How quickly should our IT provider respond when something breaks?

For a business, downtime is lost money and lost momentum — so both how fast and who answers matter enormously when something breaks.

Response targets (the SLA)

A good managed provider gives you clear, written response targets:

• Urgent, business-stopping issues — acknowledged within minutes to an hour and escalated immediately.
• Less critical requests — handled the same business day.

Crucially, a response target is not the same as a resolution time — some problems are genuinely complex to fix properly — but you should never be left wondering whether anyone is actually looking at your issue. Clear communication and prioritisation are the difference between a well-run provider and a black hole.

Who answers is just as important

A fast SLA on paper means little if the person who picks up doesn't know your systems. A local, Perth-based team that already understands your setup resolves things far faster than an overseas call centre reading from a script and escalating through layers. There is no timezone lag, no re-explaining your business from scratch, and — when remote support isn't enough — someone who can actually come to your office.

How we handle it

We prioritise business-affecting issues, keep you informed while we work, and fix the large majority of problems remotely, often within the hour. Our standard managed service level is a response within 4 business hours, with critical issues jumped to the front of the queue — see our response-time SLA for detail. To find out what our support feels like day to day, call (08) 9325 1196.