Frequently asked questions
IT & cybersecurity in Quebec

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) takes full responsibility for your company’s IT infrastructure for a predictable monthly fee: 24/7 monitoring, updates, incident management, security and user support. Unlike the break-fix model where you only call during a failure, an MSP acts proactively to eliminate problems before they affect your operations.

Reactive support responds after a failure — you pay by the hour and endure the downtime. Groupe Miracom’s proactive managed services continuously monitor your systems to detect and correct anomalies before they become outages. The result: fewer interruptions, a predictable monthly cost and a significantly higher level of security.

Groupe Miracom never uses an offshore call centre or automated menus. Our technicians are bilingual Quebec professionals available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you call 1 855 339-9543, an IT expert picks up. This is a fundamental commitment of our service model since our founding.

Our onboarding process unfolds in three phases. First, a complete technical discovery (inventory, documentation, security audit) completed within a few days. Second, deployment of our monitoring and management tools. Third, delivery of an initial health report with identified priorities. The transition is transparent for your employees.

Yes. Groupe Miracom supports SMBs from as few as 5 workstations. Small businesses actually benefit most from managed services, as they typically lack the resources to hire a full-time IT technician. Our base plan gives them access to a team of specialists at a fraction of the cost of a permanent employee.

As a general rule, workstations have a useful lifespan of 3 to 5 years, physical servers 4 to 6 years, and active network equipment (switches, routers) 5 to 7 years. Beyond these thresholds, failure risk increases significantly, security updates are no longer available, and degraded performance reduces your team’s productivity. Groupe Miracom includes a hardware renewal plan in every managed services plan.

The two are complementary, not competing. Fibre optic forms the backbone of your network — it connects floors, buildings and server rooms with near-unlimited bandwidth and very low latency. Wi-Fi 6 then distributes that connectivity wirelessly to mobile devices. For a business office, Groupe Miracom systematically recommends a fibre backbone infrastructure with Wi-Fi 6 for mobility.

It depends on your applications, Internet bandwidth and compliance requirements. The cloud (Azure, Microsoft 365) works very well for office productivity, communications and SaaS applications. Some business software (proprietary ERPs, large databases, production applications) performs better on-premise. Groupe Miracom conducts a 5-year cost-benefit analysis before recommending a hybrid or 100% cloud architecture.

Five elements are critical: electrical capacity (dedicated circuits, surge protection), cooling (redundant air conditioning, separate hot/cold airflow), physical security (access control, cameras), environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, water detection) and network connectivity (at least two distinct fibre paths to active equipment). Groupe Miracom delivers a turnkey design before any fit-out.

The five most frequent threats in Quebec are: (1) ransomware that encrypts your data and demands payment, (2) email or SMS phishing, (3) CEO fraud (business email compromise), (4) unauthorized access via compromised accounts, (5) unpatched vulnerabilities in software and VPNs. These attacks do not only target large enterprises: SMBs account for 43% of victims because they are less protected.

No. Traditional antivirus was designed for known viruses of the 2000s. Current threats use fileless techniques, compromised legitimate accounts and zero-day exploits that antivirus alone cannot detect. Adequate protection in 2025 requires at minimum: an EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response), MFA on all accounts, vulnerability management and regularly tested immutable backups.

Five urgent actions in the first minutes: (1) Call our 24/7 emergency line at 1 855 339-9543. (2) Disconnect suspected devices from the network without turning them off (RAM contains evidence). (3) Do not pay a ransom without professional advice. (4) Alert your leadership team immediately. (5) Do not communicate via potentially compromised systems. Every minute counts: ransomware can spread across an entire network within hours.

Groupe Miracom offers a cybersecurity audit structured around the NIST CSF framework (Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover). It evaluates your technologies, processes and human behaviours, and produces a maturity score with a risk-prioritized roadmap. Most SMBs undertake this audit to meet the requirements of their cyber insurer or a major client.

Cyber insurance generally covers: victim notification costs in case of a data breach, system restoration costs, business interruption losses, ransoms (with conditions), legal fees and regulatory fines. Insurers increasingly require pre-existing controls (MFA, backups, training) before issuing a policy. Groupe Miracom helps you demonstrate your control measures to your insurer.

Microsoft 365 is generally recommended for Quebec SMBs because it integrates better with Windows business software, accounting systems (Sage, QuickBooks), ERPs and advanced security solutions (Defender, Intune, Sentinel). Google Workspace is better suited for cloud-native businesses with low Windows dependency. Groupe Miracom primarily works with Microsoft 365 and recommends it for the majority of its clients.

No, not adequately. Microsoft backs up its infrastructure, not your data. The recycle bin and version history have limited retention periods (30 to 180 days depending on licence). Ransomware encrypting your OneDrive or SharePoint files will not be recoverable without an independent backup. Groupe Miracom deploys a third-party backup of your Microsoft 365 tenant with 3-year retention.

The cost of a Microsoft 365 migration depends on the number of users, the complexity of your current environment (Exchange server, file shares, integrated applications) and the level of training required. Groupe Miracom provides a fixed quote after a free assessment — typically between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars for an SMB of 10 to 50 users, migration included, with no surprise fees.

Enabling MFA company-wide involves three steps in the Microsoft Entra ID portal (formerly Azure AD): activating security defaults or configuring a conditional access policy, deploying the Microsoft Authenticator app, then assisting users with enrolment. Groupe Miracom can deploy MFA across all your Microsoft 365 accounts within one business day.

Bill 25 (An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information, Quebec) requires organizations to: designate a person in charge of personal information protection, notify the Commission d’accès à l’information (CAI) and affected individuals in case of an incident, implement adequate security measures, obtain valid consent for data collection, and publish an accessible privacy policy. It applies to any organization handling personal information of Quebec residents.

Administrative monetary penalties can reach $10 million or 2% of worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Penal sanctions can reach $25 million or 4% of worldwide revenue. Beyond fines, an improperly managed incident exposes your company to civil lawsuits from affected individuals and significant reputational damage.

Yes, this has been a legal obligation in Quebec since September 2022. Bill 25 requires every organization to designate a person responsible for personal information protection (RPRP), whose name and contact details must be published on the company’s website. This can be an internal employee or an external expert such as Groupe Miracom. The role covers governance, incident management and responding to access requests.

Yes. The personal information of employees (HR files, payroll, health, address, etc.) is protected by Bill 25. Your organization must have data collection and retention policies, restrict access to those who need it, and securely destroy former employees’ data as soon as it is no longer needed.

Our pricing is based on a fixed monthly plan, calculated per device or per user depending on the included services. This approach guarantees a predictable IT cost every month with no surprises. A free assessment of your environment is always conducted before submitting a quote, so the plan matches your actual needs rather than a generic template.

Your monthly plan covers all agreed services: monitoring, updates, unlimited phone and remote support, and scheduled on-site visits. Additional fees apply only for clearly defined out-of-scope projects (e.g. migrating a new server, deploying a new branch, hardware purchases). These projects are always submitted for prior approval with a fixed price.

Our managed services contracts have a typical initial term of 12 months. This period allows us to realize the full value of proactive improvement (environment stabilization, incident reduction). Longer commitments (24 or 36 months) are available and generally offer a better rate. We are transparent about renewal and exit terms from the moment of signing.

Yes. For companies with high-volume needs or complex environments, we offer a dedicated or semi-dedicated technician model. This person becomes the primary point of contact for your organization, learns your infrastructure, business applications and operational preferences, delivering a superior level of personalized service. Contact us to discuss this option.

Groupe Miracom has 8 permanent branches in Quebec: Quebec City, Laval, Lévis, Victoriaville, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Gatineau and Sept-Îles. Each branch has local technicians able to respond quickly on site within their region. Remote support is available 24/7 across all of Quebec and for organizations with offices outside our service regions.

For clients under contract, our service level agreements (SLAs) define contractual response times based on incident criticality. For a critical emergency (production system down, active cyberattack), a technician is dispatched from the nearest branch generally within 2 hours in urban areas. The majority of emergencies are resolved remotely within minutes before on-site dispatch is even necessary.

Groupe Miracom focuses on the Quebec market. Remote services can be extended to organizations with offices in other Canadian provinces, but on-site interventions are limited to our 8 regions in Quebec. For businesses with offices in Ottawa and the Ottawa-Gatineau region, our Gatineau branch can cover both sides of the Ottawa River.

The first visit begins with a technical discovery: the technician inventories your equipment, documents the network architecture, identifies immediate risks and securely collects your access credentials. This groundwork is essential so that the entire Miracom team can assist you effectively from day one, without you having to re-explain your environment on every call.