Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT AREAS DOES CLOUD MATRIX IT SERVE?

We are headquartered in Martinsburg, WV, but operate seamlessly with our clients across the United States, serving clients from coast to coast.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE REMOTE LOCATIONS?

Cloud Matrix IT is focused on developing cloud specific solutions which allows us to service clients across the United States. While the majority of requests can be completed remotely, we understand the need for onsite service is sometimes required. We can generally have our engineers onsite within a day or two. 

WHAT TYPES OF CLIENTS DOES CLOUD MATRIX IT WORK WITH?

Your business needs are likely unique. So our solutions are designed to work within the formula of your business. Using technology in running a successful business is unavoidable. 99.99% of businesses use various types of technology to operate and function. We can handle clients in just about every industry. The types of clients who we serve best are those who depend on technology and generally have ~8-200 users. We have yet to find an industry that IT PROTECT couldn't help in creating a smooth and secure IT environment.

HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT IT PROTECT AND IF WE ARE A GOOD FIT?

This starts with an initial 45-60 minute meeting with a decision maker to discuss your company and what pain points you're currently experiencing. We'll discuss your IT goals and where your security posture stands. We spend most of the time listening and learning about your organization. Next, we will work with you and/or request access to various parts of your IT environment to get a better understanding of how they are configured. By this point we'll know enough to develop a proposal based on your specific business requirements and meet to review them. We'll also provide any high level recommendations we may have.

WILL OUR BUSINESS EXPERIENCE ANY DOWNTIME WHEN SWITCHING TO CLOUD MATRIX IT?

You should not expect much, if any periods of downtime while switching to IT PROTECT. We work with you to seamlessly integrate your environment with our solution. Any downtime of devices or networking equipment will be coordinated after hours and generally is a simple reboot. 

WHAT DOES SWITCHING FROM ANOTHER PROVIDER LOOK LIKE?

Switching from your current provider is usually a smooth process. We'll work with you to verify all your IT systems are known and migrated to IT PROTECT smoothly and efficiently. This includes the communication with your previous provider to gather information and document it within our management system. Additionally, we'll conduct various baseline assessments that will drive any immediate IT improvements to the environment. 

HOW LONG DOES THE ONABOARDING PROCESS TAKE?

The onboarding process generally takes about 7 days to complete. During these 7 days we'll be gathering information about your systems, getting complete access to the managed IT environment, and configuring you within IT PROTECT. On onboarding day, we will actively become your managed IT provider.

Our relationship with you is a large focal point and driving force of what we do. That's why onboarding day allows us the opportunity to come onsite if possible to host a luncheon with you and your staff. We get to introduce ourselves and begin learning more about how they use technology and how we might be able to assist.

IS THERE AN ONABORDING FEE?

In addition to other great benefits and incentives with IT PROTECT, clients choosing longer term commitments can see the fee heavily discounted or waved altogether.

WHAT MAKES CLOUD MATRIX IT DIFFERENT THAN OTHER IT PROVIDERS?

We are an organization driven by a focus on the relationships we have with our clients and a cybersecurity-first mindset. The relationship is pivotal to working with them in maintaining a solid and secure IT environment. We strive to provide a more personal touch by being more attentive to the client relationship. It's not uncommon for us to drop our clients occasional notes or cater lunch for the organization. For Cloud Matrix IT, if you're not thriving and successful, we aren't either. 

Our mission is to position your organization in the most optimal way possible to effectively mitigate any security incidents and swiftly restore normal operations. While completely averting security breaches may be an impossible task, we believe it is possible to develop and configure your technology in a manner that drastically minimizes downtime and reduces the impact of such incidents on your business operations. Our processes and industry best practices throughout every layer of technology keep your organization a well oiled machine.

WHAT IS IT PROTECT?

We designed IT PROTECT specifically for the modern business. Much more than IT support, It focuses on securing your environment at every level of technology, optimizing your IT to gain efficiencies throughout your organization, training employees to be more aware of security threats, reducing your overall spend on technology, and processes & industry best practices that position your business for growth. This comprehensive suite will help keep your IT environment safe and running smoothly so you can focus on your business.

We help our clients give their staff the IT support resources they need and enterprise level cybersecurity to protect the business from multiple angles. Protecting their workstations, email inboxes, and cloud productivity areas like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and so much more. 

Supporting your businesses in key areas: Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Strategy, & Support.

DO YOU BILL HOURLY FOR SUPPORT?

IT PROTECT was designed for the modern business to alleviate the burden of managing technology, be proactive in creating a smoother IT environment, increase efficiencies and education with every single employee, reduce the IT costs year over year, and secure your environment at each technology layer used by your organization.

It is near impossible to design a proactive solution with an hourly pricing model. There is little incentive to properly configure and protect you when your IT provider is charging by the hour. Our model is to charge a predictable monthly fee for unlimited support which makes it an incentive for us to proactively configure your infrastructure to run as smooth as possible.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED OUT-OF-SCOPE AND WHAT IS INCLUDED IN IT PROTECT?

IT PROTECT provides a comprehensive IT Support solution that manages, supports, monitors, and secures your business in these four areas: Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Strategy, & Support.

Help desk support services, network management, Dark web monitoring, business continuity and disaster recovery, M365 and Google Workspace backups, email security, cyber awareness training, endpoint security, a fully managed SOC+ Cybersecurity platform, Microsoft 365 security and risk management, and much more.

IT PROTECT is backed by a team of cybersecurity professionals watching your environment everyday, 24/7/365. All within a predictable monthly fee. Any new hardware/software or new projects are planned with you and will be priced separately from your managed IT agreement. However, all our managed IT clients receive a 20% discount on all project work, just for being enrolled within IT PROTECT.

Projects could include upgrading servers or workstations, document migrations, Microsoft 365 development, security appliance installs, or moving to another office would be initiatives out of the scope of IT PROTECT and would be quoted separately.

HOW MUCH DOES IT PROTECT COST?

Naturally, this is one of the first questions we get when discussing IT PROTECT, and the truth is it varies greatly. Some of the largest driving factors of price include the size of your organization, the amount of users, the complexity of your IT environment, your business requirements, or projects that may need to be completed. The lists can go on. We usually discuss your IT environment with you and your goals, and where you want to take your IT within our first 2 meetings to get an idea of costs. 

WHAT IS A SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER (SOC), AND DOES CLOUD MATRIX IT OFFER IT?

Picture this: in the vast battlefield of cyberspace, where threat actors lurk like cunning enemies, SMBs (your business) stand as a platoon of Marines defending their digital territories in the trenches all day, every day. An expertly managed SOC is going to be your close air support, your watch guard analyzing all the data and telemetry happening all around you. All the key electronic aspects that your business operates on is being not only constantly monitored, but ACTIVELY threat hunted by these cybersecurity experts 24/7/365 (even on weekends and holidays).

Cloud Matrix IT is proud to include a Fully Managed SOC+ Cybersecurity Platform to all our managed clients within IT PROTECT. SOC services have traditionally been out of reach for most SMBs because these cybersecurity experts and the tools used to actively research and threat hunt your environment have historically been too costly. Fully managed SOC services have never been more accessible to the modern business as they are right now. 

WHAT IS MANAGED DETECTION & RESPONSE (MDR), AND DOES CLOUD MATRIX IT OFFER IT?

Managed Detection & Response (MDR) is a proactive threat detection solution in real-time. It offers expert analysis and continuous monitoring to protect organizations from advanced cyber threats all businesses face every single day. It combines cutting-edge technology with skilled cybersecurity professionals to identify and respond to threats immediately. MDR employs advanced threat detection technologies, including behavioral analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, to identify and analyze potential threats. It continuously monitors network traffic, endpoints, and other critical assets to detect malicious activities, abnormal behaviors, and potential vulnerabilities.

MDR is included with our IT PROTECT solution, it provides SMBs 24/7/365 monitoring and support, ensuring constant vigilance and rapid incident response. This proactive approach helps organizations stay ahead of emerging threats, minimize dwell time, and mitigate the potential impact of cyberattacks further spreading throughout your environment.

WHAT IS THE IT PROTECT MANAGED SOC+ CYBERSECURITY PLATFORM?

Our IT PROTECT fully managed SOC+ cybersecurity platform is so much more than just a team of cybersecurity experts monitoring your endpoints 24/7/365. While that in itself is amazing, there's a lot more. SOC+ is a comprehensive managed cybersecurity offering for your business, consisting of Managed Detection & Response (MDR), Managed Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), Cloud Response Security (for Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace), Vulnerability Management, Application Control, Password Management, Email Security & filtering, Identity Management, and Incident Response. 

WHAT IS THE ADVANCED CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS TRAINING PLATFORM AND HOW CAN IT HELP PROTECT MY BUSINESS?

IT PROTECT includes a robust advanced training platform where your employees easily learn about the kinds of threats they will see while using technology and how to protect your business. This is done with little to no disruption to their workload but can greatly improve their security knowledge. Turning one of your businesses biggest risks into it's biggest assets. Elevating employee awareness on cybersecurity is one of the most important solutions you could deploy in protecting your business.

We train employees with automated micro learning that will turn them into a huge asset for your business. Employees can easily report suspicious threats right within their inbox in a few seconds, get a dedicated training portal where they can track their progress, and more. Its easy for staff and the best part is that they are learning to protect themselves, but also your entire business.

WHAT IF I NEED ADDTIONAL SECURITY SERVICES NOT OFFERED WITH IT PROTECT?

While SOC+ is a comprehensive security offering within IT PROTECT and provides much needed enterprise security for most businesses, we recognize some companies may need a targeted security coverage in a particular area. These areas could be related to compliance or insurance requirements. Examples of these could include data loss prevention (DLP) or penetration testing services. Cloud Matrix IT does offer these optional security solutions and would be quoted outside of your managed IT agreement. 

SHOULD I HAVE CYBERSECURITY INSURANCE AND DO YOU ASSIST CLIENTS IN OBTAINING IT?

We do recommend our clients carry cybersecurity insurance. This is an important layer of protection you should strongly consider if you need to recover from a major cybersecurity incident. We understand this type of insurance can be confusing and daunting to try and obtain. Not to mention expensive. Because most SMBs do not have the resources or knowledge to actively handle and recover from an incident, the cost for cyber insurance is increasing year over year.

As a managed client in our IT PROTECT solution, we are able to exclusively offer a fast track to obtaining cybersecurity insurance, which is generally much easier to apply for and considerably less costly(30%-50%) than directly sourcing it yourself. We're able to do this because the comprehensive security offered with IT PROTECT has been certified as enterprise protection following industry best practices.

HOW IS CYBER INSURANCE DIFFERENT THEN CYBERSECURITY SERVICES OFFERED IN IT PROTECT?

IT PROTECT was specifically developed for the modern business, offering robust protection against the multitude of cyber threats prevalent in today's digital landscape. Its primary objective is to proactively equip businesses with the necessary measures to swiftly counter and minimize the impact of a cyber incident. By effectively impeding the lateral movement of threats, IT PROTECT enables businesses to promptly restore normal operations, ensuring minimal disruption to their core activities.

Cybersecurity insurance will assist in many ways with getting back on your feet after a major cyber incident has taken place. Cyber coverage can offer many advantages such as specialty incident response, negotiating with threat actors on your behalf, and providing financial assistance while recovering from the incident.

WHAT KINDS OF PROJECTS DO YOU HANDLE OUTSIDE MANAGED IT SERVICES?

In addition to our Managed IT offering, we help clients with a lot of different types of projects. These could include website development and management, specific database application management. This really depends on the clients business needs. As IT strategists we like to chat with you first to understand your business requirement so we can formulate the correct solution that matches your need.

WHAT KIND OF MICROSOFT 365 SERVICES TO YOU OFFER?

Microsoft 365 is a game changer for SMBs. M365 offers a comprehensive suite of productivity tools, cloud storage, and collaboration features. It enhances productivity, promotes teamwork and communication, provides scalability and flexibility, ensures data security and compliance, streamlines IT management, and integrates with other Microsoft services. These benefits make M365 a valuable solution for businesses, enabling them to operate more efficiently, collaborate effectively, and stay competitive in today's digital landscape.

Cloud Matrix IT develops, manages, and secures M365 for our clients. This could include developing an enterprise document management solution in SharePoint, Teams training for your organization to communicate more efficiently, or developing virtual machines hosted in the cloud for you to securely access from anywhere. There is so much that M365 can provide your business and we can assist you with developing M365 to fit your business requirements.