IT support · Guide
IT support for small businesses in Ireland: a buyer's guide
Small businesses usually buy IT support in one of two ways: pay when something breaks, or pay a monthly fee for ongoing support. Either can work. What matters is knowing what you are getting, who owns your accounts, and how quickly someone will help.
Updated · Nexus Digital Ireland
The ways to buy IT support
- Pay as you go
- You call when something goes wrong and pay for the time or a fixed job price. Good for very small businesses with simple setups and few problems.
- Managed IT
- A monthly fee covers ongoing support, monitoring, updates and security for your people and devices. Good when downtime is costly or nobody in-house looks after IT.
- A mix
- Many small businesses start with pay-as-you-go help and a few fixed projects, then move to managed support as they grow.
What good IT support includes
- A clear way to ask for help, by phone, email or a portal, and a person who replies.
- Remote support for most problems, and on-site visits when hardware, networks or printers need hands-on work.
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration: new starters, leavers, licences and security settings.
- Device set-up, updates and protection.
- Backup that is checked and restore-tested.
- Written records: what you have, who has access, and what was done.
- Plain-English explanations and a price agreed before work starts.
Questions to ask any IT support provider
- How quickly will you respond, and fix?
- Response time and fix time are different. Ask for both, and for the hours they apply.
- Where can you come on site?
- Check they cover your location for visits, and what a visit costs.
- Who owns our accounts?
- Your Microsoft 365 tenant, domain and admin accounts should be in your business's name, with the provider given access you can remove.
- What is included, and what is extra?
- Projects, new equipment, licences and out-of-hours work are often charged separately.
- How do you handle our data?
- A provider with access to your systems processes personal data for you, so you need a data processing agreement under GDPR.
- How do we leave?
- Ask about notice periods, and how passwords, documentation and admin access are handed back.
- Who will we deal with?
- Know who looks after you and who covers when they are away.
Red flags
- The provider holds your only admin password, or the domain is registered in their name.
- No written price or scope before work starts.
- Long contracts with no clear exit or handover.
- Nobody can say when a backup was last restored.
- Problems are fixed but never explained or written down.
How Nexus Digital supports small businesses
Nexus Digital provides IT support for Irish businesses remotely anywhere in Ireland, and on site in the areas we cover. A person confirms scope and price before any work starts.
- One-off help and fixed-price jobs, without a contract.
- Managed IT for ongoing support, security and device management.
- Your accounts, domain and documentation stay in your business's name.
Questions
How much does IT support cost for a small business in Ireland?
It depends on how many people and devices you have and whether you pay as you go or monthly. Ask for a written price and what it includes. Nexus confirms scope and price before starting any work.
Do we need a contract for IT support?
Not necessarily. Pay-as-you-go help needs no contract. Managed IT is usually a monthly agreement, which should have a clear notice period and handover.
Can IT support be done remotely?
Most problems can be fixed remotely and quickly. Hardware, cabling, Wi-Fi and printers sometimes need a visit.
What is the difference between IT support and managed IT?
IT support often means fixing problems when they happen. Managed IT is ongoing: monitoring, updates, security and support for a monthly fee, aimed at preventing problems.
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