/ Architecture IT support
IT support for architects covering workstations, project-file access, Microsoft 365, backups and application-vendor coordination for growing design practices.
For architecture firms and design practices that need dependable workstations, project access and collaboration.
Review your IT priorities
/ Direct answer
IT support for architects keeps the business environment around design work usable and secure: workstations, sign-in, project-file access, collaboration, networks and backups. BPro manages those agreed systems and coordinates issues with your CAD, BIM and other software vendors. The practice retains responsibility for design decisions, model ownership and its project information standards.
/ Common situations
Slow work may involve hardware capacity, local storage, a network path or the design application itself. We collect the symptoms, review the supported IT environment and coordinate vendor escalation. Hardware purchases and application changes follow the practice's requirements and approval.
A new collaboration should not require forwarding an entire project archive. We review supported sharing options, named access and project groups. Your information manager or project lead decides the authoritative file location, issue process and model collaboration method.
An available backup is useful only if the team can restore and open what it needs. We agree a sample with the practice, restore into an approved location, check permissions and ask an authorised user to validate usability. The result records the limits of that particular test.
/ How we work
Inventory users, workstations, cloud services, storage and design-software vendors. Identify workload requirements, shared-file dependencies, renewal dates and which changes need a vendor or practice lead to approve them.
Review device health, account security, supported updates, collaboration permissions and backup coverage. Plan changes around live projects and agree validation before broad deployment.
Document onboarding, departures, project-sharing reviews and support escalation. Use recurring issue records and representative restore results to plan improvements rather than relying on a generic hardware refresh cycle.
/ Assessment scope
A drawing that opens locally may behave differently across a shared drive, synchronised folder or model collaboration platform. Use a representative project to agree requirements, identify the application vendor and validate changes with the practice.
These are scoping examples. The proposal confirms which checks and records are included.
| Area to review | Practical check | Record to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Design workstation | Compare device health, storage and approved configuration with application-vendor requirements. | A workstation review with symptoms, dependencies and proposed actions. |
| Project collaboration | Review file locations, linked assets, access groups and vendor-supported collaboration methods. | A project-access map and representative open, edit and save test. |
| External consultants | Check guest permissions, sharing approvals and removal at the end of an engagement. | A named collaborator list with project-owner approval and review dates. |
| Project-file recovery | Restore a selected project sample and ask an authorised user to check files, links and permissions. | Recovery notes with tested files, validation results and any exclusions. |
The practice and its specialists own design accuracy, model coordination, BIM standards and application-specific workflows. BPro supports the agreed IT environment and vendor escalation. Storage migrations and software changes need representative testing and approval before live project data moves.
/ Managed service commitments
24/7
Monitoring & helpdesk
For every managed client.
Scoped
Onboarding plan
Timing agreed after discovery.
Written
Response targets
Agreed by priority and scope.
Defined
Escalation path
Contacts and ownership documented.
/ Questions
Common needs include workstation support, individual accounts and MFA, secure project-file access, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, device updates, network support, backups and software-vendor coordination. The service should identify the design applications and storage platforms in use before promising coverage.
Yes, within an agreed scope covering the business devices, identity, storage and connectivity those tools depend on. We work with the application vendor on software-specific issues. Model authoring, BIM coordination, design training and specialist application administration are not automatically part of managed IT.
Not without checking how your design applications support file locking, linked files, synchronisation and collaboration. Review vendor requirements and test a representative project before changing storage. A platform suitable for ordinary documents may not be the right place for every active design model.
Start with approved project groups, individual accounts, MFA, managed devices and controlled external sharing. Review guest access and departures, and agree the backup and retention arrangements. Your practice decides confidentiality, contractual requirements and which material each collaborator may receive.
Yes. A workstation, access or recovery review can be scoped as a project before deciding whether ongoing managed or co-managed support is appropriate. We agree the deliverables, dependencies, testing and handover before work starts.
The right mix depends on your systems, internal capacity, and risk. These pages explain the services most often relevant to this industry.
Before choosing a support plan, review our onboarding deliverables and sample service evidence. These show the records to ask for, rather than promising an outcome for your organisation.
Tell us what is working, what is at risk, and which systems your team cannot afford to lose. We will recommend a focused assessment and agree the next step.
Request an IT assessment