Questions, answered straight.

First Assist is a Launceston-based managed IT and cyber security provider, looking after Tasmanian businesses since 1998. We handle the lot - unlimited remote and onsite support (excluding travel and project work), proactive monitoring and maintenance, Essential Eight-aligned security, Microsoft 365 and business phones - one local team, with managed IT priced as one predictable monthly fee per device (inc GST).

We are based at 259 Wellington Street, South Launceston. We provide onsite support right across Tasmania and remote support across Australia.

Our pricing is published up front, and all prices include GST. Managed IT (Essentials) is $105 per device per month inc GST, and Complete Protection - which bundles Microsoft 365 Business Premium, unlimited mobile and landline calling, and unlimited after-hours support - is $195 per device per month inc GST. Servers are $299 per server per month inc GST, including management and backup. Plans are month to month with no lock-in, and there is a one-off onboarding fee, typically around one month's fee, quoted upfront. Your exact quote is confirmed after a quick chat.

Our standard plans have a minimum of 5 devices - laptops, desktops, servers and virtual machines count towards it. If you have fewer than that, we still take on select smaller businesses case by case - get in touch and we'll let you know if it's a fit for your setup.

A device is a laptop, desktop or server. Mobile phones and tablets are not charged - they are included at no extra cost and are not counted as devices.

Yes. Firewalls, switches, Wi-Fi access points and printers are included at no extra charge. They do not count as devices and do not add to your monthly fee.

Servers are $299 per server per month inc GST, whether physical or virtual, which includes management and backup. Each server needs its own backups, restore testing and management software.

Yes. There is a one-off onboarding fee, typically around one month's fee, quoted upfront. If your setup is complex, or has problems to fix from day one, we may add some hours of work and will confirm that in your quote.

Remote and onsite support are unlimited during business hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm), excluding travel and project work. Onsite visits include 15 minutes of travel each way at no cost, then $38 per 15 minutes inc GST. For example, a client 30 minutes away pays $38 each way, after the first 15 minutes each way is free.

Project work - office moves, migrations and upgrades - is charged at $152 per hour inc GST.

Endpoint protection (EDR), identity threat detection (ITDR), security logging (SIEM) and security awareness training are provided by Huntress, with detection monitored by a 24/7 security operations centre. Admin rights are controlled with AutoElevate, DNS filtering is by Zorus, DMARC monitoring is by DMARCLY, passwords are managed in Bitwarden, and Microsoft 365 is backed up with Dropsuite. Server and workstation backups include monthly restore testing.

The Essential Eight is a set of eight mitigation strategies from the Australian Signals Directorate that protect businesses against the most common cyber attacks. We align every managed plan with all eight as standard - not as an expensive add-on.

Our managed service aligns your day-to-day security practices with the Essential Eight and keeps them monitored. If you need a formal, independent Essential Eight audit or certification - for a contract or an insurer - we arrange that through our independent audit partner, ViCyber, who also cover other security frameworks.

During business hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm), our response targets are: High priority (internet offline, a key system down) - 1 hour, guaranteed within 8 hours. Medium (slow printing, a single user cannot scan) - 6 hours, guaranteed within 48 hours. Low (new user setup, planned maintenance) - 24 hours, guaranteed within 5 business days. These targets are the same on every plan and run on business hours and business days; there are no target times outside business hours. The exception is a critical security incident, such as suspected compromise or ransomware, which gets an immediate response at any hour. Calls are also answered quickly - 95% in under 30 seconds, connected straight to a real support engineer.

Not at all. Many businesses start with our free security review as a second opinion, and if your current provider is doing a great job we will tell you so. If you do switch, we deal with your old provider and move everything across with minimal disruption.

Yes. The review, the plain-English scorecard and the action plan are free and yours to keep - even if you never become a client.

Yes. We set up Microsoft 365 properly, licence it fairly, and harden it against the scams that target email and identity - as part of every managed plan.

Yes. For contractors or staff who need a company Microsoft 365 account but work from their own device, we can lock down and monitor your 365 environment - identity, email and access - without managing their personal computer.

Yes. We believe your website's security matters just as much as your endpoints, so hosting - static or WordPress - is included free with every managed plan. That means hourly backups, and for WordPress sites, we handle plugin updates too, so known vulnerabilities get patched rather than left exposed. You keep paying for your domain, and VPS hosting isn't included.

No. Our managed plans are month-to-month, with no lock-in contract - you can leave any time.

Our support hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Outside those hours there are no target response times; we respond on a best-efforts basis, usually first thing the next business day, and on Essentials non-critical after-hours work is charged at $304 per hour inc GST. The exception is a critical security incident (suspected compromise or ransomware), which we respond to at any hour on all plans. On Essentials, after-hours time on a critical incident is also charged at $304 per hour inc GST; on Complete Protection it is included. Complete Protection also includes unlimited after-hours support and short-notice service.

Short-notice service means you want something completed sooner than our standard timeframe and we have to reschedule our team to do it. It is charged at $304 per hour inc GST on Essentials and is included on Complete Protection.

Yes, we support both Windows and Mac devices as part of your managed plan.

Bringing you across usually takes around two weeks. We deal with your old provider directly, so your team barely notices anything changed - except things start working properly.

Yes. While most of our clients have moved to the cloud, we still manage on-premise servers where needed, alongside cloud services. Servers are $299 per server per month inc GST, including management and backup.

Yes. Being aligned with the Essential Eight as standard makes it much easier to answer your insurer's questions honestly, and if they need independent proof, we arrange a formal audit through our partner, ViCyber.

We provide onsite support across Tasmania and remote support Australia-wide, so yes - even if you're interstate, we can look after your IT remotely.

Critical workstations, servers, and Microsoft 365 - emails, SharePoint and Teams files - are backed up nightly, and we test-restore those backups monthly, because an untested backup is just a hope, not a plan.

Yes. We design and install business-grade Ubiquiti networking and UniFi security cameras and access control, as well as maintaining them afterwards.