at all possible, not even a big one of those. Actually, Off-topic, but that's one of my big projects this month. Cut down a really dense 116 slide presentation to about 50 slides. It's going to upset some of the bosses, but I think the customers will like it.

If it's a sales deck, your customers will like it even better if you can cut it in half again when you're done.

[ExtraSlow]

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If it's a sales deck, your customers will like it even better if you can cut it in half again when you're done.

Fuck bro I know.

[killramos]

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If it's a sales deck, your customers will like it even better if you can cut it in half again when you're done.

Ultimate goal being a one page

[ExtraSlow]

I'm glad I derailed this thread.