Looking for managed IT services in Chapel Hill?
We are not a managed IT provider. This page explains what we do instead, and how to tell in about two minutes whether we are any use to you.
What managed IT usually means
A managed IT provider keeps your technology running day to day. A help desk when a laptop dies, patching, backups, someone watching your systems, usually billed per person per month. If that is what you are after, an MSP is what you want, and there are good ones around the Triangle.
We do not do that, and this page exists so you can work that out in two minutes rather than after a call.
What we do instead
| A managed IT provider | Barsho Systems |
|---|---|
| Keeps the lights on day to day | Works out what you should be running, and whether it is safe |
| A help desk when something breaks | No help desk, and we say so up front |
| Monitors and patches your systems | Reviews how they are set up and who can reach what |
| Per person, per month, ongoing | Fixed price per piece of work, or a monthly advisory retainer |
| Often cannot answer a client's security questionnaire | That is the day job |
How to tell which one you need
If the problem is that things break and nobody fixes them quickly enough, you need a managed IT provider.
If the problem is that nobody can tell you whether any of it is safe, or a client is asking security questions you cannot answer, or you are about to commit real money to software and there is nobody in the room who can judge it, that is us. A Security Health Check from $1,800 is usually where that starts, and a vCTO or vCISO where it continues.
Plenty of businesses need both, which is the next section.
Working alongside your managed IT provider
This is common and it works well. They keep things running. We do the security review, the HIPAA or SOC 2 preparation and the technology decisions, and we can sit on the calls where those two overlap. The jobs want different people: asking whoever runs your systems to also be the one checking that work puts them in an awkward position, and it is the first thing a serious client questionnaire will probe.
Where we work
The business is based in Chapel Hill. We work in person across Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Durham, Raleigh and Apex, and remotely with businesses anywhere else. More on each area.
Common questions
No. There is no help desk, no round-the-clock monitoring and nobody on call at 3am. We would rather say that plainly than have you find out after signing.
Often yes, and it is a common arrangement. Your provider keeps things running. We do the security review, the HIPAA or SOC 2 work and the technology decisions. Asking the people who run your systems to also be the ones checking that work puts them in an awkward position.
We have no referral arrangement with anyone and take no fee for an introduction. What we can do on the call is tell you what to look for, what to ask about their security practices, and which parts of a quote are worth pushing back on.
No. Installing machines, fixing printers and resetting passwords are not things we do. That is genuinely a managed IT provider's job and they will do it better and cheaper than we would.