itro

Fixed-fee IT support for Melbourne firms and small businesses

itro is a managed IT services company in Melbourne, Australia. It describes its role as taking the day-to-day risks and frustrations of IT away from a business and handing them to its own team of engineers. The firm works for small and medium-sized businesses, professional practices and the internal IT managers who look after technology inside larger organisations. Its stated approach is to keep a client's cloud and on-premises systems reliable, secure and compliant for a set monthly fee.

Who the firm supports

itro says it specialises in legal firms and financial institutions, and that it also supports businesses that have an internal IT manager needing outside help. It has been managing IT since 1999 and says most of its new clients arrive through recommendations from existing ones. Its engineers are described as local and approachable, and the company stresses plain English explanations for business leaders who do not want to read technical reports.

Managed support and the service desk

The core offer is managed support. itro monitors endpoints, runs a service desk for remote support, applies security patches and watches backups, so that problems can be caught and dealt with before staff notice them. The company says its engineers help with ordinary requests such as adding or removing users and licences, and with questions that involve a third-party supplier. Plans can include on-site routine visits, an annual training session and an annual external vulnerability scan. The company says it is revising its support plans to include stronger security as standard, and that it is moving from charging per device to charging per user.

Cyber security and threat response

Protection is a major part of the work. itro covers antivirus, advanced firewall monitoring, DNS protection and managed detection and response, so that threats are spotted and handled by people rather than left to alerts alone. It also describes multi-factor authentication as part of its security setup. The company says its engineers keep a client's team and its resources safe around the clock and that its aim is to keep IT spending under control as well.

Cloud, backup and recovery

On the infrastructure side, itro works with Microsoft 365, Azure and Windows Server, and it manages cloud and on-premises systems side by side for businesses that have not moved everything to the cloud. Its backup and disaster recovery service is designed to keep a business running if a system fails or a site is lost, and it includes monitoring of backup jobs so that failed backups are noticed quickly. Communications services, including voice over IP phones and internet connections, also fall within what the firm looks after.

Projects, consulting and procurement

Beyond the monthly support, itro runs infrastructure projects, offers IT consulting and helps with IT procurement, which means buying hardware and software for a client. Its consultancy looks at how systems are set up, what risks they carry and how a business can plan its technology over time. Customer stories on the company's site include a winemaker and several law and business groups, which the firm uses to illustrate how its services work in practice.

Free consultation

The company offers a free upfront IT consultation and review for prospective clients. The firm says the consultation lets a business see where its IT stands before it commits to a plan.