Service
IT consulting for businesses that do not have an IT department
Most small businesses do not need a full-time IT person. They need someone who knows what is running, keeps the boring safeguards in place, and can be reached when something stops working. That is the job we do.
What this service is, in plain terms
Technology in a twenty-person business usually accumulates rather than gets designed. A file share from the previous office manager, accounts belonging to someone who left in 2022, a backup that may or may not have run since the laptop was replaced. None of it is a crisis until the day it is.
Our approach is inventory first. You cannot secure or budget for systems you cannot list. We document every account, device, subscription and dependency, then work through the gaps in order of what would actually hurt: identity, backups, patching, then everything else.
We are based in Richland and work across Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland, which means we can be on site when a problem genuinely needs hands on hardware. Most work is remote because most problems are, but the option matters for the ones that are not.
The situation
What usually brings people to this page
Nobody knows what you are paying for
Subscriptions on three different cards, licenses for staff who left, and two tools that do the same thing bought by different departments. The monthly total is real money and nobody owns the list.
Former employees still have access
Offboarding removed the email account but not the shared drive, the design tool, the social accounts or the vendor portal. That is the most common way small businesses get compromised, and it is entirely preventable.
The backup has never been tested
Something is syncing somewhere. Nobody has attempted a restore. An untested backup is a belief, not a safeguard, and you find out which on the worst possible day.
IT support is whoever is least busy
The office manager becomes the help desk by default. Problems get solved with a search engine and a guess, fixes are undocumented, and the same issue comes back every quarter.
Scope
What you get
Everything below is included in a standard engagement. Anything outside it is quoted separately and named before work starts.
Full technology inventory
Every device, account, subscription, domain, license and integration documented in one place with owner, renewal date and cost. This alone usually pays for the first engagement.
Identity and access cleanup
Multi-factor authentication enforced, admin rights reduced to who needs them, shared logins replaced, and a written joiner-mover-leaver checklist that actually gets followed.
Backup and recovery you have tested
Backups configured for the systems that matter, with a documented restore procedure and a test restore performed in front of you, plus a stated recovery time expectation.
Security fundamentals
Endpoint protection, patching cadence, email authentication records, phishing awareness guidance and a short written incident plan. Fundamentals prevent most of what actually happens to small businesses.
Vendor and license rationalization
Duplicate tools identified, unused seats cut, renewals calendared. Savings here frequently offset a good part of the support cost.
Documentation your team can use
Written procedures for the things that recur: onboarding, printer setup, VPN access, password resets. Written so a non-technical person can follow them.
Responsive support
A named contact, an agreed response window, and remote support for day-to-day issues with on-site visits in the Tri-Cities when hardware is involved.
A rolling technology plan
What needs replacing and when, what is approaching end of support, and what next year should budget for. No surprises in Q4.
How it runs
The process, start to finish
- 01
Assessment
Two to three days of discovery across devices, accounts, network, backups and subscriptions, ending in a written report with risks ranked by likely impact.
Week 1 - 02
Fix what is dangerous
Access control, multi-factor authentication, backups and unsupported systems come first. These are the items that turn into an expensive week if left alone.
Weeks 2–4 - 03
Tidy and document
License cleanup, standard configurations, written procedures and a technology plan with dates and costs attached.
Weeks 4–6 - 04
Ongoing support
Monthly patching and review, quarterly restore tests, and support when something breaks, with a short written summary each month of what was done.
Ongoing
Outcomes
What changes when this is working
You know what you have
An inventory turns technology from a source of anxiety into a line item you can plan and budget against.
The obvious ways in are closed
Multi-factor authentication, proper offboarding and patched systems prevent the overwhelming majority of incidents that hit businesses your size.
Recovery is a procedure, not a panic
A tested restore with a known recovery time turns a hardware failure or a ransomware attempt into a bad day instead of an existential one.
Your team stops doing IT
The office manager goes back to their actual job, and problems get fixed once and documented rather than rediscovered quarterly.
Investment
How pricing works
The assessment is a fixed price and stands alone: you get the inventory, the risk report and the plan whether or not you continue with us. Ongoing support is a monthly figure based on user and device count.
What moves the number
- Number of staff and devices, which is the main driver of ongoing cost.
- How much remediation the assessment uncovers. Years of accumulated debt takes longer to unwind.
- Whether you need on-site presence and how often.
- Compliance obligations, which raise documentation and control requirements.
- Whether we manage vendor relationships and procurement on your behalf.
If you already have a competent internal person and just need a second opinion, buy the assessment and stop there. That is a legitimate outcome.
Typical timelines
- Assessment and written report
- 1 week
- Critical remediation
- 2–4 weeks
- Full cleanup and documentation
- 6–8 weeks
Yes, across the Tri-Cities — Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland. Most issues are resolved remotely and faster that way, but hardware, network and new-office work needs someone in the room.
Often, as a second opinion. The assessment is designed to stand alone: an independent inventory and risk report that either confirms things are in good shape or gives your person a prioritized list and the budget argument to fix it.
Typically five to fifty staff. Below that a good assessment and occasional help is usually enough. Above that you are approaching the point where an internal hire makes sense, and we will say so.
Response windows are agreed in writing and depend on severity. A system-down issue is treated differently from a printer that is misbehaving, and both have a stated target rather than a vague promise.
Yes. Enterprise customers and insurers increasingly send these. We map the questions to your actual controls, close the gaps that need closing, and help you answer honestly.
We advise on specification and can procure, but we are not tied to a vendor and take no kickback. If a standard laptop from a retailer is the right answer, that is the advice you get.
We administer both: tenant configuration, security baselines, shared drives, groups and licensing. Most cleanups start there because that is where identity and files live.
Usually yes at this size, and insurers now require specific controls such as multi-factor authentication and tested backups. Putting those in place lowers both your risk and your premium.
Related services
These are usually bought together, because they solve adjacent halves of the same problem.
- Business AutomationEvery business runs on a handful of small repeated tasks nobody was hired to do.
- Custom Software & SaaSThere is a point where configuring a generic product costs more than building the thing you needed.
- Website Design & DevelopmentMost business websites are brochures that happen to be online.
What clients say
5.0 on Google
These guys are super professional and top tier - they helped me rebuild my old site, run ads and created a custom CRM. I recommend !
Rafael Guerrero
Google review
Absolutely love my new website! All details are perfect & I’ve already had an insane increase in reach! They are definitely the way to go!
Averie Chindavat
Google review
Excellent team to work with, they helped me from the ground up!
Alan Trevino
Google review
Top notch services ! 10/10 will Keep working with Columbia tech
julio
Google review
Website Masters!
House Buyers
Google review
Next step
Ready to make work easier?
Share what is taking too long, failing to connect, or holding the business back. We will review your request and follow up by email.