What's Actually Included in Your Managed IT Plan
The tier comparison on our main pricing page covers the highlights. This page is the full breakdown, every control, across all three tiers, with the reasoning behind the ones that aren't just obvious.
Core managed IT & support
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited remote support | 8:30am–6pm M–F | 8:30am–5pm M–F | 8:30am–6pm M–F |
| Response SLA | 6 hours | 4 hours (target 15 min) | 2 hours (target 15 min) |
| Onsite support | VIP rates | VIP rates | VIP rates |
| Emergency after-hours | Available | Available | Available |
| Microsoft 365 licensing | Business Premium included | Business Premium included | Business Premium included |
| Strategic IT consultation | Basic | vCIO & vCSO included | vCIO & vCSO included |
Infrastructure management
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24×7 remote monitoring | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Patch management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Patching ring groups | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mobile device management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vendor management | Basic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Asset & compliance management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Server management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wi-Fi management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Network management | ✓ | ✓ | Advanced |
Why the asset register matters
Maintained through documentation and device scans, plus network protection for anyone keeping a physical office worth securing. Plenty of our clients are fully cloud-based, for them, we treat the office like an internet café: every endpoint is hardened individually, so the office itself doesn't need to be secured as its own thing.
Backup & disaster recovery
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 backup | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | Email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams | Email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams | Email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams |
| Email archiving | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Real-time email journaling | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backup testing | Quarterly | Monthly | Monthly |
| Disaster recovery plan | Basic | ✓ | ✓ |
Cybersecurity
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application control | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| User compliance policies | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email spam filtering | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Identity & access management | Basic MFA | Compliance MFA | Compliance MFA |
| Mobile antivirus | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Endpoint protection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extended detection & response (XDR) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vulnerability scanning | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Password manager | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dark web monitoring | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Why application control is Iron Dome-only
Not an oversight, a deliberate tradeoff. Application control is one of the strongest ways to restrict unapproved software and malicious code, but it requires careful rollout and ongoing management. It is reserved for Iron Dome because that tier is designed around the complete Essential Eight control set, where application control is a required part of the target rather than an isolated add-on.
Identity, in practice
Every user gets MFA, no exceptions. Where possible we go further with passkeys instead of passwords, set up via a one-time SMS code or manager referral, backed by Windows Hello for local sign-in. No password means nothing to share, forget, or leak.
Security awareness & training
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber awareness training | ✗ | Weekly | Weekly |
| Phishing simulations | ✗ | Monthly | Monthly |
| Security policy training | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Incident response testing | ✗ | ✗ | Annual |
Why this is more than a checkbox
The value is mostly cultural, a staff member getting caught by a simulated phishing email, and knowing it, keeps everyone more alert than a policy document ever will.
Advanced security monitoring
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24/7 SOC monitoring | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Threat containment | Automated | Security analyst | Security analyst |
| External vulnerability monitoring | ✗ | ✗ | Continuous |
What a human analyst actually adds
Automated tools flag things; a person decides what to do about it. Mostly that means clearing false positives. Occasionally it's the reason an intrusion gets caught instead of missed, attackers who are already inside a system have been known to try talking IT staff into disabling exactly this kind of monitoring. Having someone who can't be talked out of it is the point.
Governance & compliance
| Feature | Perimeter | Fortress | Iron Dome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital asset register | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Incident response plan | Basic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supplier trust program | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Compliance assessments | Annual | Annual | Annual |
What "annual compliance assessment" actually means
A full review of your governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) position, confirming every control, exception, and flagged risk is still managed and current, against whatever standard(s) you're maintaining (Essential 8, SMB1001, or both).