Plain answers for the tech your business runs on
Guides on Microsoft 365, email, IT, cloud and websites, written for South African businesses. Read them, then decide what you need.
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The first guide to read for each service
One guide per service: the one we would send you before we talk.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard vs Business Premium for South African SMBs
Which Microsoft 365 plan a South African small business needs, Microsoft’s current prices, the NCE terms, where data is stored and what to check before renewing.
Read the guideManaged IT services in South Africa: what’s included and what drives the cost
What a managed IT service in South Africa should include, the pricing models, what drives the cost, what response times mean and what to ask a provider.
Read the guideWhat should a cloud migration checklist cover when you move to Azure?
A cloud migration checklist for South African businesses moving to Azure, with what we learned moving our own website between data centres.
Read the guideWhat does a custom WordPress website cost in South Africa in 2026?
Dated, advertised South African prices for WordPress sites in 2026, what moves a quote, the monthly running costs, and what a quote should include before you sign.
Read the guideWhat does a WordPress maintenance plan include, and what should its service levels cover?
What a WordPress maintenance plan should include, what its service level agreement should cover, the questions to ask a provider, and what we do for our own site.
Read the guideWhen does a business need custom software instead of off-the-shelf tools?
The signs your business has outgrown off-the-shelf tools, two build-or-buy decisions from our own website, and what you take on when you build in Laravel.
Read the guideArticles
What goes on a Microsoft 365 migration checklist for a small business?
A Microsoft 365 migration checklist in five stages: licences, domain and DNS, cutover or staged, security, then the switch, the checks and a way back.
Read the guideWhitepapers
In-depth guides for the bigger decisions.
- 01What is DMARC, and do you need it? A DNS and email security playbook for South African businesses
- 02How should you build a multi-tenant SaaS application on Laravel?
- 03What does a WordPress maintenance plan include, and what should its service levels cover?
- 04Microsoft 365 NCE
- 05Azure migration in South Africa
What goes on a Microsoft 365 migration checklist for a small business?
A Microsoft 365 migration checklist in five stages: licences, domain and DNS, cutover or staged, security, then the switch, the checks and a way back.
Read the guideCloud vs on-premises costs for South African small businesses: how do you choose?
Cloud or your own servers? What each costs over five years, how load-shedding and connectivity change the choice, where your data lives, and how to decide.
Read the guideWhat is DNSSEC, and does your business need it?
What DNSSEC does and does not do, how it is switched on, what goes wrong when you change DNS provider, and whether your South African business needs it.
Read the guideWhat is a cybersecurity baseline for a small business, and how do you check yours?
Seven security controls for a South African small business, in priority order, with a check for each and what we do for our own business.
Read the guideWordPress Core Web Vitals: how do you get your site to pass?
What Core Web Vitals measure, whether they affect rankings, and how we brought our own WordPress site inside a speed budget, then what made it slow again.
Read the guideHow to reduce Azure costs: 5 places South African businesses overspend
How to reduce Azure costs: reservations and savings plans, licences you already own, idle resources, tags and budgets, and what South African regions change.
Read the guideWhich Microsoft 365 security settings should a small business turn on, licence by licence?
The Microsoft 365 security settings to turn on for Business Basic, Standard and Premium, in order, and how to check each one is working.
Read the guideIs your small business backup not working? How to make sure you can recover
Why small business backups fail at restore time, how to test yours, the 3-2-1 rule and what it misses, Microsoft 365, power cuts and ransomware.
Read the guideCustom software development costs in South Africa: how to budget
How to budget for the build and for owning the software afterwards: a worksheet, three mistakes to avoid, phasing, and how to compare quotes.
Read the guideWordPress website hard to edit? 5 signs it needs a developer, not another plugin
Why a WordPress website gets hard to edit, five signs another plugin will not fix it, and what we found cleaning up our own site’s plugins.
Read the guideWhy business emails go to spam, and how to fix it
How SPF, DKIM and DMARC support email delivery, which sender requirements apply, and what else to check when legitimate mail lands in spam.
Read the guideHow do you choose a managed IT provider in South Africa? Ask these 10 questions
Ten questions to ask a managed IT provider in South Africa, what a good answer looks like, and the proof to ask for before you sign.
Read the guideAzure vs AWS in South Africa: which cloud fits your business?
Azure or AWS for a South African business? The regions, licence options, identity, costs and support compared, and when each one is the better fit.
Read the guideMicrosoft 365 vs Google Workspace: which suits a South African business?
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for a South African business: where each stores data, what POPIA requires, desktop apps, security, price and switching.
Read the guidePOPIA Compliance for Small Businesses: A Practical Website & Data Checklist
A practical POPIA checklist for South African small businesses: website privacy and consent, data and access controls, email security, where your data lives, and what to do if a breach happens.
Read the guideWhat is DMARC, and do you need it? A DNS and email security playbook for South African businesses
What DMARC is and whether you need it, how SPF, DKIM and DMARC differ, a staged DMARC rollout from our own domain, and the records that harden the rest.
Read the guideHow should you build a multi-tenant SaaS application on Laravel?
How to build a multi-tenant SaaS on Laravel: the tenancy models, where isolation leaks besides the database, and what we learned building SecureBin and MailMark.
Read the guideWhat does a WordPress maintenance plan include, and what should its service levels cover?
What a WordPress maintenance plan should include, what its service level agreement should cover, the questions to ask a provider, and what we do for our own site.
Read the guideMicrosoft 365 NCE: monthly vs annual commitment for South African SMBs
Microsoft 365 NCE monthly vs annual commitment: what each costs, the 168-hour and seven-day windows, renewals, upgrades and how to split your seats.
Read the guideAzure migration in South Africa: what goes into a cloud migration rollback plan and its governance?
How to move workloads to Azure and stay in control: the South African regions, a rollback plan that works, landing zones, policy, vendor access and cost.
Read the guideWhat should a cloud migration checklist cover when you move to Azure?
A cloud migration checklist for South African businesses moving to Azure, with what we learned moving our own website between data centres.
Read the guideMicrosoft 365 Business Standard vs Business Premium for South African SMBs
Which Microsoft 365 plan a South African small business needs, Microsoft’s current prices, the NCE terms, where data is stored and what to check before renewing.
Read the guideManaged IT services in South Africa: what’s included and what drives the cost
What a managed IT service in South Africa should include, the pricing models, what drives the cost, what response times mean and what to ask a provider.
Read the guideWhen does a business need custom software instead of off-the-shelf tools?
The signs your business has outgrown off-the-shelf tools, two build-or-buy decisions from our own website, and what you take on when you build in Laravel.
Read the guideWhat does a custom WordPress website cost in South Africa in 2026?
Dated, advertised South African prices for WordPress sites in 2026, what moves a quote, the monthly running costs, and what a quote should include before you sign.
Read the guideExporting Exchange Public Folders to PST – Tools, Tips, and Troubleshooting
Public folders in Exchange Server facilitate information sharing. Exporting them to PST is vital for archiving, legal compliance, migration, and server data transfer.
Read the guide[Solved] How to Fix Outlook Storage Full Error?
Is your Outlook mailbox full and preventing you from sending or receiving emails? This comprehensive guide explores effective ways to fix the “Outlook storage full” error by reducing your mailbox size.
Read the guideFree checks you can run now
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