Common Questions
Questions we hear most.
Straightforward answers about managed IT, pricing, security, and what it's like to work with Define Edge.
Our Service
About Managed IT
What is managed IT, and how is it different from break-fix support?✓✓
Break-fix IT means you only call someone when something breaks, you pay per incident and there's no one proactively watching your systems. Managed IT means we monitor, maintain, and support your technology continuously for a flat monthly fee. Problems get caught before they affect your business, and your team has a real IT department to call any time.
What is actually included in a managed IT plan?✓✓
Our managed IT plans include 24/7 monitoring of your workstations, servers, and network devices; remote helpdesk support during business hours; endpoint security management; patch and update management; backup monitoring; Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace management; and strategic IT guidance. Specific inclusions depend on the plan, contact us to talk through what fits your situation.
How quickly do you respond when something goes wrong?✓✓
Response and resolution are two different things. During business hours, our target response time is under 15 minutes, regardless of severity, someone acknowledges your request and starts triaging right away. Resolution time depends on the issue: critical problems that are stopping work get worked until they're fixed, while non-critical issues may be resolved later the same day or scheduled for a later visit. Every request goes into a ticketing system so nothing falls through the cracks. Managed clients also have a direct contact number, not just a generic support queue.
Do I need to sign a long-term contract?✓✓
We offer month-to-month managed IT plans. We would rather earn your business by doing good work than keep you around with a contract. Most clients stay long-term because the value is clear, not because they're locked in.
How does onboarding work when we start?✓✓
Onboarding takes 1-2 weeks depending on the size of your environment. We deploy our monitoring and remote management agents, document your systems and credentials, review your security posture, and make sure everything is properly configured. Most clients are fully onboarded with no disruption to their day-to-day work. See how onboarding works step by step.
We already have an IT provider, how disruptive is switching?✓✓
Less than most people expect. We handle the transition directly with your current provider, collecting documentation, transferring credentials, and taking over systems in a planned sequence. Your team keeps working the whole time. Most of the switch happens behind the scenes. See what switching looks like.
What happens if we decide to leave Define Edge?✓✓
You leave with everything, full documentation of your environment, all passwords and credentials, and a clean handoff to whoever comes next. Your systems, accounts, and data belong to you, not to us. We think holding clients hostage with locked-up documentation is one of the worst habits in this industry, and we built our offboarding process to be the opposite of that.
Pricing & Billing
Pricing
How much does managed IT cost?✓✓
We price managed IT per user per month, so cost scales with your team size. For most small businesses, the investment is modest compared to what a single IT problem, a ransomware attack, a week of downtime, one bad hardware failure, would cost. Use our free downtime cost calculator to see what an hour of downtime could mean for your business, then contact us for a specific quote based on your team size and needs.
Are there hidden fees or extra charges I should know about?✓✓
Flat monthly pricing covers remote support and monitoring, no surprise charges based on ticket volume or time spent. On-site visits are billed separately at an hourly rate, quoted before we come out; they are not included in the monthly plan. Project work outside the scope of your plan (new office builds, major migrations, hardware procurement) is scoped and quoted in advance, usually at a flat project rate, so you always know what something will cost before we start.
Can I add or remove users from my plan?✓✓
Yes. Plans scale with your team. Adding a new employee is straightforward, we onboard their device and add them to the plan, following our new hire IT checklist. If someone leaves, we handle offboarding (removing access, securing their accounts) using our offboarding checklist and adjust the plan accordingly.
Technical Questions
Technical Support
Do you support Macs, or just Windows?✓✓
We support both Windows and macOS. Most of our clients run Windows, but we manage mixed environments regularly. Our monitoring, remote support, and security tools work on both platforms.
What happens if a computer crashes or needs to be replaced?✓✓
If a device fails, we handle the recovery or replacement process, restoring from backup if data was on the device, procuring a replacement if needed, and getting the user back to work as fast as possible. Because we monitor hardware health, and track age against our hardware end-of-life estimates, we often catch signs of impending failure before the device actually goes down.
Can you support employees who work remotely or hybrid?✓✓
Yes. Remote workers are fully supported, our monitoring and remote support tools work regardless of where the device is located. We also handle VPN configuration, cloud access setup, and security for remote workers so they're as protected at home as they are in the office.
What about internet and ISP issues?✓✓
We don't control the ISP, but we coordinate with your provider on your behalf, help troubleshoot whether an issue is on their end or yours, and can often identify the root cause faster than a general ISP support call. Not sure how much bandwidth your office actually needs? Try our free bandwidth estimator. If your internet goes down, we're the first call.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity
What security tools do you actually use?✓✓
We deploy layered security: endpoint protection (antivirus and EDR) on every managed device, email filtering to catch phishing before it reaches inboxes, multi-factor authentication across all business applications and systems, firewall management, automated backup, and employee security awareness. The specific tools vary by client need, we don't lock you into one vendor stack. For deeper security needs like penetration testing, we work alongside specialized third-party cybersecurity partners so you get the right level of expertise.
What happens if we get hit with ransomware?✓✓
If you're a managed client, we respond immediately, isolating affected systems, assessing the scope, and beginning recovery from backup. Because we maintain tested backups for managed clients, ransomware recovery is a process, not a catastrophe. If you're not yet a managed client and get hit, we can still help with incident response, contact us directly.
Do you help with compliance requirements like HIPAA or PCI?✓✓
Yes. We work with healthcare practices on HIPAA-compliant IT configurations, and with businesses that handle card payments on PCI-relevant controls. We're not a compliance attorney or auditor, but we handle the IT side of compliance: secure configurations, access controls, audit logging, encryption, and documentation that supports your compliance posture. If you already work with a compliance attorney or auditor, we're glad to coordinate directly with them to make sure the technical side lines up with their requirements.
Working With Us
Getting Started
We already have an IT company. Can you take over?✓✓
Yes, switching IT providers is something we handle regularly. We do a thorough onboarding that documents your current environment, gets monitoring and security in place, and ensures continuity of service. We find that transitions also uncover issues the previous provider left unaddressed, which is often part of why clients are switching in the first place.
What areas do you serve?✓✓
Our primary service area covers Central New Jersey, Toms River, Brick, Lakewood, Jackson, Point Pleasant, Barnegat, and surrounding Ocean & Monmouth County communities. For New York metropolitan area clients, we provide primarily remote managed IT with on-site available as needed. Contact us if you're outside these areas, we may still be able to help.
How do I get started?✓✓
Start with a free IT assessment. We'll review your current setup, identify what's working and what isn't, and give you a clear picture of what needs to be addressed, no obligation. Use the form on this page, message us on WhatsApp at 732-908-2800, or email info@defineedge.com.
Get started
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Get a free IT assessment and ask us anything about your specific situation. No obligation, no pressure.