Combining IT support with cloud services means having a single partner manage both your day-to-day technology needs and your cloud-based systems. Instead of treating your cloud environment and your IT help desk as separate areas, this approach integrates them so your business benefits from smoother operations, faster problem resolution, and better alignment between your technology and business goals.
Why this matters for Canadian SMBs
For small and mid-sized businesses in Canada, downtime or data loss can quickly translate into lost revenue, damaged customer trust, and compliance headaches—especially with privacy regulations like PIPEDA. When your IT support team also manages your cloud services, they can proactively monitor for issues, respond quickly to outages, and ensure your cloud data is properly backed up and secure. This reduces the risk of interruptions that affect staff productivity and customer experience.
A typical scenario
Consider a Canadian company with 50 employees that recently migrated its file storage and email to a cloud provider. Without integrated IT support, when users experience login problems or syncing errors, the internal team spends hours troubleshooting or waits on multiple vendors for help. However, with a managed IT provider handling both support and cloud services, the provider can quickly identify if the issue is a local device problem, a cloud service outage, or a configuration error—and fix it promptly. This minimizes downtime and keeps employees productive.
Practical checklist: What to consider when combining IT support and cloud services
- Ask your IT provider: Do you offer integrated support for both on-premise and cloud environments? How do you handle cloud service outages and data recovery?
- Review SLAs: Check response and resolution times specifically for cloud-related issues. Are they clearly defined?
- Backup and security policies: Confirm where cloud backups are stored, how often they occur, and who has access.
- Access controls: Verify that your provider enforces strong password policies and multi-factor authentication for cloud accounts.
- Cloud migration tools and experience: Ask about their approach to migrating data and applications to the cloud with minimal disruption.
- Internal checks: Regularly review user access lists to cloud services and audit recent activity logs for unusual behaviour.
Next steps
Integrating IT support with cloud services can streamline your technology management and reduce risks, but it requires a provider with the right expertise and clear communication. Speak with a trusted managed IT services provider or IT advisor who understands Canadian SMB needs to explore how this combined approach fits your business. They can help you assess your current setup, identify gaps, and plan a tailored solution that supports your growth and security goals.