Managed IT
Managed IT for businesses
tired of "we'll get to it."
Managed IT is a flat-rate service where Dogwood takes ownership of monitoring, maintaining, and supporting your environment — so you're not the one chasing your IT provider.
Managed IT means one provider owns the outcomes, not just the hours. Every device monitored, every patch applied, every backup verified — and a help desk that picks up the phone. No per-incident billing. No "that's not our problem." One flat monthly rate, scoped to your environment.
Coverage
What's included in every engagement
24/7 endpoint monitoring & alerting
NinjaOneEvery managed device reports health, performance, and status around the clock. We see problems before your staff does.
Managed EDR + threat hunting
HuntressHuntress runs persistent threat hunting on every endpoint — not just signature-based detection. Human analysts review flagged activity. Automated tools miss things; Huntress catches them.
Documented environment
IT GlueRunbooks, credentials, network diagrams, warranty records, and vendor contacts — all maintained in IT Glue. If you ever leave Dogwood, the documentation goes with you.
Patch management — OS and third-party
Windows, macOS, and third-party applications patched on a defined schedule. Patch status is logged and reportable.
Backup verification (3-2-1-1-0)
3 copies of data, 2 different media types, 1 offsite, 1 offline — and 0 unverified backups. We test restores. A backup you haven't tested is not a backup.
Help desk — business hours + on-call after hours
Remote support during business hours for staff issues. After-hours on-call for outages and emergencies. You get a phone number, not a ticket queue.
Quarterly business reviews
Every quarter we review open issues, upcoming renewals, security posture, and anything on your roadmap. Written summary provided.
The Stack
Enterprise tools. Small business price.
We use the same platforms that MSPs use to manage enterprise environments. You don't get a lighter version because you're a 20-person shop.
NinjaOne
Remote Monitoring & Management
Every managed device reports in 24/7. Patch deployment, remote access, scripting, and health dashboards — all in one platform.
Huntress
Managed EDR + Threat Hunting
Persistent threat hunting backed by a 24/7 SOC. Huntress catches attacker persistence, footholds, and lateral movement that automated tools miss.
IT Glue
Documentation & Knowledge Base
Your entire environment documented — credentials, runbooks, network maps, vendor contacts, warranty records. If you ever leave, you take it with you.
Scope
What we don't cover — and why we say so upfront
Managed IT providers that scope themselves vaguely end up in arguments with clients. We'd rather be specific now than disappoint you later.
Line-of-business application development
We manage the environment your software runs on. We don't build or modify custom software.
In-house dev work for custom SaaS
If your business relies on a custom-built platform, we'll work with the developers who built it — we won't pretend to be them.
Vendor-specific application support
We coordinate with your software vendors and escalate on your behalf. First-line support for specialized LOB applications (EHR, practice management, DMS) belongs to those vendors.
ISP or carrier SLA enforcement
We monitor your connection and escalate issues to your ISP. We cannot fix the physical line.
We will coordinate with your software vendors. We open tickets, escalate on your behalf, and make sure your IT environment is set up to support their applications. We don't pretend to be them.
Pricing
How managed IT is priced
Managed IT is custom-quoted per seat and per site. There is no published menu price because the number depends on what's actually in your environment.
Managed workstations
Per seat / mo — primary cost driver
Managed servers
Per server / mo — physical or VM
Site fee
Per location / mo
After-hours coverage
Per seat / mo uplift if needed
Onboarding
One-time, per environment
Project work
Hourly, quoted per project
What we won't do:
- Quote you over the phone with no discovery call
- Tack on fees that didn't exist in the proposal
- Scope the engagement vaguely so we can charge for everything later
Discovery call first. Number on paper after.
FAQ
Common questions about managed IT
- What is managed IT and what does it include?
- Managed IT is a flat-rate service where Dogwood Security takes responsibility for monitoring, maintaining, and supporting your business computers, servers, and network. It includes 24/7 endpoint monitoring via NinjaOne, managed threat hunting via Huntress, full environment documentation in IT Glue, OS and third-party patch management, verified backups (3-2-1-1-0), business-hours help desk, after-hours on-call, and quarterly reviews.
- How much does managed IT cost for a small business in East Texas?
- Managed IT is priced per seat and per site, scoped to your actual environment. The number depends on how many workstations and servers you have, what line-of-business applications you run, whether you need after-hours coverage, and how many locations are involved. We do a discovery call first, then put a number on paper. We don't quote over the phone.
- What tools do you use to manage our environment?
- NinjaOne for remote monitoring and management, Huntress for managed endpoint detection and response (EDR) with human threat hunting, and IT Glue for full environment documentation. These are the same tools used by the MSPs serving enterprise clients — we don't run a lighter version for small businesses.
- What happens if we have an IT emergency after hours?
- You call a real number. After-hours on-call is included for outages and emergencies. Non-urgent issues can be logged and addressed the next business day. We define what counts as an emergency in the service agreement before you sign it.
- Do you work with our existing software vendors?
- Yes. We coordinate with your line-of-business software vendors, escalate tickets on your behalf, and make sure your IT environment is configured correctly to support their applications. We don't replace those vendor relationships — we manage around them.
- What does the onboarding process look like?
- After the service agreement is signed, we run a discovery process to document your full environment in IT Glue — every device, credential, network segment, and vendor contact. We deploy NinjaOne and Huntress agents to all managed endpoints. Onboarding typically takes one to two weeks depending on environment size. You get a written onboarding summary when it's complete.
- Are we locked into a long-term contract?
- There is a 12-month initial agreement. After that, the engagement is month-to-month. We don't use long contracts as a substitute for doing good work.
Ready to stop chasing your IT provider?
Discovery call first. Scope and number on paper after. No commitment until you've seen what we'd actually do.