Questions That Are Often Asked

IT Support and Managed Services in Greater Vancouver, BC

Do you have questions about IT support for your business? You're not by yourself. We have answered the most common questions from small businesses, law firms, accounting firms, and healthcare clinics in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, and the Lower Mainland.

Questions in general

What does an IT support company really do for my business?

We take care of all the technology your team needs, like computers, servers, networks, email systems, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity. You don't have to wait for problems to come up; you have a dedicated team that keeps an eye on and fixes your IT so that problems don't get in the way of your work.

What's the difference between break-fix support and managed IT services?

Break-fix is reactive: you call when something breaks, pay for the visit, and hope it doesn't happen again. Managed IT services (MSP) are proactive because we always keep an eye on your systems, apply updates and patches, and fix problems before you even know they exist. Most businesses think managed services are cheaper because downtime costs a lot.

If I only have a small team, do I still need IT support?

Yes. Small teams are more likely to fail than big ones in many ways. If you don't have an IT department in-house, a data breach, ransomware attack, or hardware failure can have a big effect. A managed IT provider gives you enterprise-level protection and support for a lot less money than hiring someone full-time.

Can you help teams that work from home or in person?

Of course. We support teams that work entirely from home, a mix of home and office, or in person in Greater Vancouver. We can set up and manage secure ways for your team to work from anywhere, like VPNs and zero-trust solutions, cloud-based collaboration tools like Microsoft 365, and mobile device management.

Times of response and coverage

How quickly do you act when something goes wrong?

The severity of the problem determines how quickly we respond:

•      Critical issues (server down, complete network outage): response time of 1 hour

• High-priority issues, like email problems or application errors that hurt the team, should be answered within 2 to 4 hours.

•      Standard support requests (like problems with individual workstations or how-to questions) will get a response the same business day.

Every client gets a special support contact and access to our helpdesk portal.

Do you offer help after hours and on weekends?

Yes. For important problems, we are available to help after hours and on weekends. Our monitoring systems work all the time, so we know about serious problems even when we're not at work. As part of your service agreement, we can talk about options for coverage after hours.

What parts of Greater Vancouver do you work in?

We offer IT support in person and over the phone all over the Lower Mainland, including:

•      Vancouver

•      Surry

•      Burnaby

•      Richmond

•      North Van

•      Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities

•      Langley

•      Delta

•      New Westminster

•      South Surrey and White Rock

You can get remote support all over British Columbia.

Contracts and prices

What is the price of managed IT support in Vancouver?

The price depends on how many users and devices you have and what level of service you need. Most small businesses in Greater Vancouver pay between $100 and $200 CAD per user per month for IT support that is fully managed. This usually means monitoring around the clock, helpdesk support, security management, and regular maintenance. After a free consultation, we give you a clear, itemized quote with no hidden fees.

Do you have month-to-month contracts, or do I have to sign a long-term one?

We give you both choices. Most clients choose yearly contracts because they are cheaper and help us plan ahead for your infrastructure. But we also offer month-to-month plans for businesses that need more freedom. We are sure you will see the value right away.

Is there a minimum size of business you work with?

We work with companies that have between 3 and 200 users. We can make a support plan that fits your size and budget if you have at least one server, a team that needs tech, or client data that is sensitive.

Safety and compliance

How do you keep my business safe from hackers?

Our approach to cybersecurity is layered and looks to the future. It has:

•      Antivirus and endpoint detection for the next generation on all devices

•      Email filtering to keep out spam, phishing, and harmful attachments

•      Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts

•      Regular updates and patches for security and software

•      Training for employees on security awareness

•      Backup and disaster recovery with restoration methods that have been tried and tested

•      Monitoring the dark web to find stolen credentials

Do you know what PIPEDA and BC privacy laws say you have to do?

Yes. We know what Canadian businesses have to do to protect people's privacy under PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) and BC's PIPA. We help regulated industries like healthcare and law put in place the technical safeguards they need to stay compliant. These include data encryption, access controls, audit logging, and safe disposal of hardware.

Do you sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)?

Yes, for sure. We often sign NDAs with clients in the fields of law, accounting, healthcare, and finance. We work in a way that keeps things private. We only access your client data, business information, and systems when we need to in order to help you.

What happens to my information if I end my contract?

You always own all of your data. If you end your contract, we will help you smoothly switch to your new provider, give them all the paperwork and credentials, and make sure that no data is left in our systems. We can give you a written list of things to do when you leave so that nothing is missed.

Questions that are specific to the industry

Do you have experience working with law firms in Vancouver?

Yes. We help law firms all over Greater Vancouver and know what legal IT needs, such as document management systems, court filing deadlines, remote access for lawyers, and the Law Society of BC's rules on confidentiality. We can also help with moving to cloud-based legal practice management platforms.

Do you support accounting software like QuickBooks, Sage, or CaseWare?

Yes. We support a lot of different accounting software that companies in BC use, such as QuickBooks Desktop and Online, Sage 50 and 300, CaseWare, TaxCycle, and more. We take care of setting up the network, installing updates, and moving to the cloud for accounting environments. We know how important it is to stay up during tax season.

Are you in favor of medical clinics and healthcare providers?

Yes.In Greater Vancouver, we work with medical clinics, dental offices, physiotherapy practices, and other health care providers. We know what electronic medical record (EMR) systems need, how important privacy practices are for BC healthcare providers, and how important it is to have reliable systems when patient care is on the line.

Can you help my business move to the cloud?

Yes. One of the most important things we do is help people move to the cloud. We plan and carry out the move to Microsoft Azure or Microsoft 365 so that your team doesn't have to deal with too much downtime. We also take care of your cloud environment after the migration is done.

Still have questions?

We'd be happy to talk about your situation in more detail. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our team. There is no pressure to buy anything. Just clear answers about what IT support might look like for your business in Greater Vancouver.

→Give us a call at 778-909-5896.

→Email: hello@ayvant.ca

→Make a reservation online: Click here to reserve