Good questions
frequently asked questions
Straight answers in plain English, the way we do everything else.
We’re your complete technology department: cybersecurity, day-to-day IT support, cloud platforms, backups, phones, and strategy. Some clients use us for everything (our Virtual IT Department), others for specific services like the 20 Layers of Cybersecurity or a Virtual CIO. Either way, everything we do starts security-first.
It’s our flagship defense-in-depth program: twenty overlapping safeguards, from 24/7 monitoring and endpoint detection to employee training, dark-web monitoring, and tested backups, arranged so that no single failure can become a catastrophe. See every layer explained here.
Honest answer: the layers exist because attackers exploit whichever one is missing. That said, we don’t sell checklists. We start with an assessment, show you which layers you already have, which gaps carry real risk for your business, and prioritize accordingly. You’ll never be pushed into something we can’t justify in plain English.
Most managed services are a predictable flat monthly rate based on your users and devices, so budgeting is easy and there’s no incentive for us to let things break. Project work (migrations, buildouts, websites) is quoted up front. No surprise invoices; that’s a promise.
Absolutely. It’s called co-managed IT, and it’s common. Your internal person keeps doing what they do best, and we add the security stack, after-hours monitoring, escalation depth, and strategic planning that’s hard for one person to cover alone.
We’re headquartered in Urbandale and love our Greater Des Moines clients, but modern IT management is largely remote, and we serve clients nationwide with the same tools, response times, and team. On-site needs outside Iowa are handled through scheduled visits and trusted partners.
Emergencies get immediate attention. That’s what the Emergency Support line is for. Routine issues are prioritized by impact, and because our monitoring catches most problems before you notice them, many “outages” are fixed before your morning coffee.
Call us immediately at 515.207.7777. Don’t power machines off, don’t pay anyone, and don’t “clean up” anything yet. Our Emergency Support page walks through the first steps while you’re reaching us.
Yes. This is one of the biggest reasons businesses come to us. Insurance questionnaires and frameworks like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and CMMC all ask for controls that our 20 Layers program already implements and documents. We’ll help you answer honestly, close gaps, and keep the evidence auditors want. Our cybersecurity stack provides discounts with some insurance providers.
Quieter than you’d expect. We start with an assessment and documentation of your environment, coordinate the handoff from your current provider (we’ve done this many times; it’s painless for you), deploy our security and monitoring stack, and hold a kickoff so your team knows exactly how to get help. Most onboardings complete within 2–4 weeks without disrupting your business. With no other provider, or when necessary, we can have your enviornment secure that day.
Both, plus the servers, mobile devices, and cloud platforms around them. For line-of-business software, we manage the vendors on your behalf, coordinating updates, hosting requirements, and support tickets so you’re never stuck playing telephone between two companies.
Because it isn’t a sales pitch or a slogan — it’s a mantra, repeated in every decision we make on your behalf. Security comes first in everything we build, not as an add-on at the end of a quote. Here’s what that discipline earns you.