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Cloud and Microsoft 365, set up right and looked after.

We move your email, files and sign-ins to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, clean up who can see what on the way, and run it for you afterwards. When a business app belongs in Azure or AWS, we set that up too. When it doesn't, we tell you.

Book a consultation Call 424.437.8173

A 15-minute call with an engineer.

We work with the tools you already use. We come on site when the job needs it.
In plain English

What moving to the cloud means.

"The cloud" means your email, files and apps run on servers that Microsoft, Google or Amazon own and look after, and your team reaches them over the internet. You stop buying, patching and replacing your own server. You still decide who gets in and what they can see.

Here is how an office server compares with a cloud setup done properly, and the part that stays with you either way.

AreaYour stuff on an office serverIn the cloud, set up rightWhat you still own
EmailRuns on a mail server in the closet, or on a hosting plan nobody remembers signing up for.Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, with spam filtering and the records that prove your mail really comes from you.Deciding who gets a mailbox and who shares one.
FilesA shared drive on the server. Reachable at the office, awkward from anywhere else.SharePoint and OneDrive, or Google Drive, with folders that match how your team works and permissions set per group.Saying which folders are private, like payroll or HR.
Signing inOne password for the computer, another for email, and a few more written on a sticky note.One account per person for email, files and most apps, with MFA (a second check at sign-in, like a code on your phone).Using MFA every time, and approving who gets admin rights.
Hardware and updatesYou buy the server, patch it, and replace it when it ages out.Microsoft, Google or Amazon run the servers, the power and the updates behind the service.Keeping laptops and phones updated, because they are how people get in.
LicensesBought once, then forgotten until something stops working.A monthly subscription per person. We match the plan to what each person actually uses and remove seats nobody needs.Approving renewals and keeping payment details current.
BackupsA USB drive or a backup job someone set up years ago.A separate backup of your cloud mail and files that you control, with restores we test.Telling us about new shared drives or mailboxes, so they are included.
When someone leavesTheir password is changed, maybe. Their files sit on their old computer.One account to turn off. Their mail and files are handed to the right person and the license is freed.Telling us end dates as early as you can.

Microsoft runs the service. Under Microsoft's shared responsibility model, protecting your accounts, the devices that reach them and your data stays with you. That is the part we help you run.

The cloud you actually use

Six layers of a small-business cloud, set up and checked.

A cloud setup works like a stack: each layer depends on the one above it being right. Pick a layer to see what tends to go wrong there, what we set up, and how we check it is still working.

Where your team works: the office, home, the road
What it all rests on: a copy of your data that you control
Layer 01

People and devices

What tends to go wrong

Work email on a personal phone with no passcode, company files synced to a shared family computer, and old laptops nobody updates.

What we set up

Company laptops tied to your work account, with encrypted disks and updates. On phones, work apps stay separate from personal ones, so you can wipe company data without touching someone's photos.

How we check it

A list of every device that signs in to your work account, with the ones that are out of date or unknown flagged in your monthly report.

How a migration works

A move to the cloud, step by step.

Here is how we move a small office off its old server, from the first list to switching the server off. The company is made up. The steps are the ones we follow every time.

Step 1 of 7

We write down everything the old server does.

What happens

Cedar Row Studio has a server in the back room that everyone calls "the S drive". It also runs the accounting app, receives scans from the copier and holds an old backup. Most of that is undocumented.

What we do

We list every job the server does, every shared folder and who uses it, every mailbox, and every device that depends on the server. Nothing moves until the list is complete and you have seen it.

Step 1 of 7
What is included

The move, and the running of it afterwards.

Every item below is set up, watched and reported on by ThinkOpen engineers. Some happen once, during the move. The rest happen every month after it.

01

Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace setup

Your company's account with Microsoft or Google (called a tenant) set up from a security baseline: users, groups, shared mailboxes, Teams or Meet, and sensible sharing settings.

What it does for youA clean start you won't have to redo
02

Email migration

Old mail, calendars and contacts copied from your current system, checked mailbox by mailbox, with the cut-over at a quiet time you choose.

What it does for youNothing left behind in the old system
03

File server migration

Shared folders moved to SharePoint and OneDrive or Google Drive, organized the way your team works, with permissions by group and former staff removed.

What it does for youFiles you can reach from anywhere, seen only by the right people
04

Sign-in and MFA

One account per person, MFA on every account, admin rights kept to a few separate admin accounts, and sign-in rules where they help.

What it does for youA stolen password alone stops working
05

Right-sized licenses

We match each person's plan to what they actually use, remove seats nobody needs, and watch renewals so a lapsed subscription doesn't stop your email.

What it does for youYou pay for what you use
06

Kovah, software we built

Kovah onboards a business onto Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, then keeps watching it. It checks the tenant against a security baseline every week, watches email authentication every night, and flags a lapsing subscription days before the email goes dark.

What it does for youProblems caught between our monthly reviews
07

Cloud backup

A separate backup of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mail, files and calendars, kept outside your account, with restores we test on a schedule.

What it does for youA way back from deletion, mistakes and attacks
08

Azure and AWS, when they fit

For a business app that has to run on a server, we compare keeping it on site, the vendor's hosted version, and Azure or AWS, then set up the one that fits, with its monthly cost written down.

What it does for youAn honest answer before you spend
09

Ongoing admin and monitoring

People joining and leaving, mailbox and sharing requests, and a watch on sign-ins, email records and backups. Detection tools run around the clock; our engineers respond Mon–Fri 8–5 PT.

What it does for youA cloud setup that stays the way we left it
What you see every month

A cloud report written for the owner.

Once a month you get a short report in plain English: licenses you pay for against licenses in use, who has MFA, any risky sign-ins, whether backups finished, and the few decisions only you can make.

  • For you: what you pay for, what you use, and what needs a decision.
  • For your office manager: who joined, who left, and what changed in shared folders.
  • For your insurer: a record that MFA is on and backups are kept up.
Monthly cloud report

Cedar Row Studio

September 2026 · Prepared by ThinkOpen
Steady month

Your first full month on Microsoft 365. Everyone signs in with MFA, backups finished every night, and we found three licenses nobody was using. Two items need your decision, listed below.

21 of 24Licenses in use, of those paid for
21 of 21People signing in with MFA
2Risky sign-ins checked (both staff traveling)
Every nightBackup of mail and files finished
Open items by priority0 high2 medium3 low

What we did

Set up one new hireAccount, MFA, laptop and the Projects site
Restored a deleted folder from backupDesign team, same morning it was reported
Turned off two old "anyone with the link" sharesClient drawings from last year
Ran this month's restore testA mailbox and a shared folder came back complete

Needs your decision

Cancel three unused licensesThey belonged to people who left in the spring.
Switch off the old file serverIt has been read-only for a month and nobody has opened it.
Sample report. Cedar Row Studio is a made-up company and these numbers are for illustration only.Page 1 of 3
How it starts

Three steps to get started.

  1. 1

    A 15-minute call

    Tell an engineer where your email and files live today and what bothers you about it. You leave with at least one thing worth fixing.

  2. 2

    A look at your current setup

    We review your server, your email, your accounts and your licenses, without changing anything, and write down what you have and what is at risk.

  3. 3

    A written plan

    Before anything moves, you get a plan in plain English: what goes where, who is in the pilot, when the cut-over happens and how we would roll back.

Questions

What owners ask us about the cloud.

Sources

  1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2023 Internet Crime Report
  2. Verizon, 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report
  3. Microsoft Learn, Shared responsibility in the cloud
Talk to us

See what a move to the cloud would look like for you.

Fifteen minutes with an engineer. Bring your questions about the server in the back room, your email or your licenses.

Book a consultation 424.437.8173
On the call
  1. 01We ask where your email and files live today.
  2. 02We point out what is risky, unused or about to lapse.
  3. 03You leave with the first thing to fix, in plain English.