Managed IT services that take IT off your plate

Managed IT services means hiring an outside company to act as your IT department for a predictable monthly fee. Instead of calling someone after something breaks, the provider monitors and maintains your computers, servers and network around the clock, supports your users, protects you from cyberthreats, manages backups and helps you plan for what’s next. At Fairoaks IT, that’s been our core business since 1991, for businesses across Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Charlotte, NC area.

What’s included

Break-fix means paying by the hour when something breaks, and it puts the risk on you: the provider makes more money when your systems have more problems, and costs swing from nothing one month to thousands the next. Managed IT flips that. A monthly fee covers ongoing monitoring, maintenance and support, so the provider does better when your systems run well. For most businesses, preventing problems costs far less than fixing them.

Get the free IT Buyer’s Guide (PDF)

Most of the work happens before you notice a problem. Monitoring flags failing hard drives, full disks and security alerts. Updates are applied on a schedule. Backups are checked. When someone needs help, they call, email or use a portal, and a technician starts on it, usually remotely. A good provider also handles new employee setups, works with your software vendors and meets with you to plan upgrades and budgets.

How support works

Usually, once you have around 10 or more people on computers every day, or your business can’t afford to lose a day to an outage. The real comparison isn’t the monthly fee versus your current IT bill. It’s the fee versus downtime, lost productivity, a security incident and the time you or your best employee spend managing IT instead of running the business.

Get the free IT Buyer’s Guide (PDF)

Co-managed IT is for businesses that already have an internal IT person or team. Instead of replacing them, we work alongside them: help desk backup, security tools and monitoring, backup, big projects, vacation coverage and after-hours help when you need it. Your IT person stays your front line and keeps their day-to-day knowledge of the business, and you stop depending on one person for everything.

How our plans work

For most businesses with fewer than about 100 employees, one internal hire is the riskier choice. One person can’t be an expert in networks, servers, cybersecurity, cloud and compliance at once, and they take vacations and sick days. When they leave, what they know leaves with them. If you already have a good IT person, co-managed IT gives them a full team behind them instead of replacing them.

How co-managed IT works

Every plan starts with 24/7 monitoring, security updates and endpoint protection. Most plans add network monitoring, firewall management, backup management, security awareness training and planning help. Our fully managed plan adds unlimited help desk during business hours, onsite support, user changes and new employee setups, vendor management, network documentation and regular technology reviews. We recommend the right fit after an assessment.

How our plans work

Hardware, software licenses and larger projects, like a server replacement, an office move or a cloud migration, are quoted separately with almost any provider. On our lighter plans, help desk time and onsite visits are billed as you use them; our fully managed plan includes them. Options like our advanced security option, after-hours support, compliance programs and phone system management are available on any plan. Every cost is explained up front, so there are no hidden fees or surprise invoices.

What you can count on

Our average time to start on a support issue is under 12 minutes. Live support runs during business hours, Monday through Friday, with after-hours support available for emergencies. Most issues are solved remotely while you’re on the phone, and when something needs hands on it, we send a technician.

How support works

Yes. From our offices in Franklin, MA and Belmont, NC, our technicians go onsite across Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Charlotte, NC area when remote support isn’t enough: hardware failures, network closets, new office setups and anything that needs hands on it. Onsite support is included in our fully managed plan and billed as needed on lighter plans.

Managed IT in Massachusetts and Rhode Island  |  Managed IT in the Charlotte, NC area

Yes. Live support runs during business hours, and after-hours support is available for emergencies, like a network that’s down or a critical system that stops your team from working. We can also tailor after-hours help for businesses that run extended hours or multiple shifts. We’ll walk you through how it works and how it’s billed before you sign.

How support works

Any way that’s easy for them: call, email or submit a request through our client portal. Every request is tracked in our service management system so nothing gets lost, and a real person answers the phone during business hours. Your team never has to guess who to call.

How support works

Yes. When a problem crosses into your software vendor’s, internet provider’s or phone company’s side, we open the case, give them the technical details they need and stay on it until it’s resolved. A single point of contact for every technology issue, including help with your other vendors, is part of our Client Bill of Rights.

What you can count on

Yes, and it should be with any provider. Security updates, endpoint protection and 24/7 monitoring come standard with every Fairoaks IT plan. Most of our plans add staff training and phishing simulations, and our advanced security option adds a 24/7 security operations center with advanced threat detection and response. We recommend the level of protection that fits your risk, your insurance and your compliance requirements.

Managed security services

A security operations center, or SOC, is a team of security analysts that watches for threats around the clock and responds when something suspicious happens, like an unusual login at 2 a.m. or ransomware starting to spread. Basic monitoring catches failing hardware and missed updates; a SOC catches attackers. For businesses with sensitive data, compliance requirements or cyber insurance demands, it’s increasingly worth it. Our advanced security option includes one.

How our plans work

Backups only matter if they restore. With our backup and disaster recovery service, your systems are backed up to an onsite device and the cloud with daily recovery verification, so a failed server, a deleted file or a ransomware attack doesn’t mean lost data. We’ll walk you through a realistic recovery timeline before you ever need it. Ask any provider when they last test-restored a client’s backup.

What’s included

With the right preparation, a bad day instead of a business-ending one. Disconnect affected computers from the network, call us immediately and don’t pay a ransom before it’s been assessed. We contain the attack, figure out what was affected, restore from clean backups and work with your cyber insurance carrier, attorney and law enforcement as needed. How incident response is handled is spelled out in your agreement before you sign.

Managed security services

Yes. We help businesses meet the technical side of requirements like the FTC Safeguards Rule for tax and accounting firms, NIST 800-171 and CMMC for defense suppliers, HIPAA for healthcare, and Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00 for anyone holding Massachusetts residents’ personal information. That includes risk assessments, written security policies, security testing and the documentation auditors and customers ask for. Compliance programs are available on any plan.

CMMC and NIST 800-171  |  Accounting and tax firms

Yes. Microsoft 365 support is part of our managed services: email, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, security settings like multi-factor authentication, and help for your users. Many businesses pay for Microsoft 365 features they’ve never turned on, so we also review your setup and close the gaps. The licenses themselves are billed separately.

Cloud computing

It depends on how many people and devices you support, how many locations you have, your security and compliance needs, and how much is included in the monthly fee versus billed as used. Most providers price per user or per device each month, with onboarding and projects quoted separately. Compare what’s included, not just the total. Our IT Buyer’s Guide breaks down typical industry pricing and the contract terms to watch for.

Get the free IT Buyer’s Guide (PDF)

Our plans range from monitoring and maintenance with support billed as you use it, to fully managed IT with unlimited help desk during business hours, onsite support and regular planning. An advanced security option adds a 24/7 security operations center, and co-managed IT backs up in-house IT teams. We don’t ask you to pick from a menu. We assess your environment first, then recommend the fit for your business and budget.

How our plans work

Many managed IT agreements run for multiple years, which locks in your rate and gives your provider reason to invest in your environment. What matters is what happens if things aren’t working, so ask every provider two questions: what happens if you don’t deliver, and how are price increases handled? Get both answers in writing. At Fairoaks IT, ours are spelled out in our agreement, and we’ll walk you through every page before you sign.

What you can count on

Most managed IT providers charge to onboard a new client, because the first weeks involve real work: documenting your systems, installing monitoring and security tools, fixing urgent risks and getting your team set up. Ours is quoted up front with everything else, so you know the full cost before you sign.

How working with us starts

Yes. Many clients start with the coverage they need most and add security, compliance or fuller support as they grow. We’ll tell you honestly where a lighter plan leaves you exposed, so you can decide with the full picture.

How our plans work

With a plan built around your schedule. A good transition starts by documenting every system, password, license and vendor, then a coordinated handoff from your current provider. Changes are scheduled around your busiest times, not during them. Urgent risks like backups and multi-factor authentication get fixed first, and bigger projects wait until things are stable. Fairoaks IT assigns a point of contact and holds weekly check-ins until onboarding is complete.

How working with us starts

We review your network, servers, computers, Microsoft 365, backups and security tools with our proprietary 27-point assessment. You get a plain-English report on what’s working, what’s at risk and what to fix first, with monthly support and one-time projects kept separate. No scare tactics, just facts. It starts with a discovery call.

Schedule a discovery call

Only if you want them to. Our assessment can be done 100% remotely, with or without your current IT company knowing. If you decide to switch, we coordinate the handoff professionally, including when the outgoing provider isn’t cooperative.

Schedule a discovery call

If you have around 10 or more people on computers every day, or technology problems stop your business when they happen, managed IT usually makes sense. A short discovery call is the fastest way to know.

Schedule a discovery call

Businesses of all kinds, with deep experience in construction, manufacturing, accounting and tax firms, defense suppliers, professional services, healthcare and churches. Our industry pages go deeper on the software, rules and day-to-day realities of each.

Industries we know

From our offices in Franklin, MA and Belmont, NC, we serve businesses across Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Charlotte, NC area, including York County, South Carolina.

Managed IT in Massachusetts and Rhode Island  |  Managed IT in the Charlotte, NC area