Managed IT & Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud, Backup & Network
Your files, email and servers get copied every day, checked every day and restored when something goes wrong. A Chicago team monitors it all so you never have to wonder if your data is safe.
Get a Free IT AssessmentA backup is a second copy of your business data kept somewhere safe. When a laptop dies, a server fails or someone deletes the wrong folder, that copy is how you get back to work. Most owners think they have one. Fewer have ever seen it restored. Data backup services take this off your plate by running, watching and testing the copies for you.
Chicago offices face ordinary risks that wipe out data. A burst pipe in an older Loop building. A power surge during a summer storm. A laptop left on the Blue Line. A staff member who clicks a bad link in a River North office. None of these is rare. Each one is a bad day when the only copy of your files sits on the machine that just failed.
A good backup service decides what to protect, copies it on a schedule, stores it offsite and checks that it works. It also sets a clear target for how fast you get back up. You should know, before anything breaks, how much work you could lose and how long recovery would take. Those answers belong in writing, in plain English.
Many small offices rely on a single external drive, or on a sync folder they assume is a backup. Sync is not backup. If a file is deleted or encrypted by ransomware, the sync tool happily copies that damage everywhere. A real backup keeps older versions you can go back to. That difference decides whether a bad Monday costs an hour or a week.
Chicago companies also run on tight schedules. A law office near the courthouses, a medical practice in the Near North Side or a distribution business by O’Hare cannot wait days for a rebuild. Managed backup means someone watches the job every night, fixes failures the next morning and proves the restore works. You get fewer surprises and one number to call.
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.
We start by listing what your business cannot lose: shared drives, accounting data, databases, line-of-business apps and the laptops that hold work in progress. Each item gets a schedule that matches how often it changes. Busy data is copied several times a day. Quiet data is copied overnight.
Copies are encrypted before they leave your office and kept for a set number of months. That gives you many restore points, not just last night. If a file was damaged three weeks ago and nobody noticed, you can still go back and recover the good version.
A backup kept in the same room as your server will not survive a fire or flood. An offsite copy in a secure cloud data center does. Backup data travels over your internet connection, so the plan is sized to fit your bandwidth and your daily schedule.
This matters for Chicago offices in older buildings, where water damage and power problems are real. With an offsite copy you can restore to new hardware at a different location. You are no longer tied to the condition of one wiring closet or one floor.
Many people assume Microsoft keeps a full backup of their mailboxes and files. Microsoft runs the service. Protecting your data from deletion, mistakes and account attacks is still your job. A separate backup holds copies of email, calendars, OneDrive and SharePoint that you control.
This is useful when an employee leaves and their account is removed, or when a mailbox is emptied by accident. You can restore a single message, a single folder or a whole account without a long support case.
Backup is the copy. Disaster recovery is the plan for using it. We write down which systems come back first, who does what and how long each step should take. A server that hosts your accounting data gets restored before the shared photo library.
We test that plan on a schedule, not only on paper. A real test finds problems like missing passwords, old hardware and apps that need a license key. Better to learn that on a quiet afternoon than during an outage.
Recovery is only part of the story. People still need to take calls, send invoices and serve customers while the restore runs. Business continuity looks at the whole office: internet backup, remote access, phone forwarding and who can work from home.
For many Chicago offices, even a simple plan helps. Laptops that can work off a hotspot, a second way to reach email and a short call list go a long way. We help you build that plan so a failure slows you down without stopping you.
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.
Backup needs change with the building, the industry and how people work. Here is how it looks in different parts of Chicago and the nearby suburbs.
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.
Logistics and distribution businesses near O’Hare run warehouses, scanners and shipping systems around the clock. Managed IT monitors those networks 24/7 and plans updates outside shift changes.
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.
Backup can be handled several ways. The right choice depends on how much data you have, who watches it and how fast you need it back.
| Topic | Ping Chicago | DIY External Drives | Backup Software Only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who watches the jobs | A local team checks every day | Nobody, unless you remember | You, or whoever has time |
| Offsite copy | Included, encrypted | Only if someone takes a drive home | Depends on how you set it up |
| Restore testing | Scheduled & documented | Rarely done | Left to you |
| Ransomware protection | Isolated copies & version history | Drive is often connected & hit too | Varies by settings |
| Microsoft 365 data | Can be added to the plan | Usually not covered | Extra product to manage |
| Typical monthly cost | Flat fee, quoted in writing | Low upfront, hidden cost later | License fee plus your time |
| Help during a restore | A technician does it with you | You are on your own | Vendor support, if you have a plan |
The goal is simple: a bad day at the office stays a small bad day.
Deleted, damaged or encrypted files come back from a clean copy.
You know the restore time before you ever need it.
Offsite copies stay out of reach of an attack on your network.
One monthly fee replaces emergency repair bills.
Different businesses lose different things when data disappears. These pages cover related services built for each type of office.
Client files and case documents stay protected, with restores planned around court deadlines.
Dental PracticesPatient records and imaging files are backed up so the schedule keeps moving.
Financial ServicesAccount data and client records are copied and retained to meet your own policies.
CPA FirmsTax files stay safe and recoverable through busy season and after.
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 that lists what is backed up, how often and what it costs each month.
Most small businesses pay a monthly fee based on users, devices and how much data is stored. Simple setups often cost less than a few hundred dollars a month. Larger servers cost more. A free assessment gives you a written quote based on what you actually need to protect.
It depends on how often your data changes. Active files and databases may need copies several times a day. Quieter files can be copied overnight. The key question is how much work you could afford to lose. We set the schedule around that answer.
No. Sync tools mirror changes, including deletions and ransomware damage. A real backup keeps older versions and a separate copy. If a file is damaged, you can go back to a clean version from days or weeks ago.
You test them. We run scheduled restore tests, record the results and fix anything that fails. A backup that has never been restored is only a guess. Regular testing turns it into something you can count on.
Most businesses should. Microsoft keeps the service running, but you are responsible for your own data. A separate backup protects against deleted mailboxes, departing staff and account attacks. It also makes single-item restores quick and simple.
It depends on how much data there is and where the copy is stored. A single file may take minutes. A full server can take hours. We tell you the expected time for each system up front, so there are no surprises.
Your data is kept in two places: a local copy for fast restores and an encrypted offsite copy in a secure U.S. data center. Together they protect you from both everyday mistakes and larger events like fire or flood.
Not when they are set up properly. Backups usually run overnight or in short windows during the day. We size the plan to your internet speed and watch it, so staff keep working without noticing.
Yes. Laptops can be backed up wherever they are, using the internet. This helps if someone travels or works from home. Files are encrypted and sent to the same secure storage as your office systems.
Because backups are kept separate, with older versions, attackers cannot easily reach them. We remove the threat, then restore clean data from before the attack. How fast depends on your setup, which is why we test and plan ahead.
Need something slightly different? These services cover the same ground from another angle.
A free assessment shows what is protected, what is not and what it would cost to fix.