Managed IT that keeps your business running. One decision, not a checklist.
Three plans - Preferred Essentials, Preferred Professional, and Preferred Complete. Each includes everything in the one before it, and every plan, including the smallest, meets the security bar cyber-insurance carriers now expect.
Every plan includes the full security baseline
24/7 threat detection & responseMulti-factor authenticationPatching & updatesEmail threat protectionSecurity awareness trainingRestore-tested backupPlus Microsoft 365 in every plan
The Preferred Plans
Good, better, best: each plan includes everything in the plan before it, so choosing is one decision, not a checklist. Most businesses choose Preferred Professional.
Preferred Essentials
The minimum we'll put our name on: secured, patched, backed up, and built to what cyber-insurance carriers expect.
Full security baseline included
Per user / month - quoted for your business.
2 technician hours a month across your team. Hours beyond that are billable, quoted before the work starts.
Everything your team needs to be covered
- Microsoft 365 licensing matched to each role, with business email
- Remote helpdesk, business hours
- Endpoint management & patching, monitored 24/7
- Endpoint detection & response (EDR)
- Managed detection & response, 24/7 (MDR)
Ideal for: Small teams that need reliable IT built to what cyber-insurance carriers expect: the security baseline, kept current, with nothing left uncovered.
Get my Essentials quotePreferred Professional
The standard for a business that runs on its data.
Full security baseline included
Per user / month - quoted for your business.
4 technician hours a month across your team. Hours beyond that are billable, quoted before the work starts.
Everything in Preferred Essentials, plus
- Identity threat detection & response
- Enterprise password manager
- Email encryption
- Zero-trust VPN & DNS filtering
- Priority response SLA with extended hours
Ideal for: Businesses that run on their data: identity protection, encryption, priority response, and a real IT roadmap.
Get my Professional quotePreferred Complete
Your full IT department, on one plan.
Full security baseline included
Per user / month - quoted for your business.
8 technician hours a month across your team. Hours beyond that are billable, quoted before the work starts.
Everything in Preferred Professional, plus
- 24/7 support, including after-hours & weekends
- Unlimited onsite support
- Recurring vulnerability scanning
- Annual security assessment & pen-test coordination
- Compliance readiness management (CMMC / NIST 800-171)
Ideal for: Established businesses that want IT completely off their plate: compliance, AI enablement, 24/7 coverage, and a dedicated vCIO.
Get my Complete quoteWhat's in each plan
Every capability, and where it enters the ladder. A checkmark carries up: whatever Essentials has, Professional and Complete have too.
Included technician hours a month
- Preferred Essentials2 hours
- Preferred Professional4 hours
- Preferred Complete8 hours
For the whole account, not per person. Hours beyond the allowance are billable, quoted before the work starts.
In every plan - the baseline11 capabilities, in all three plans
- Microsoft 365 licensing matched to each role, with business email
- Remote helpdesk, business hours
- Endpoint management & patching, monitored 24/7
- Endpoint detection & response (EDR)
- Managed detection & response, 24/7 (MDR)
- MFA enforcement & email threat protection
- Security awareness training
- Restore-tested workstation & Microsoft 365 backup
- Domain & email authentication, locked and monitored
- Equipment financing we can arrange for you
- Annual technology review
Added in Preferred ProfessionalEverything in Preferred Essentials, plus 8 more
- Identity threat detection & response
- Enterprise password manager
- Email encryption
- Zero-trust VPN & DNS filtering
- Priority response SLA with extended hours
- Onsite visits included when we cannot fix it remotely
- User onboarding & offboarding included
- Quarterly business reviews, IT roadmap & budget
Added in Preferred CompleteEverything in Preferred Professional, plus 7 more
- 24/7 support, including after-hours & weekends
- Unlimited onsite support
- Recurring vulnerability scanning
- Annual security assessment & pen-test coordination
- Compliance readiness management (CMMC / NIST 800-171)Also available as an add-on to Preferred Professional
- AI enablement program: policy, training, workflow automationAlso available as an add-on to Preferred Professional
- Dedicated vCIO with monthly strategy cadence
| Capability | Preferred EssentialsPer user / month | Preferred ProfessionalPer user / month | Preferred CompletePer user / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Included technician hours a monthFor the whole account, not per person. Hours beyond the allowance are billable, quoted before the work starts. | 2 hours | 4 hours | 8 hours |
| In every plan - the baseline | |||
| Microsoft 365 licensing matched to each role, with business email | Included | Included | Included |
| Remote helpdesk, business hours | Included | Included | Included |
| Endpoint management & patching, monitored 24/7 | Included | Included | Included |
| Endpoint detection & response (EDR) | Included | Included | Included |
| Managed detection & response, 24/7 (MDR) | Included | Included | Included |
| MFA enforcement & email threat protection | Included | Included | Included |
| Security awareness training | Included | Included | Included |
| Restore-tested workstation & Microsoft 365 backup | Included | Included | Included |
| Domain & email authentication, locked and monitored | Included | Included | Included |
| Equipment financing we can arrange for you | Included | Included | Included |
| Annual technology review | Included | Included | Included |
| Added in Preferred Professional | |||
| Identity threat detection & response | Not included | Included | Included |
| Enterprise password manager | Not included | Included | Included |
| Email encryption | Not included | Included | Included |
| Zero-trust VPN & DNS filtering | Not included | Included | Included |
| Priority response SLA with extended hours | Not included | Included | Included |
| Onsite visits included when we cannot fix it remotely | Not included | Included | Included |
| User onboarding & offboarding included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Quarterly business reviews, IT roadmap & budget | Not included | Included | Included |
| Added in Preferred Complete | |||
| 24/7 support, including after-hours & weekends | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Unlimited onsite support | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Recurring vulnerability scanning | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Annual security assessment & pen-test coordination | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Compliance readiness management (CMMC / NIST 800-171) | Not included | Add-on | Included |
| AI enablement program: policy, training, workflow automation | Not included | Add-on | Included |
| Dedicated vCIO with monthly strategy cadence | Not included | Not included | Included |
The plans are cumulative: each one includes everything in the plan before it. No plan is ever sold with a security-baseline capability removed - if the budget is tight, the honest answer is a smaller plan, not a hollowed-out one. “Add-on” marks Complete capabilities that Preferred Professional clients can purchase individually.
How your price is built
Your plan covers your people, priced per user per month. Your equipment is counted during discovery and covered at your plan level on the same agreement - one invoice, no surprises.
1. Pick your plan
Essentials, Professional, or Complete. Each includes everything in the plan before it, and all three stand on the same security baseline.
2. We count your environment
Users first, then the equipment below. Servers get the same 24/7 monitoring and restore-tested backup as your workstations - it is billed through the count, not left out. Counts true up monthly, so the invoice reflects reality rather than a guess.
3. Add what you need, when you need it
Hardware, software, and projects are quoted separately, in writing, before work starts - so your monthly plan price never quietly inflates.
Get your custom quote
Tell us a little about your business and we will build a plan and price that fits. No obligation, and no pressure.
No obligation and no pressure. A real person from our High Point, NC team replies within one business day - or skip the form and call (336) 886-3282.
Beyond your plan
Your plan is what we do for you every month. These are the things you buy once, or add when the need comes up - always quoted separately and always in writing before work starts.
Hardware
Firewalls, switches, access points, servers, and workstations - specified for how you actually work, itemized in writing, and covered under your plan from day one.
One-time, itemized
PDC Software Suite
Business management software for manufacturers, distributors, and importers - order entry, inventory, accounting, and shop floor - built and supported by us since 1987.
Its own agreement
Custom programming
When software should match how you work, we change the software: new features, reports, and integrations, scoped and priced before any work starts.
Per project
AI enablement program
Policy, training, and workflow automation with guardrails. Included in Preferred Complete; available as an add-on to Preferred Professional.
Custom quote
AI seats
Licensed AI assistant seats for staff and leadership, at any plan level.
Monthly per seat
Compliance readiness management
Continuous CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness: monitoring, documentation, and evidence collection. Included in Preferred Complete; add-on to Preferred Professional.
Custom quote
Website hosting & maintenance
Managed hosting, updates, and upkeep for your business website, as a standalone service.
Flat monthly
Projects & onboarding
Office moves, new sites, server and cloud migrations, and new-client onboarding - planned and executed without your business stopping.
One-time, scoped
Why Partner with Preferred Data?
Local NC Presence
Based in High Point with on-site support within 200 miles. We are your neighbors, not a faceless corporation.
Manufacturing Expertise
Deep experience with OT/IT integration, SCADA systems, and industrial environments.
Software Builders, Not Just Support
We have built and supported business software for manufacturers since 1987 - the PDC Software Suite. 39+ years of knowing systems from the inside.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are the plans priced?
Each plan is priced per user per month, quoted for your specific business rather than off a generic rate card. Your servers, firewalls, switches, wireless access points, and storage devices are counted during discovery and covered at your plan level on the same agreement, so equipment-heavy businesses like manufacturers are priced on what we actually manage. Counts are trued up monthly, so the invoice follows reality as you grow. The quote is free and there is no obligation.
How do the three Preferred Plans differ?
The plans are cumulative, like good, better, and best. Preferred Essentials is the foundation: Microsoft 365 licensing matched to each role, so office staff get the full Office suite and field or shop-floor staff get a mailbox, plus a business-hours helpdesk, domain and email authentication, equipment financing we can arrange, and the full security baseline. Preferred Professional adds identity threat protection, a password manager, email encryption, zero-trust VPN, priority response with extended hours, onsite visits when a problem cannot be fixed remotely, and quarterly business reviews with an IT roadmap. Preferred Complete adds 24/7 support, unlimited onsite, compliance readiness management for CMMC and NIST 800-171, an AI enablement program, vulnerability scanning, and a dedicated vCIO. Each plan includes everything in the plan before it, and each includes a monthly allowance of technician hours: 2 at Essentials, 4 at Professional, 8 at Complete.
Which plan should I choose?
Most businesses land on Preferred Professional: it fits any company that runs on its data and wants identity protection, priority response, and a real IT roadmap. Preferred Essentials fits small teams that need reliable IT built to what cyber-insurance carriers expect, without the extras. Preferred Complete fits established businesses that want IT fully off their plate, work under compliance requirements like CMMC, or want a dedicated vCIO. We walk your environment with you and tell you in writing what each plan does and does not cover, so the decision is yours.
What security is included in every plan?
Every plan, including the smallest, includes the protections cyber-insurance carriers now expect: 24/7 threat detection and response monitored by real people, multi-factor authentication, patching and updates, email threat protection, security awareness training for your staff, and backups we verify by actually restoring them. Plus Microsoft 365 for every user. Security is the floor of every plan, not an upsell.
Can I remove services from a plan to lower the price?
No, and that is deliberate. Removing pieces is how businesses end up half-protected without knowing it: monitoring without response means nobody acts on the alert, and backup without restore testing means you find out it failed on the worst possible day. If the price is the concern, the honest answer is a smaller plan, not a hollowed-out big one. What you decline is never hidden in fine print - it is called out plainly in your proposal.
How many support hours are included?
Preferred Essentials includes 2 technician hours a month, Preferred Professional 4, and Preferred Complete 8. Those hours are for the whole account each month, not per person, and they cover day-to-day support of the services the plan manages. Everything outside them is billable and quoted before the work starts, so nothing reaches an invoice you have not approved. Unused hours do not carry into the following month.
What is not included in the plans?
The plans cover managing and protecting your business every month, within the included technician hours for your plan. Support beyond those hours, hardware purchases, PDC Software licensing, custom programming, AI assistant seats, website hosting, and projects like office moves or migrations are quoted separately, in writing, before any work starts - so your monthly plan price never quietly inflates. Compliance readiness management and the AI enablement program are included in Preferred Complete and available as add-ons to Preferred Professional.
What areas does Preferred Data serve?
We provide on-site IT support within 200 miles of High Point, NC, covering Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and surrounding areas, plus remote support nationwide.
Prefer to Talk to Someone Directly?
Our team is happy to answer your questions and help you pick the right plan.