RJ2 Technologies has provided managed IT services to businesses in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs since 1998, and is headquartered in Deer Park, Illinois. A managed services agreement with RJ2 covers network management, a helpdesk your staff can call directly, around-the-clock monitoring of critical systems, proactive maintenance and patching, cybersecurity, and on-site support when a problem cannot be fixed remotely. RJ2 also runs co-managed IT, where a company keeps its in-house IT person or team and hands off the parts they do not want to carry.
What are managed IT services, and what does RJ2’s agreement cover?
Managed IT services means a provider takes ongoing responsibility for your technology under one agreement, instead of billing you by the hour after something breaks. RJ2’s agreement covers seven things:
Network management. Design, implementation, performance tuning, and continuous monitoring of the network, so problems get caught before they become outages.
Helpdesk. Your staff call or submit a ticket and reach a technician directly. Remote support resolves most issues without anyone traveling.
Monitoring of critical systems. Servers, network gear, and the systems the business cannot operate without are watched and alerted on.
Proactive maintenance and patching. Scheduled maintenance and timely security patching, on a rigorous audit and compliance schedule.
Cybersecurity. Protection for the network, devices, applications, data, and people. Full detail on the cyber security services page.
On-site support. Technicians come to your location for hardware failures, equipment installation, and urgent problems that cannot wait for a remote fix.
Reporting for capacity planning. Regular reporting on what is running, what is aging out, and what needs budgeting for, so technology spend is planned rather than reactive.
New technology implementation projects and a video training library for staff are also included.
What makes the best managed IT services in Chicago?
Ask four questions of any provider and the field narrows fast. Who answers when my staff call, and is it the same people every time. What happens when the problem needs someone physically in my office. Is security inside the agreement or billed on top. And can I talk to a client in my industry who has been with you longer than three years.
RJ2 answers those with a direct-dial helpdesk, technicians who travel on site across the Chicago area, security included in the managed agreement rather than sold as an add-on, and a client base that goes back years. One reference letter on this page describes an affiliation of almost 20 years. RJ2 has been under the same ownership since Jeff Dann founded it in 1998, which in an industry that consolidates on a two-year cycle is worth more than any feature list.
Shawn Meyer, Director of Professional Services, has over 30 years in the industry and 21 of them at RJ2. The person setting the standard for how the work gets done has been doing it at this company for two decades.
What are co-managed IT services, and who are they for?
Co-managed IT is for companies that already have IT staff and do not want to replace them. RJ2 works alongside your in-house person or team, takes the parts they do not have time or specialty for, and leaves them the work they want to keep.
In practice that usually means RJ2 carries the overnight and weekend monitoring, the patching treadmill, the security tooling, and the helpdesk overflow, while your internal person keeps the business systems, the vendor relationships, and the projects they know best. It also solves the single-IT-person problem: when your one person is on vacation, out sick, or leaves, coverage does not stop, and the documentation does not walk out the door with them.
The other common trigger is a specialty gap. A generalist internal admin is not going to be a security specialist, a network engineer, and a cloud migration lead at the same time. Co-managed brings those in without hiring three people.
Can you outsource just the IT helpdesk?
Yes. Helpdesk outsourcing means your employees call an outside team for day-to-day technology problems instead of interrupting an internal person, or instead of nobody. Password resets, a laptop that will not connect, a printer, a mailbox problem, software that stopped working after an update: these get resolved remotely, usually in one contact.
It is the most common entry point for a company with 15 to 60 employees where “IT” is currently the office manager or whoever is best with computers. It is also common for companies with an internal IT person who is spending most of their week on tier-one tickets instead of the projects they were hired for.
What tools does RJ2 use to run and secure managed clients?
- SentinelOne and Huntress for endpoint detection and response
- Cisco for networking, and Duo for multi-factor authentication
- ID Agent for dark web credential monitoring
- Lumen for connectivity
- SkyCom for hosted phone
- Microsoft 365 and Exchange, and Google Workspace, for productivity and mail
- VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V for virtualization
Does RJ2 support businesses in Chicago and the Chicago suburbs?
Yes. RJ2 Technologies is headquartered at 21660 W. Field Parkway, Deer Park, IL 60010, in the northwest suburbs, and works with businesses throughout the Chicago metro, both in the city of Chicago and across the Chicago suburbs. RJ2’s practical service area also reaches Rockford and northern Illinois, southeastern Wisconsin, and northwestern Indiana, and larger clients with multiple locations are supported nationwide.
Most support is delivered remotely, so location does not affect response. Technicians travel on site for hardware, installations, office moves, and anything that needs hands on the equipment. RJ2 also keeps a working space downtown at 333 S. Wabash Ave., Suite 2700, that engineers use when they are in the city for a client. It is a drop-in space rather than a staffed office.
What do RJ2’s managed services clients say?
Steve Webster, President, DSP Insurance Services: “DSP Insurance Services has worked with RJ2 for several years. We view them as a trusted advisor for our company. A true partner if you will. They have always acted in the most professional manner possible and provided timely responses and importance to our technology needs.”
Tom Teschner, Chief Executive Officer: “During their review they pointed out several areas that we needed to address, and came in with a plan to implement the changes to coincide with our budget. RJ2 is very proactive and the communication with us is fantastic. I would highly recommend them.”
Rory Lent, President: “I have been affiliated with this group for almost 20 years and have found them to be honest, reliable, hardworking, conscientious & courteous.”
How do you get started?
Call 847-303-1194, email sales@rj2t.com, or book a discovery call. Existing clients who need help now use the support line at 847-303-1193 or the immediate support link in the site header.
A first conversation covers what you run today, what is failing, what is unprotected, and what an agreement would cover.
