Turn Your IT Into an Engine for Growth
Managed IT support built to help Alberta SMBs win.
Tired of Unresponsive IT Support That Slows Your Business Down?
- Frustrated with slow or non-responsive customer service when critical IT issues need to be addressed?
- Dealing with an IT provider who doesn't understand your business and suggests solutions that don't align with your goals?
- Feeling overwhelmed with too much work and not enough resources to handle your technology needs?
- Wasting time piecing together clues from a cryptic invoice just to solve the mystery of what you're actually paying for?
- Working with a partner who only fixes things when they break, rather than showing you how to leverage IT to grow your business?
Your Proactive Partner For IT.
We don't just fix IT problems – we harness Technology to solve your business problems.
- Get one-touch/one-click access to a local, empowered human who can solve your problem fast. Our 24/7 helpdesk and on-site support team are ready to keep your operations running smoothly
- We become a seamless extension of your IT team. You get a dedicated account manager who understands your business and is there when you call
- We use proactive system monitoring to identify and resolve many issues before they can impact your business, turning your IT from a reactive cost center into a stable, reliable asset.
- For IT Managers, we provide full insight and oversight through our integrated ticketing system. You can seamlessly assign tier-one support tasks to us, freeing you and your team to focus on high-impact projects that drive real value.
- We offer more than just technical support; we provide C-Level consulting on everything from Risk Management and IT Governance to leveraging AI and Cloud Automation, ensuring your technology decisions support your bottom line.
From Tech Stress to Tech-Driven Growth.
- Empowered Productivity: Your team stays focused on their core responsibilities, not on troubleshooting technology.
- Peace of Mind: Knowing your critical systems are monitored 24/7 and that expert help is always just a click or a call away.
- Predictable Budgeting: See real cost savings with a clear, fixed price for support and a simple invoice you'll always understand.
- A Strategic Advantage: Getting your systems stable is just Step 2. We'll guide you all the way to Step 4 (Innovate), helping you leverage technology to punch way above your weight in the marketplace.
Our Proven 4-Step Process
Discover
The first thing we do when you become our customer is to Understand your Business so we can understand technological business needs. Then we run tools quickly assess everything from your internet connection to your cybersecurity. This allows us to uncover opportunities for immediate cost savings and operational improvements.
Stabilize
Our first priority is to resolve lingering issues and ensure your IT Systems are secure and just work. We focus on creating a stable technology platform so your team can work without frustrating interruptions.
Optimize
Once your systems are stable, we focus on getting rid of inefficiency and adding efficiency within your IT Systems. We align your technology directly with your business goals, helping you leverage Technology to increase productivity and increase profitability.
Already have an internal IT resource? Our co-managed IT model works alongside your team — we take on the day-to-day helpdesk noise so they’re free for the strategic projects that prove their value.
Innovate
This is where technology becomes your competitive advantage and where our industry leading customer retention comes from. We provide the C-Level strategic guidance you need to leverage cutting-edge solutions like AI, Cloud Automation, and Business Intelligence to achieve your dreams and punch way above your weight.
Paying Extra for a vCIO?
At Next Step, Strategic Advice Isn't an Upsell—It's Included.
We don’t believe you should have to pay more for good advice. Our Account Managers are seasoned executives with a minimum of 10 years of experience guiding IT strategy in the real world. They know how to help you maximize the business value of your technology, and this strategic partnership is included at no extra charge when you’re a Managed IT Support customer.
Risk Management
Discover your company’s level of vulnerability with NSTSP’s IT Risk, Security, and Compliance Audits. Working with your dedicated Account Manager, you will get real advice on Cyber Security and Disaster Recovery, and get answers to crucial questions like:
- What would a data breach cost your company’s reputation and customer loyalty?
- What is the right balance between protection and productivity for your team?
- How would the loss of internet access or other essential IT systems impact your business?
NSTSP will empower you to get the right level of security because we will help you understand your risk.
IT Governance
We create a comprehensive IT Governance plan to proactively align your technology decisions with your business goals. This includes:
- An IT Development Roadmap so you see what it is coming down the line and understand how it will help you to achieve your business goals.
- An IT Budget that respects your financial constraints, ensuring you maximize every dollar invested.
- A proactive Evergreening Plan (Plan for replacing and Updating Technology) for your hardware and software.
By systematically improving your key systems over a timeline that makes sense for you, we take the stress out of technology and move you away from reacting when something breaks.
Digital Transformation
Aware of costly inefficiencies but unsure where to start? We guide you through Digital Transformation by applying the **Optimize** and **Innovate** stages of our proven 4-step process. This involves a deep Business Analysis to identify opportunities, a clear Procurement Strategy, and hands-on Implementation and User Adoption to ensure the new technology works for you. For our bundled partners, your first digital transformation project under 40 hours is included as part of your package for free.
Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence (BI) is the process of transforming your raw business data into actionable insights. We start by helping you organize and storing your data so that you can leverage simple-to-use tools that help you make better, faster decisions that drive growth.
Our BI services include:
- Descriptive Analytics (Dashboarding): We start by building custom dashboards that give you a clear, real-time pulse on what’s happening in your business, from customer satisfaction to operational inefficiencies.
- Predictive Analytics: We help you move beyond just seeing what happened and what is happening to using your past data to help tools predict what will likely happen next.
- Prescriptive Analytics: Using simple to use AI tools, we can help create systems that not only predict outcomes but also suggest specific, actionable steps you can take to achieve your desired goals.
Ultimately, our goal is to empower you to leverage technology to help you achieve your business goals and punch way above your weight in the marketplace. This is one of the ways we do that.
"Next Step perfectly filled the technology gap we had when we needed it most."
The Proof is in the Partnerships
“When I was starting Next Gen Taxes, I knew technology would be critical, but I didn’t know where to begin. The Next Step team took all the pressure off my shoulders. They configured our entire tech stack and guided us through a completely successful first tax season. Now, they’re helping us automate our marketing and build our new website. What truly sets them apart is their proactive support—they listen and solve issues I’ve only mentioned in passing. I’m so glad I was referred to them; they’re an invaluable partner in my growth.”
- Lisa Byrne, CEO Byrne the Books & Next Gen Taxes
Ready for IT Support That Actually Supports Your Business?
- Get the Fast, Effective, Customer Support You Deserve
- Stop the cycle of reactive “break-fix” support
- Empower your team to be more productive
- Protect your bottom line with smarter technology decisions
- Increase your company’s productivity and profitability by leveraging Technology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Managed IT Support
What does a managed IT support company actually do day to day?
We take the whole IT burden off your plate so it stops being your problem to chase. That means monitoring your systems around the clock, fixing issues — often before anyone notices something is wrong — keeping your software and security up to date, and being the one number you call when something breaks. Instead of you juggling vendors and troubleshooting on the side of your real job, you have one team that owns it all. Proactive managed IT support resolves the large majority of issues before they ever reach your staff, so your people stay working instead of waiting.
We already have someone who handles our IT. Why would we need a managed provider?
A lot of Alberta businesses have a capable person — sometimes a staff member who took it on, sometimes an owner doing it after hours. The problem is that one person can't monitor systems overnight, keep current on every security threat, and still do their actual job. We're not here to replace that person. We become their backup: we handle the day-to-day noise and the after-hours coverage, so your internal point person gets their time back for higher-value work. You get the depth of a full IT team without hiring one.
How quickly do you respond when something goes down?
When you call, we answer the phone — immediately, a real person, not a queue. When you submit a ticket, you get an instant automated confirmation so you know it landed, and a technician is in touch within 15 minutes. But fast response is only half of it: most of what we do is proactive, catching and resolving problems before they ever interrupt your team. You're never left wondering whether someone is actually working on your issue — because someone always is.
What does managed IT support cost, and is it worth it?
The honest answer is that it depends on your size and what you need, which is why we start with a free assessment rather than a generic price. What we can tell you is the pattern: businesses that move to a managed model typically reduce IT costs by 20–30% and see meaningful productivity gains, because unplanned downtime gets expensive fast and proactive support prevents most of it. The point isn't to be the cheapest option — it's to turn unpredictable IT spend and surprise outages into a steady, budgetable cost that protects what you've built.
What happens to our existing systems and data when we switch providers?
Switching feels risky, and that fear is the single biggest reason businesses stay stuck with a provider that isn't serving them. Our job as your guide is to make the transition boring. We start by understanding what you have, stabilize anything that's fragile, and move at a pace that doesn't disrupt your operations — nothing gets ripped out from under you. You keep working the whole time. A careful onboarding is where the relationship is built, so we treat it as the most important phase, not an afterthought.
