We already have an IT Department, why should we use BlackBird?
We can make your IT Department better. Our remote monitoring capabilities enable us to automatically handle all maintenance on your network. This allows your IT personnel to concentrate on more important tasks, such as strategic systems analysis and improvements.

What’s the advantage of using BlackBird versus a mainland company?
Our location enables us to gain intimate knowledge of your business and provide you with optimal support. If there’s a problem that requires onsite assistance, we can deploy one of our Rapid Response Engineers immediately – an impossible task from a mainland company that’s 3,000 miles away.

What’s the difference between BlackBird and a “break-fix” IT company?
A “break-fix” IT company reacts to problems and charges by the hour. For a fixed monthly fee, BlackBird monitors and maintains your network and hardware. As a result, we’re able to prevent many problems before you're even aware of them.

What’s a Service Level Agreement?
After you choose a BlackBird service, a Service Level Agreement is drafted. When the terms are finalized, it’s signed by both parties. The SLA outlines in detail what the service entails as well as what BlackBird will be providing, such as hours of availability and response times.

What is business continuity and why is it important?
Business continuity refers to the daily activities performed to maintain service, consistency, and recoverability. It’s extremely important because in the case of a major disaster or crash, your business is prepared and protected against extended downtime.

What is a business continuity plan?
A business continuity plan is the creation of a strategy for how your organization will restore interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after a disaster or period of extended downtime. For BlackBird, the plan focuses on maintaining your network and hardware, ensuring they’re protected in the event of a failure or crash.

What happens if my server goes down on the weekend? Will BlackBird be available??
Our NOC (Network Operations Center) engineers are available 24/7/365. If you have a problem during the week, in the middle of the night or on the weekend, just pick up the phone and call us.

In the event my server fails, how long does it take to switch my data over to the BCA virtual server?
Our premium solutions can have your data switched over within 15 minutes of a server failure.

If I have tape backups or remote data backup, why do I need a BCA?
Tape backups and remote data backup can keep your data safe but they won’t protect you against downtime if your server fails. If you have one or more servers in your office, we strongly recommend a BCA.

Do I still need a BCA if I don't have a server?
If you don’t have a server you probably don’t need a BCA. We have other reliable options including remote data backup and a network-attached storage (NAS) device, which is great for backing up workstations.

How do you “keep our business up and running” if you’re not in our office?
Our OnIT Network Monitoring software streamlines the support process. We can troubleshoot most problems remotely and as a result don't even have to be present to monitor your network.

What is Preventative Maintenance?
Preventative Maintenance is the daily tasks we perform for the purpose of preventing problems before they occur. These tasks are tedious and time-consuming but critical to the overall performance of your network.

What is a network?
A network is a collection of computers and devices connected by communication channels that facilitates communication among users and allows them to share resources. In a nutshell, it’s the glue that holds your company together.

What’s the real difference between OnIT Master & OnIT Assist?
OnIT Master is a more complete service and is for companies without any IT infrastructure. OnIT Assist is for companies who have internal IT resources, yet would like to create more efficiency with 24/7 monitoring.

What's a document library?
Document libraries are where SharePoint users can easily publish and update connection files for other users to find and use the data sources they need.

Are we able to add "users" whenever we want to?
SharePoint is extremely flexible, allowing you to add or subtract users at any time.

What are portal sites?
Portal sites connect people to business-critical information and applications. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is a world-class enterprise portal platform that makes it easy to build and maintain portal sites for every aspect of your business.

I have my own spam filtering software, why do I need Prefix?
Unlike most filtering software, Prefix eliminates spam before it chews up bandwidth and produces unnecessary email traffic. As a result, your email is cleaner and runs smoother, all for a fixed monthly fee.

What’s the 5 Day Reserve?
If your email fails for any reason, the 5 Day Reserve will keep up to 5 days worth of incoming emails and have them restored as soon as the service is back online.

What's Edge Filtering?
It’s a filtering system that scans the mail server of each email before it enters your network. If the system verifies the server is legitimate, the mail is sent through our virus scanner. If the server is not recognized, the mail is sent to quarantine.

What’s the Storage Area Network?
The Storage Area Network is where all your data resides. Intra-SAN and tape backups ensure there is no single point of failure anywhere in the storage system.

What’s the Business Productivity Suite?
The Business Productivity Suite is a combination of Microsoft Exchange 2007, Office Communications Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. It’s ideal for company’s that need to communicate across multiple offices and geographies.

What happens if one of BlackBird’s Hosted Exchange Servers fails?
BlackBird runs its Hosted Exchange on multiple servers at multiple datacenters. If one of them stops working, your service doesn’t.