Shhh, don't tell anyone we told you!
The Pay-By-The-Hour Computer Company
In the IT Industry, we call this the 'break-fix' practice. That's because this type of company bases the majority of their income on the fact that your technology will break, and you will pay them to fix it. These companies usually charge per hour for support, or perhaps offer a discount with blocks of prepaid time. Their technicians come to your office to solve a specific computer issue. These on-site technicians are expensive, and the company they work for often has expectations for the amount of billable time their employees need to have. It is a pretty standard practice for the technician to manage their own time to an extent, and they are responsible for producing their own billing and that is reflected in their pay. In a situation like this, the tech wants to complete the task and move on to the next client to rack up enough billable hours to make their boss happy. This leaves them in a position where they simply don't have the time to resolve other issues or run maintenance on systems to minimize downtime and ensure that your entire infrastructure is running smoothly. There's no reason to show anyone in your organization how to resolve even a simple problem (rebooting a router for example) because that means one less billable call in the future. Plus, answering questions and checking into other issues might cut into the other billable visits that tech has that day. This method works well enough for residential users with computer troubles, but let's be serious, you are trying to run a business.
In the end, you end up paying for the technician to come out, along with the employee(s) who couldn't work due to the issue.
The "Preventative" Maintenance Computer Company
Some tech support companies might offer to do regular preventative maintenance when visiting their clients, or they schedule out these visits out regularly on specific dates and times. This is so the technician can fill up their day with as many on-site client visits as possible. When the tech visits your office, they usually have a block of time to complete a series of proactive maintenance tasks to keep your IT running well. This sounds pretty good so far, right? Unfortunately, the tech usually doesn't have the flexibility to go over the allotted time, especially without getting approval to bill you. The real kicker is that if the tech finishes the tasks early, they are often instructed to just find other things to do to fill the block of time, or even worse, just move on to the next client. You'll still pay whether you get your hour or if it only takes the tech 15 minutes.
Tech support companies love this model because it gives them guaranteed billable hours and they take no risk because if you need more help, they simply add more hours to your bill.
Then, there's OUR way, with Appalachia Technologies!
We do things differently. Stop paying outrageously high hourly rates that can sneak their way into your bill, and get proactive, giving everyone in your company the support they need, when they need it, without the huge costs. We call it Appalachia Technologies, and it's designed to give you and your entire organization peace of mind when it comes to your IT. We take the best aspects of hourly support and the best aspects of preventative maintenance, add a live help desk that anyone in your company can call anytime without an extra fee, and bundle it all together into an easy-to-budget flat rate. To keep our costs low and our clients happy, we've spent a lot of time and money investing in an infrastructure that can automatically monitor your servers and workstations, detecting problems before they cause you downtime. The flat rate includes security patches, updates for your virus protection, and much more. And, so you can sleep soundly at night, we offer all of this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can even include unlimited on-site support visits! Get proactive and save time, money, and stress with Appalachia Technologies!
We're all in this together
We're in this business to help other small businesses grow and move forward. It's as simple as that. We're driven by the philosophy that if we help local businesses solve their IT issues so they can become more profitable and successful, then we will inherently grow along with them. There is no catch, no gimmick, just experience and best practices that we've honed over the years to make our services work for YOUR business needs.
Dear Business Owner,
Hello, my name is , CEO of Appalachia Technologies. We've been serving the Pennsylvania area since 2004. As a business owner, I feel a lot of similar pain points as you. Just like you, I know how much of a hassle it can be dealing with IT troubles. It's expensive, it's time consuming, and it's downright frustrating. You pay your employees to work, but if their workstations aren't working or the server is unreachable, they can't do their jobs.
Is your IT provider causing you headaches?
Does it seem like they are constantly chasing the same problems while your users still can't get to their work? Did you know that most of the day-to-day IT issues you experience can be resolved with just a little proactive maintenance?
IT Support doesn't need to be expensive or frustrating. That's why it is my personal goal to change the way you think about IT, and here's how:
I will give you 2 free hours of our Appalachia Technologies service to show you that there is a better way to solve those day-to-day issues that plague businesses everywhere of all sizes. If you don't have an issue for us to solve right away, that's fine; use your 2 free hours to have us run a full audit on your network infrastructure and map out any weak points, finding issues before they even occur. That's the Appalachia Technologies Difference; proactive maintenance to prevent downtime. We don't wait around for things to break; we keep your business up and running all day, every day. Why experience a loss in productivity or get slammed with high computer repair bills? We want you to expand and grow.
People ask me, "Aren't you worried about businesses taking advantage of this free service?" I'll admit, it happens, although rarely. Most business owners are honest people who are frustrated with their current IT. They just want someone they can trust to maintain their infrastructure so they can focus on what's really important; driving their business forward. I love seeing my clients succeed, hearing that their profits have gone up and their expenses have gone down. As my clients grow, my business grows along with them. It is in my company's best interest to provide the best service possible.
I urge you to take advantage of our service, and you'll see that I'm right; we're the best at what we do, and our level of service is top-notch. We've worked hard to lay out the best practices, train our talented team and provide them with the best tools in the industry. I want to give you a chance to experience it before you risk your money on a whole new IT company. Once you've tried it and love it, we'll take great pleasure in welcoming you to the Appalachia Technologies family as another one of our happy, loyal, long-term clients.
Have a fantastic day,
Most organizations reach a point where they've stitched together an IT company, a separate security vendor, a compliance consultant, and now they're trying to figure out AI. In the end, they have four different vendors operating in their own lanes. Technology becomes the thing that slows you down instead of the thing that moves you forward. It doesn't have to work that way. We built Appalachia Technologies around a different model, and we've been proving it works for more than 20 years. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, serving clients nationally.
What we do is straightforward to describe and genuinely hard to do well. We manage technology, protect environments, guide organizations through compliance, and help them adopt AI responsibly. Four outcomes, one partner, no finger-pointing. Our clients are typically small to mid-sized organizations — 50 to 500 users — in regulated industries who are done managing vendors who don't talk to each other and want a partner who tells them the truth.
How We Work
Everything we do flows from four outcomes:
Managed — We manage your technology environment — fully, or alongside your existing team — so the day-to-day never becomes the thing that slows you down. Proactive monitoring, helpdesk, cloud, business continuity, and virtual CIO services. Technology that works before you notice it isn't.
Protected — Cybersecurity isn't an add-on here. It's baked into how we structure every environment — 24/7 SOC monitoring, penetration testing, incident response, and a virtual CISO service for organizations that need executive-level security leadership without a full-time hire.
Compliance-Ready — We don't just advise on compliance. We get you ready to pass. We are a PCI Qualified Security Assessor Company (QSAC) — meaning we serve as the assessor of record, not just an advisor — and a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Registered Practitioner Organization. Very few firms in any market hold both.
Intelligent — We have a real AI practice built around governance, strategy, and deployment. Our Virtual Chief AI Officer (vCAIO) service brings executive-level AI leadership to organizations navigating adoption without the risk of getting it wrong.
What Makes Us Different
We are services-only and vendor-neutral. We don't sell hardware. We don't earn vendor commissions. Our only incentive is to recommend what actually fits your business.
We hold ourselves to the same standards we hold our clients to. Appalachia is SOC 2 Type 2 audited. We don't ask clients to meet compliance requirements we haven't met ourselves.
We've been doing this for more than 20 years. That kind of continuity means something in this industry where vendors come and go, tools get rebranded, and promises outpace delivery. We're still here because we do the boring things well, repeatedly.
Appalachia Technologies is SOC 2, Type II Audited
SOC 2 audits are based on the AICPA’s Trust Services Criteria. SOC 2 service auditor reports focus on a Service Organization’s non-financial reporting controls as they relate to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of a system.
“Appalachia Technologies delivers trust-based services to their clients, and by communicating the results of this audit, their clients can be assured of their reliance on Appalachia Technologies’ controls.”
Awards
We don't chase awards. But when the industry takes note, it tends to reflect something our clients already know.
Best Places to Work
Recognized as one of the state's Best Places to Work. We participate in this award because culture is a focus for us; it's how we operate. A company that treats its people well reflects that same standard in how it treats its clients. When people stay, relationships stay strong, and the person who knows your environment today is still the person you call next year.
MSSP Alert Top 250 Managed Security Service Providers
An annual ranking of the world's top managed security service providers by revenue, growth, and operational depth. Inclusion reflects a sustained investment in security operations, not a one-time audit or self-reported survey.
CRN MSP 500
CRN's annual list recognizes managed service providers that have demonstrated technical expertise, operational maturity, and consistent delivery at scale. The MSP 500 is one of the most referenced benchmarks in the managed IT industry.
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Our success doesn't just happen. It is the result of a strong commitment to our relationships with our clients.
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