Services
Managed IT services with the response times in writing
A remote helpdesk, device and account management, licence tracking, and website and server maintenance, under one agreement that says how fast we respond and what counts as urgent.
Managed IT services mean one outside team looks after your devices, accounts, software licences, helpdesk and websites for a monthly fee, under an agreement that states how quickly they respond. Meritbyte Technologies, a Nepal-based web and software development company, provides this remotely to small and mid-size businesses, with response times in writing and every account kept in the client's name.
Who needs managed IT?
IT outsourcing of this kind suits businesses too small for a full-time IT person and too big for the office manager to keep doing it on the side. You probably need it if:
- Nobody knows how many Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace seats you pay for.
- Someone who left months ago can still open the shared drive.
- Laptops install updates whenever their owners get round to it.
- The website's plugins were last updated the week it launched.
- The only person with the domain registrar login no longer works for you.
Most of these are not technical failures. They are nobody's job, so they do not get done.
What do managed IT services cover?
| Area | What we look after |
|---|---|
| Devices | Enrolment in Microsoft Intune, patching, disk encryption with BitLocker or FileVault, remote lock and wipe for lost laptops and phones |
| Accounts and access | Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration, MFA for everyone, shared mailbox and drive permissions |
| Joiners and leavers | A checklist for each: accounts, licences, devices and shared passwords handled the same day |
| Licences and renewals | A register of every subscription with seat count, owner, cost and renewal date; unused seats cancelled |
| Helpdesk | Tickets by email or portal, remote sessions, and plain-language answers to how-do-I questions |
| Websites | CMS and plugin updates tested on staging first, uptime monitoring, backups with restore tests, SSL renewals, form checks |
| Servers and cloud | Operating system patching, backups, disk and error monitoring |
| Security basics | A password manager, email authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), and phishing-resistant MFA where your systems support it |
For deeper work, such as a penetration test or a written incident plan, our cybersecurity services take over. Our guide to website maintenance explains what the website side should involve.
Why response times belong in the agreement
"We'll get to it quickly" is not a service level. A managed IT agreement should define priority levels, a response target for each, how often you get updates while it is open, the hours covered, and what happens when targets are missed.
A typical structure looks like this. The actual targets are agreed per client, because they depend on covered hours and price:
| Priority | Example | What the agreement should state |
|---|---|---|
| P1 Critical | Website down, nobody can sign in to email | Response target within covered hours, update interval, who gets phoned |
| P2 High | One team cannot work, or checkout errors | Response target, and when a workaround is expected |
| P3 Normal | One person's laptop problem, a new starter to set up | Response within an agreed number of business hours |
| P4 Request | A new shared mailbox, a licence change | Scheduled into the week |
Two details are often fudged. First, response time is not resolution time: a reply saying "we're on it" meets the first but not the second, so ask for both where it matters. Second, covered hours need a time zone. We work on Nepal time (UTC+5:45, no daylight saving), which overlaps the afternoon in Australia and the morning in the UK, while it runs through the US night. If you need someone at 9 a.m. in New York, say so during scoping; it changes staffing and price. Our post on working across time zones goes into how that works day to day.
What we do not do
Our support is remote. We do not send engineers to offices abroad, so anything physical, such as replacing a laptop screen, running cables or fixing a printer, needs a local repair shop or your hardware supplier. We can write the specification, deal with the supplier and set the new device up remotely once it arrives. If most of your problems are physical, a local provider will serve you better.
How onboarding and support run
- Introductory call, no charge. Your team, devices, systems and websites.
- Onboarding as a fixed-price first milestone. An audit of devices, accounts, licences, domains and websites; anything registered in someone else's name moved into your company's; a password manager rolled out; the environment documented; the agreement and its response times signed. Onboarding runs in two-week blocks, each ending with a walkthrough of what was found and fixed.
- Monthly retainer. A set number of days a month covering the helpdesk, patching, maintenance and reporting.
The monthly report lists tickets by priority with the response times actually achieved, patches applied, backups restored in testing, renewals coming up and licences cancelled. You also get a written update from your project manager every week.
Tools, and why these
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace admin consoles, since you already pay for one of them.
- Microsoft Intune to manage Windows, macOS and mobile devices from one place, including remote wipe.
- Bitwarden for shared credentials: an open-source password manager, with the organisation vault owned by your company.
- Cloudflare for DNS and to put a firewall and cache in front of your website.
- UptimeRobot to check that websites and key services respond, with alerts to the people on duty.
- Freshdesk, or your existing helpdesk, so every request has a ticket and a timestamp.
How managed IT is priced
Providers commonly charge per user per month, per device per month, or for a set number of days a month; software licences are billed to you directly by Microsoft, Google and other vendors. What moves the price:
- Number of users, devices, websites and servers.
- Covered hours: business hours, extended hours or 24/7.
- How tangled the starting point is, which mainly affects onboarding.
- Security or compliance requirements from your customers or regulator.
- The age and variety of your equipment.
Our pricing page explains how we put a quote together.
Red flags when choosing an IT support provider
- Admin accounts, domains or licences registered in the provider's name.
- No written response times, or response times without defined priorities.
- A monthly fee with no monthly report.
- Long auto-renewing contracts with exit fees and no handover clause.
- "It's all in our system" in place of documentation you can read.
- Remote access tools installed with no record of who can use them.
Frequently asked questions
What is included in managed IT services?
Usually device management and patching, user accounts and licences, a helpdesk, backups, and maintenance of websites and servers, all under one monthly agreement. A good agreement also lists what is excluded, such as on-site hardware repairs, new projects or software development, and how those are quoted, so there are no arguments about scope later.
Can you support our office if you are based in Nepal?
Remotely, yes. Accounts, devices, websites and servers can all be managed over the internet, and most helpdesk requests are solved in a remote session. Physical work needs someone on site, so for hardware repairs and cabling we coordinate with your local supplier. We agree the covered hours in your time zone before signing, and they go into the agreement.
What is the difference between response time and resolution time?
Response time is how quickly someone acknowledges a ticket and starts work on it. Resolution time is how long until the problem is actually fixed. Many agreements promise only the first. For critical issues, ask for both a response target and an update interval, so you hear progress regularly even when the fix itself takes a while.
Do you maintain websites you did not build?
Yes. We start by taking a full backup, checking what the site runs on, and testing updates on a staging copy before touching the live site. Very old themes or abandoned plugins sometimes need replacing, and we will tell you when a site would cost less to rebuild than to keep patching. WordPress sites are the most common case.
What happens if we want to switch providers?
Nothing breaks. Accounts, domains, licences and the password vault are already in your company's name, and the environment is documented as part of onboarding. We hand over the documentation, remove our own access, and answer the new provider's questions during the changeover. A provider that makes leaving hard is a reason to leave sooner.