Frequently asked questions

No. Microsoft 365 is a strong default for many SMEs (especially if you already live in Outlook and Teams), but it isn't mandatory.

Google Workspace, hybrid setups, and retaining certain on-prem roles are all fine when they match how your team actually collaborates. We'll look at email volume, file sharing, compliance needs and budget — not which vendor pays us a higher partner kickback.

If a migration does make sense, we'll scope it properly with a tested cutover plan rather than "flip a switch on Friday and hope".

We plan cutovers for evenings or weekends wherever possible so trading hours stay protected. Most mailbox migrations end with users simply signing into Outlook or the web apps the next morning.

You'll get a plain-English runbook beforehand: what happens when, what users need to do (if anything), and who to contact if something looks wrong.

Some older line-of-business apps need extra testing. We'll call that out early rather than discovering it mid-migration. Short, planned windows beat surprise outages every time.

We're based in Heckmondwike and primarily serve businesses across West Yorkshire — including Dewsbury, Batley, Huddersfield, Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and surrounding towns.

Remote support is available UK-wide for most day-to-day issues. That means we can fix email problems, password resets, software installs and many workstation issues without travelling.

For on-site work (networking, hardware installs, office moves), we usually attend within West Yorkshire same-day or next-day depending on urgency and schedule. If you're further afield, ask us — we'll tell you honestly whether a visit makes sense.

Yes — that's most of our clients. Many come to us after years of "someone's nephew" support, an outdated retainer that never answers the phone, or no support at all until something breaks.

We'll start with a free consultation to understand how you work, what kit you have, and where the pain points are. From there we recommend a sensible next step: a one-off tidy-up, pay-as-you-go helpdesk, or a managed monthly plan.

You don't need a perfect inventory or technical documentation before calling us. We'll help map what you've got as part of getting started.

Absolutely. We're not here to rip-and-replace everything for the sake of it.

Many clients keep their preferred ISP, phone provider, photocopier lease, line-of-business software, or accountant-recommended tools. We work alongside those relationships and only recommend changes when something is unreliable, insecure, or clearly overpriced for what you get.

If a supplier isn't delivering, we'll help you challenge them or plan a clean migration — with documented credentials and a clear handover so you're not locked in again.

Our standard business hours are Monday–Thursday 09:00–17:30 and Friday 09:00–17:00 (excluding bank holidays).

During those hours, managed support clients get priority response and the full helpdesk. Pay-as-you-go customers are scheduled into the same window for remote or on-site work.

If your business runs evenings or weekends (retail, hospitality, multi-shift ops), we can agree out-of-hours cover in advance — typically as a retainer on top of managed support. That includes triage, remote remediation, and emergency call-outs when something business-critical fails after hours.

Yes. Once you have a client portal login, go to My account → Services to see active agreements attached to your organisation — for example managed support seats, Microsoft 365, backup, or care plans.

Our team assigns those services after your agreement is live, including useful labels (like "Main office") and seat counts where relevant. If something's missing, raise it with us and we'll correct it.

The same portal shows recent bookings and lets you open support tickets, so you're not relying on email threads alone to know where things stand.

Anyone can register for a client account using the Register page. That gives you access to book consultations, raise tickets, and view anything we later attach to your user.

Services only appear once MBITGROUP assigns them — usually after you've agreed managed support or a project. Registration alone doesn't create a billing relationship; it just gives you a secure place to interact with us.

If you're the office manager for a company already with us, ask us to invite or enable your login and link the right services so you can see the live estate without chasing invoices for clues.

Managed support is billed as a clear per-user (or per-device) monthly fee so you can budget ahead. What's included is listed in the agreement — no padded "project fees" for routine tickets covered by the plan.

One-off work — repairs, installs, web builds, cabling, consultancy days — is quoted in writing before we start. Fixed-price where we can; time-and-materials only when the scope genuinely can't be defined up front, and we'll say that plainly.

You'll always see licensing, hardware, and labour separated where it helps. If a cheaper option exists that still does the job, we'll say so rather than upselling by default.

Our standard managed support runs month-to-month. We'd rather earn the next month by being useful than trap you in a three-year lock-in.

Some special arrangements (significant onboarding discounts, dedicated on-site days, or third-party licence commitments) may need a short notice period — that will be written clearly before you sign, never buried.

If you leave, we help with an orderly handover: documentation, admin access, and a clean break so the next provider (or your in-house person) isn't starting from zero.

No. The initial consultation booked through this website is free and non-binding. It's a conversation to understand your setup, risks and priorities — not a hard sell.

If we both want to proceed, you'll receive a written quote or proposal covering scope, commercials and next steps before any chargeable work begins.

There's no obligation to buy afterwards. Plenty of people leave with a clearer idea of what to fix themselves first; that's still a useful outcome.

For ongoing business customers we normally invoice by BACS with payment terms shown on the quote and invoice (often 14 or 30 days depending on the agreement).

For one-off projects or smaller ad-hoc jobs we can arrange card payment when that suits you better. Larger hardware orders may need deposits — again, that's agreed in writing beforehand.

If accounts need purchase orders, cost centres or specific invoice formats, tell us up front and we'll match your process.

Yes. Cyber Essentials is a practical baseline that many insurers, public-sector tenders and larger customers now expect — and for most SMEs it's achievable without an enterprise security budget.

We start with a readiness assessment against the five control themes (firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection, patch management). Then we help close the gaps: MFA, backups, patching schedules, admin rights hygiene and documentation.

We can support you through the certification process itself and keep the controls maintained afterwards so the certificate doesn't become a one-off screenshot that drifts out of date.

Act quickly but calmly. If you can do so safely, disconnect affected machines from Wi-Fi/ethernet and pause shared drives so encryption doesn't spread. Don't power-cycle everything randomly if you're unsure — that can make forensic/recovery work harder.

Avoid paying any ransom until you've spoken to us (and ideally your insurer). Paying doesn't guarantee decryption and can create further risk.

Contact us immediately, mark it as urgent, and preserve any ransom notes or pop-ups (photos are fine). We'll help contain the incident, check whether backups are intact, and plan recovery — then harden things so a repeat is less likely.

Managed support customers get priority handling during business hours. In practice that usually means first meaningful response within about an hour for routine tickets, and faster for outages that stop people working.

Pay-as-you-go / ad-hoc clients are typically booked within 1–2 business days for non-urgent issues. If something is down hard — no internet, no email, ransomware suspicion — say so when you contact us and we'll treat it as urgent.

Response time isn't the same as resolution time. Simple fixes often land the same day; hardware delivery or third-party ISP faults can take longer, and we'll keep you updated either way.

Both — and we choose whichever gets you working again with least disruption and cost.

Most everyday issues (email, Office apps, printers over the network, slow PCs, account permissions, VPN) are sorted remotely with your permission. Remote is usually faster because we can start immediately instead of driving across town.

We come on-site for hardware swaps, cabling, Wi-Fi surveys, server or switch work, office moves, and anything where being in the room clearly helps. If we're already remote and it becomes obvious we need to visit, we'll say so before racking up more time.

A typical managed plan includes proactive monitoring of key systems, regular security patching, unlimited remote helpdesk for covered users during business hours, priority response, and a monthly health report you can actually understand.

You're buying predictability: one known monthly cost instead of surprise call-out bills every time something fails. We become your first port of call so staff aren't guessing who to ring.

Hardware, Microsoft/Google licensing, and major projects (office moves, big migrations) are quoted separately so the invoice is transparent. Exact inclusions are written into your agreement before you start — no vague "unlimited everything" fine print.

Registered clients should use the client portal: log in, open Support, and submit a ticket with as much detail as you can (what happened, who is affected, any error messages). That creates a tracked record and notifies our team.

You can also email or phone us — especially for urgent outages. Guests who aren't on a plan yet can use the contact form on this site or book a consultation.

We'll confirm we've received the request. For portal tickets you can follow status in your account; for email/phone we'll reply on the same thread so nothing gets lost in chat apps or sticky notes.

Yes. Hybrid working is normal for our clients now — a mix of office desks and people at home or on the road.

We set up secure remote access (VPN or modern equivalent), cloud email and file sync (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), MFA, and laptop builds that work the same wherever staff connect — as long as they have a workable internet connection.

We can support home users remotely the same way we support office users. If someone's home Wi-Fi is the bottleneck, we'll help diagnose it, though home router/ISP fixes sometimes sit with the staff member's domestic provider.