Fully Managed IT
RPMC takes primary responsibility
Designed for organizations that want RPMC to function as the outsourced IT department. We often work primarily with an owner, office manager, or other business contact.
Co-Managed IT Services
You do not necessarily need to replace the person your team already trusts.
Give them backup. Co-Managed IT is an ongoing managed relationship for organizations that already have internal IT capability and want to divide responsibility deliberately between their team and RPMC.
Based in Barrie and working with businesses across Barrie, the surrounding region, Toronto and the GTA.
Internal knowledge stays
A different kind of responsibility
Co-Managed IT and Fully Managed IT solve different problems.
Neither model is automatically better. The difference is not a different bundle of software. It is who is responsible for what.
vs
Co-Managed IT
Responsibility is divided on purpose
Designed for organizations that already have an IT person or team they want to keep and support. Our main working relationship is often with that internal technical resource.
If you want RPMC to take primary responsibility for the IT environment, start with Fully Managed IT. If you want to strengthen the capability you already have, you are in the right place.
Explore Fully Managed IT
Reinforcement, not replacement
That knowledge has value. Co-Managed IT is not about replacing it.
A business can have someone responsible for IT and still need outside IT support. Sometimes that is an experienced IT manager or a small internal team. Sometimes it is a capable employee who became the person everyone calls.
In both cases, that person already knows the company: the people, the systems, the applications, the strange exceptions, and the history behind decisions that would not make sense to somebody walking in for the first time.
RPMC becomes another technical resource behind them. More depth. More capacity. Somewhere to go when the problem is bigger than the time, tools, or expertise available inside the company.
The point is not to create another IT department beside yours. It is to make the IT operation you already have stronger.
Two internal-IT realities
We respect both the dedicated team and the unofficial one.
Internal IT does not need to do everything alone. Additional support is not an admission that the person already doing the work is failing.
Dedicated internal IT
An IT manager, technician, administrator, or small team
They already understand the environment. They may still need capacity, escalation, specialist depth, vacation coverage, project assistance, monitoring, security support, or vendor coordination.
They should not have to carry every technical responsibility at once.
Unofficial internal IT
The trusted person who also has another job
Sometimes IT landed with the office manager, operations person, controller, engineer, or whoever understood computers better than everyone else. That does not mean they have done anything wrong. They may be very good at it.
They should not have to become the entire IT department by themselves.
The problem is not always ability
A capable IT person still has a limited number of hours.
One person can be excellent and still be asked to support employees, set up computers, deal with printers, manage Microsoft 365, watch backups, help with security, maintain servers and networks, work with vendors, document systems, plan upgrades, and finish a project that has already been pushed back three times.
Add vacation, illness, a major implementation, an office move, a security issue, or an unusually difficult technical problem, and the limits of a one-person or small IT department become obvious quickly.
Employee support
Microsoft 365
Printers
Backups
Servers
Vendors
Documentation
The postponed project
The issue that crossed three systems
Coverage while they are away
Asking for backup is not a verdict on the internal resource. It is a way to keep the operation from depending on one person doing everything.
Shared responsibility
Shared responsibility only works when responsibility is clear.
There is no useful reason to force every organization into the same division of duties. The important part is that the division is understood. Internal IT should know what it owns. RPMC should know what we own. Important work should not disappear into the gap between us.
Example, not a package
Internal IT close to the users
Internal IT often owns
Employee support and onsite work, because they already know the people and the environment.
RPMC often owns
Infrastructure, security, backup, monitoring, and escalation when the issue needs another layer.
Example, not a package
Internal IT keeps infrastructure
Internal IT often owns
Servers, networking, and the systems they already run well.
RPMC often owns
Microsoft 365, difficult troubleshooting, cybersecurity, vendor coordination, and projects.
Example, not a package
Help when demand spikes
Internal IT often owns
Everyday operations and the work that should stay close to the business.
RPMC often owns
Defined extra capacity when a large project or a period of unusually high demand would consume the whole team.
That clarity is one of the biggest differences between occasionally calling an outside IT company and having a real Co-Managed relationship.
Somewhere to escalate
Give difficult problems somewhere to go.
Every technical person eventually runs into something that does not make sense. The visible symptom is not always the root cause. Those problems are difficult partly because they cross boundaries.
Good troubleshooting means following the evidence rather than changing random things until the symptom disappears. The internal person should not have to spend three days alone on a problem simply because there is nobody else to ask.
Application
→
Authentication
Microsoft 365
→
DNS or identity
Computer
→
Identity
Server
→
Storage
Printer
→
Network
Software vendor
→
ISP
Sometimes RPMC solves the issue directly. Sometimes we help narrow down the cause. Sometimes another vendor has to make the final change. What matters is that the problem has somewhere to go.
Vendor coordination
Another provider should not mean another vendor to manage.
One of the least useful outcomes of bringing in outside IT is giving the internal IT person one more company they now have to supervise. That is not the relationship RPMC is trying to create.
If an issue involves Microsoft, an internet provider, a line-of-business application, a copier company, a cloud service, a hardware manufacturer, or another technology partner, RPMC can help manage the technical conversation: gather information, test, interpret logs, explain the environment, speak with the other provider, and keep the issue moving.
Another provider may ultimately need to perform the final fix. That is acceptable. Our job is to help move the technical need toward resolution.
Fully Managed
Often working with the business
RPMC may coordinate primarily with an owner, office manager, or other business contact.
Co-Managed
Working with the technical person
They speak technology. So do we. We are not trying to remove the internal resource from the conversation. We are working with them.
Start with what already works
Keep the knowledge that already exists inside the business.
An outside provider should not walk into an established environment and assume that everything needs to change. There may be good reasons behind a configuration, an old application that cannot simply be replaced, or a business process that depends on a system an outside technician has never seen.
Good Co-Managed IT should make your internal IT team stronger, not smaller. We want to understand what the internal resource handles well, what they want to keep, where they are stretched, which responsibilities create the most risk, and where outside help would genuinely improve the operation. Then we decide together where RPMC should fit.
What does internal IT handle today?
What do they want to continue handling?
What consumes too much of their time?
What keeps getting postponed?
Where do they need escalation?
Which systems create the most concern?
What happens when they are unavailable?
Which vendors are difficult to coordinate?
What projects are coming?
Where would another technical resource make the biggest difference?
Capacity and projects
Projects should not automatically stop routine support.
A capable IT department can still run out of capacity. Employees still need help while a new office is being opened. Security still needs attention while a cloud migration is underway. A major infrastructure project can consume the same people who keep normal operations running.
That creates an uncomfortable choice: delay the project, or neglect day-to-day work. Co-Managed IT gives the business another option. RPMC can take on defined responsibilities or provide additional technical capacity because an ongoing relationship already exists.
This is not temporary staffing. The managed relationship is still the foundation. RPMC learns the environment, understands the division of responsibility, participates in managing the technology, and remains available as part of the broader IT operation. When a larger project arrives, we are not starting from zero.
Coverage and continuity
Coverage should not depend entirely on one person's calendar.
Vacation should not require checking email every hour. Illness should not create a technology emergency. And the business should not discover during an incident that the only person who understands an important system is unavailable.
An ongoing Co-Managed relationship creates technical continuity because RPMC already knows the environment, already understands the responsibilities we share, and already has a working relationship with the internal IT resource. That is very different from finding an unfamiliar IT company after something has already gone wrong.
How we are available
Office hours, with emergency service
Normal RPMC office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding holidays. Emergency service is available 24/7, with emergency rates applying.
The exact operating arrangement for a Co-Managed client is defined as part of the relationship. How after-hours work is handled depends on those agreed responsibilities rather than assuming a fully staffed 24/7 Co-Managed help desk.
Tools support the relationship
The relationship should not be defined by the software.
A Co-Managed environment may involve monitoring, remote support, ticketing, documentation, security tools, backup systems, and other managed technology. Those systems help both sides see what is happening. They are not the reason to choose Co-Managed IT.
The value is having another technical resource that understands the business, understands the environment, knows what responsibilities RPMC has agreed to take, and can help move technical work toward resolution. Ticketing, monitoring, remote access, and shared workflows can be defined around the client's internal team and the responsibilities we share. The operating model should support the relationship, not force every client into an identical process because a piece of software works that way.
Monitoring
Remote support
Ticketing
Documentation
Security tools
Backup systems
An ongoing relationship
Co-Managed IT is not the same as occasional IT help.
RPMC can help with an isolated project, occasional escalation, break/fix support, or one-time technical assistance. That is a valid relationship. It is not Co-Managed IT.
Project or break/fix
Help with the issue in front of you
You call when something unusual happens, when a project needs finishing, or when you need an occasional escalation. The relationship is largely recreated each time. That work still matters.
IT Support & Help DeskCo-Managed IT
Continuity between one issue and the next
RPMC knows the environment. Responsibilities are defined. Managed systems and processes are in place where they make sense. The strongest Co-Managed relationships are built before the difficult day arrives.
For management as well
The business should see the difference too.
Co-Managed IT is often discussed from the IT team's perspective. Management should see the value too. The outcomes are practical.
Less dependence on one person knowing everything.
Fewer important tasks being indefinitely postponed.
Continuity when internal IT is away.
Difficult technical problems have somewhere to go.
Projects can progress without normal IT work stopping.
Technical people managing technical vendor conversations.
Clearer responsibility, instead of deciding who owns every new issue from scratch.
Better use of the internal team's time and knowledge.
Common questions
What people usually want settled first.
Will RPMC replace our internal IT person?
That is not the point of Co-Managed IT. The usual aim is to keep the knowledge already inside the business and add technical backup around it. If you want RPMC to take primary responsibility, Fully Managed IT is the better fit.
Do we have to split the work the same way as every other client?
No. Examples on this page are illustrations, not packages. The arrangement can change as the business changes, the internal team grows, a new location opens, or a new system creates different requirements. The principle stays the same: the internal resource should not have to carry every technical responsibility alone.
Is this the same as calling for break/fix when something is hard?
No. Occasional help is valid. Co-Managed IT is an ongoing managed relationship with defined responsibility, familiarity with the environment, and continuity between issues.
Do you provide 24/7 Co-Managed help desk coverage?
Normal office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding holidays. Emergency service is available 24/7 at emergency rates. How after-hours work is handled for a specific Co-Managed client is defined in the relationship rather than promised as a fully staffed overnight help desk.
Start with a practical conversation
Keep the internal knowledge. Add the technical backup. Make the responsibility clear.
A discovery call starts with your current IT operation, not a product list. We can talk through what internal IT already handles, what is working, where capacity is tight, where escalation is needed, and which responsibilities might make sense for RPMC.
From there, the work can be divided deliberately. RPMC becomes another technical resource your internal team can work with, escalate to, and rely on when a problem needs somewhere else to go.
No pressure, and no requirement to have the split figured out in advance. Based in Barrie, helping businesses in Barrie, Toronto and the GTA.