Managed IT & Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud, Backup & Network
You get cloud services planned around how your Chicago office really works, from email and file storage to hosted servers and backups, with one team that stays responsible for all of it.
Get a Free IT AssessmentCloud services mean your email, files, applications and backups run on secure systems in a professional data center instead of a closet in your office. You reach them from the Loop, from home or from a client site in Naperville. Nothing depends on one old server that nobody wants to touch.
For most Chicago offices, the cloud is not one big product. It is a handful of practical pieces. Microsoft 365 for email and documents. A hosted server for the one application that still needs it. Cloud backup that copies your data off site every night. Each piece solves a specific problem, and you do not need all of them on day one.
The hard part is rarely the technology. It is deciding what moves, what stays and who watches it afterward. A plan that fits a ten-person accounting office in River North looks nothing like one for a warehouse near O’Hare. We start with how your people work, then choose the services that fit, and put the monthly cost in writing.
Chicago winters, summer storms and aging buildings are hard on a server closet. A burst pipe, a power flicker or a failed air conditioner in July can stop your whole office. When your systems live in a hardened data center with backup power, a bad weather day at your building stops being an IT problem.
Many owners also move because their hardware is getting old. A five-year-old server costs real money to replace, and the bill always arrives at a bad time. Cloud services turn that surprise into a predictable monthly fee. You pay for what you use, and the team managing it handles updates, monitoring and capacity for you.
Everything below is part of one monthly plan. Pick a topic to see what is handled for you and how it works in a Chicago office.
A good migration starts with an inventory. We list your servers, applications, mailboxes and shared folders, then decide what moves, what gets retired and what stays put. Nothing moves until the plan is written down and you have approved it.
Cutovers happen at night or on a weekend, so your team starts Monday on the new setup. We test access for each person, keep the old system available for a short fallback period and check in during the first week while habits settle.
Moving is only the first step. Cloud accounts need updates, user changes, license reviews and cost checks every month. Without that care, small problems pile up and the bill creeps higher than anyone expected.
Your plan includes monitoring, patching and regular reviews of what you pay for. When someone joins or leaves, accounts are set up or shut off the same day. You get a short summary of what changed and what it costs.
Azure suits businesses that already run on Microsoft tools. It can host a line-of-business application, a virtual server or a secure test environment, and it connects cleanly with Microsoft 365 sign-in.
We size Azure resources to what you need today instead of what a sales sheet suggests. That keeps costs sensible and avoids paying for idle capacity. Security settings and access rules are set up at the start, not added later.
Some applications are built for AWS, or a software vendor requires it. In those cases we plan the move, set up networking and storage, and test the application with your staff before it goes live.
AWS offers many options, and it is easy to pick the expensive ones by accident. We choose the simplest setup that does the job, document how it is built and set billing alerts so there are no surprises at month end.
An aging file server or application server is often the reason owners call. We move the data, permissions and applications to a new home, whether that is a hosted server or a cloud service, and confirm everything works before shutting the old one down.
Old servers hide surprises: a scheduled task nobody remembers, a mapped drive a department relies on. We look for those before the move. After cutover, the old hardware is wiped properly and removed from your closet.
Plenty of companies can fix a laptop. These are the three reasons clients mention most when they explain why they picked Ping Chicago.
Your technicians know how Loop high-rises handle building access, why basement server closets flood in summer storms and how long it really takes to reach Oak Brook at 4 p.m. That local knowledge turns into faster, calmer fixes.
Your network, devices and backups are watched around the clock. Most issues are caught and fixed before anyone in your office notices, and the rest are explained to you in plain English.
You get a written per-user quote after a free assessment, with every included service listed. No hourly surprises, no emergency rates and no fine print about what counts as extra.
Cloud work is mostly remote, so a team in the Loop and a team in Skokie get the same service. On-site visits are scheduled when you need hardware, cabling or a hands-on check.
Most Loop offices share a building’s internet riser, wiring closets and security desk. Managed IT here means working with property management on access and cabling, keeping remote access stable for commuters and scheduling after-hours work around building rules.
Creative agencies need fast Wi-Fi for large files and constant video calls, while medical offices near Northwestern Memorial need HIPAA-ready systems. Both get the same help desk, with security matched to the data they store.
Teams here grow fast, so new hires need laptops, accounts and access on their first day. Managed IT keeps onboarding repeatable and the network ready for the next floor or the next office.
Dental and medical practices, therapists and small firms run on a few critical systems: scheduling, imaging and billing. Managed IT keeps them patched, backed up and running before the first appointment of the day.
Point-of-sale systems, guest Wi-Fi and a handful of laptops can still take a shop offline. Managed IT separates guest and business networks and keeps payment systems updated and monitored.
Event, hospitality and professional offices near McCormick Place deal with seasonal rushes. Managed IT scales support around busy weeks and keeps shared and public spaces secure.
Practices and offices in Evanston and Skokie get the same remote help desk as downtown clients, with on-site visits scheduled for hardware, cabling and network work.
Many companies in Oak Brook, Naperville and Schaumburg run a suburban headquarters with a city branch. Managed IT connects both sites securely and supports staff at either location.
Most owners are choosing between handling cloud accounts themselves, keeping everything in the office or having a provider run it. This is how those choices usually compare.
| Topic | Ping Chicago | DIY Cloud Setup | Staying On-Premises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | One predictable fee, typically per user | Low sticker price, costs drift over time | Hardware refreshes plus electricity & cooling |
| Who sets it up | A team that plans and tests the move | You or a staff member learning as you go | An outside vendor, often hourly |
| Security settings | Configured & reviewed regularly | Often left on defaults | Depends on the age of your firewall & server |
| Backups | Off site & test-restored | Easy to forget or misconfigure | Tapes or drives kept in the office |
| Outages & weather | Hosted in a protected data center | Provider-level protection, no one watching it | A power cut or burst pipe can stop work |
| Support when it breaks | One call to a team that knows your setup | Forums & vendor chat queues | Hourly call-outs, slow to arrive |
| Growth | Add a user or service in a day | Possible, but each change is on you | New hardware, new purchase |
The goal is fewer things that can break and fewer things you have to think about.
Staff open the same files and apps from the office, home or the train.
Copies of your files are stored off site and tested, not just assumed.
You replace big hardware purchases with one monthly fee you can plan for.
Problems get spotted and fixed before your staff lose a morning.
Cloud work rarely stands alone, so these related pages cover the pieces that often come next.
Day-to-day help for email, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint once your staff are working in the cloud.
Cloud BackupOff-site copies of your data that are monitored and test-restored, so a deleted file is a short fix.
Managed IT ServicesHelp desk, security and monitoring for your whole office under one monthly plan.
Disaster RecoveryA written plan and tested tools to get you running again after an outage or attack.
Our old provider took a day to answer. Now a typical ticket is closed in about 12 minutes, and password resets happen while I’m still on the phone. Our staff stopped complaining about IT within the first month, which never happened before.
We were nervous about changing providers with deadlines ahead. The whole move took three weeks, email and files kept working throughout, and every login and device was documented. Not one person missed a day of work because of it.
We used to get surprise invoices every time something broke. Now it’s one predictable monthly bill, and problems get flagged before we notice them. Planning our IT budget takes five minutes instead of an argument with the owner.
After a free assessment, you get a written quote with a monthly price, what moves and when. No work starts until you approve it.
They are IT services delivered over the internet instead of from equipment in your office. Common examples are Microsoft 365 email and files, hosted servers, cloud backup and virtual desktops. You pay a monthly fee and your staff reach everything from any approved device.
Most small offices pay a monthly fee that depends on users, storage and what is included. Microsoft 365 licensing is often the base, with management, security and backup added on top. A free assessment gives you a written number for your setup.
It can be safer than an office server when set up well. Data centers have backup power and physical security. Safety then depends on settings: multi-factor sign-in, access rules and encrypted backups. Those are configured at the start and reviewed on a schedule.
A planned migration is designed to prevent that. Data is copied first, tested and checked against the original. The old system stays available for a fallback period, so nothing is deleted until you confirm everything arrived intact.
A small office moving email and files often takes a few weeks including planning. Moving a server or a specialized application takes longer. The cutover itself is usually done overnight or over a weekend so your team is not interrupted.
Often not, but some businesses keep one for a specific reason, like a scanner, a machine that connects to equipment or an older application. We tell you honestly which systems should move and which are better left where they are.
Sometimes. You avoid buying and replacing servers, and you stop paying for power and cooling. But cloud bills can grow if nobody watches them. Ongoing management keeps spending in check by removing unused licenses and oversized resources.
Cloud work depends on a working connection, so we look at yours during the assessment. Many offices add a second internet line or a cellular backup. Staff can also work from home or a phone hotspot while the office line is repaired.
It depends on what you run. Most offices need Microsoft 365 and cloud backup. Azure fits Microsoft-heavy setups with servers. AWS is chosen when software requires it. We recommend the simplest option that meets your needs.
Your plan includes a help desk, monitoring and regular reviews, so you call one team about any issue. They already know how your cloud is set up, which means faster answers than starting over with a vendor each time.
Need something slightly different? These services cover the same ground from another angle.
A free assessment shows what should move, what should stay and what it would cost each month.