Guides we keep up to date
Longer than an article and maintained rather than published once. Each guide shows when it was last reviewed and what changed.
Microsoft 365 licensing & security guide
Microsoft 365 licensing for UK small businesses: what Business Basic, Standard and Premium include, current UK prices, what Defender adds, and why the licence is only the start of being secure.
Microsoft 365 suites guide
What Microsoft's subscription suites licensing page actually says: which services are inside Business Basic, Standard and Premium, Office 365 and Microsoft 365 E1 to E7, the Frontline F1 and F3 suites and EMS, what the Defender Suite and Purview Suite add-ons contain, the base-licence and 300-user rules, the Teams and mixed-licensing catches, and how to buy without paying twice.
Microsoft 365 security checklist
The Microsoft 365 security checklist Black Sheep Support runs on every new client: accounts and MFA, admin roles, sharing and permissions, devices, email protection, backup and monitoring. What we check, why, and how to fix it.
AI in your business guide
A plain-English guide to adopting AI in a UK small business: why Microsoft Copilot is the safe default (your data stays in your tenant), when ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok are the better tool, what staff must never paste into a public chatbot, how to set Copilot up safely, and what an AI usage policy should say.
Microsoft 365 Copilot guide
Microsoft Copilot for business, explained for UK companies: what it does, the current UK licence price, whether it is worth it for your team, and a setup plan that does not expose data you did not know was shared.
Copilot readiness check
The Copilot readiness check: where your data lives, who can see what, which roles have real use cases, what training people need, and how to run a measured pilot. Companion to our full Microsoft 365 Copilot guide.
Email security guide (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Why anyone can send email as your domain until SPF, DKIM and DMARC are set up, what each record does, what Google, Yahoo and Microsoft now require, how to check your domain free in 30 seconds, and how DMARC monitoring keeps it fixed.
Domain and DNS guide
Domain names, DNS and registrars explained for UK small businesses: who should be the registrant, where DNS should live, the security settings that stop a domain being stolen or lost, the common failures, and how we set up and manage domains with clients on Cloudflare, in the client's own account.
Phishing and invoice fraud guide
How phishing and invoice fraud actually happen in small businesses, the Microsoft 365 controls that stop most of it, the staff checks that catch the rest, and how Black Sheep Support manages email protection.
Compromised account: what to do
A step-by-step incident guide for a compromised business email or Microsoft 365 account: immediate containment, what evidence to preserve, who to notify (bank, Action Fraud, ICO), recovery, and how to prevent a repeat.
24/7 SOC guide
What a 24/7 SOC (Security Operations Centre) actually does: monitoring, triage, investigation and response explained for business owners, an illustrative overnight incident, what a SOC does not cover, and when a small business needs one.
Cyber Essentials guide
Cyber Essentials explained for UK SMEs: the five controls, Cyber Essentials vs Plus, current prices from £320, the Willow question set, included £25k insurance, and how to pass first time.
Microsoft 365 backup guide
Does Office 365 need a backup? What Microsoft 365 retains by default for email, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams, where the gaps are, what a third-party backup costs for a UK small business, and how to restore.
Intune and BYOD guide
Microsoft Intune for small businesses: managing company laptops (MDM) versus protecting company data on staff-owned phones (app protection policies), what each can do, Conditional Access, and a setup order that works.
Apple device management guide
How to bring company Macs, iPhones and iPads under control with Apple Business Manager and Microsoft Intune: automated enrolment, Company Portal, FileVault, compliance and conditional access, patching macOS, iOS and third-party apps, and making sure documents live in OneDrive, SharePoint or Google Drive and are backed up.
Joiners and leavers guide
What should happen to accounts, devices, access and data when a member of staff joins, changes role or leaves: a plain-English joiner, mover and leaver process for Microsoft 365 businesses, with the same-day leaver checklist.
Where should files live?
Where files should live in Microsoft 365: OneDrive for personal working files, SharePoint for the business, Teams as the front door. A structure small businesses recognise, sharing and permission rules, ownership, and migrating off the old server.
Patch management guide
How managed patch management works for a UK small business: every critical update within 14 days and usually 7, across operating systems, drivers and firmware, Microsoft products and the third-party software (Chrome, Firefox, Adobe) most businesses never patch. Why 14 days, and how to check your provider.
Broadband installation guide
A practical checklist for a business broadband or leased line installation: what to sort before the day, why you must be available (aborted visits are charged), where the line should terminate, what to leave for reception, and what happens after the engineer leaves. From an IT provider that manages installs across every UK carrier.
Outsourced IT support guide
What outsourced IT support includes, how UK providers price it (per user, per device, break-fix), what belongs in the contract, and the questions to ask before you sign. For 10 to 250-person businesses.
How to choose an IT support company
Choosing an IT support company for a UK small business: the questions to ask about onboarding, proactive management, security responsibilities, support scope, contracts and exit, and what good answers sound like.
Switching IT providers
How to switch IT provider without a gap in cover: what to check before giving notice, who should hold your domains, admin accounts and licences, the week-by-week handover, and what a good incoming provider does for you.
How much should IT support cost?
What business IT support costs in the UK and why: per-user and per-device pricing, what drives the number, what should be included, common exclusions, reactive versus managed, and how Black Sheep Support prices its service.
Our services, explained
What each service includes, what it does not, what it costs, and the questions people ask before signing.
Managed IT Support
Helpdesk, 24/7 monitoring, patching, security and backup for 10 to 250 people, from £35 per user per month.
ReadCyber Security & 24/7 Monitoring
Microsoft Defender configured and watched: Defender Monitoring in office hours and Barracuda's SOC around the clock.
ReadMicrosoft Defender Suite
The Defender Suite add-on to Business Premium, configured and monitored, with what each component actually does.
ReadMicrosoft 365 Business Premium
The licence we recommend for most SMEs, £16.90 per user, supplied, migrated to and with the security actually switched on.
ReadIntune & Device Management
Laptops, Macs and phones encrypted, compliant and recoverable through Intune, with Autopilot for new kit.
ReadMicrosoft 365 Management
Licences, identities, MFA, joiners and leavers administered for you, from £35 per user per month.
ReadMicrosoft 365 Backup
Mail, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams backed up outside Microsoft, kept seven years in the UK, £3 per user.
ReadBackup & Disaster Recovery
Servers and devices backed up offsite and immutable, recovery objectives agreed per system, restores tested every quarter.
ReadGoogle Workspace Backup
Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Contacts backed up outside Google, kept seven years in the UK, £3 per user.
ReadCopilot Readiness & Licences
Which Copilot licence, what it costs, and the permissions and pilot work to do before anyone gets one.
ReadFree Microsoft 365 Security Review
A read-only review of your tenant: MFA, Conditional Access, Defender, Intune, backup and Secure Score, with written findings. Free.
ReadIT Support for Accountants
Practices of 5 to 150 people: Microsoft 365 set up for client confidentiality, practice software supported, tested backup, deadline-season change freeze.
ReadIT Support for Law Firms
Solicitors of 5 to 150 people: mailboxes locked down against conveyancing fraud, case management supported, SRA, Lexcel and insurer evidence.
ReadIT Support for Charities
Microsoft nonprofit grants claimed, volunteers and shared devices handled properly, trustee-ready reporting.
ReadCyber Essentials
Gap assessment, the fixes, the questionnaire and the Plus audit, at a fixed price.
ReadBroadband, Leased Lines & Mobile
Connectivity from the carriers that serve your building, with faults chased by us.
ReadBusiness VoIP & Phone Systems
Hosted phones or Teams calling, numbers ported with no gap, before the analogue switch-off.
ReadMicrosoft Teams Phone
Calling inside Teams from £7.70 per user: numbers ported, queues and attendants built, the right carrier connection chosen.
ReadBusiness Wi-Fi, Firewalls & CCTV
UniFi Wi-Fi, firewalls, switching and cameras, surveyed, installed and supported by a UniFi partner.
ReadBusiness Hardware
Laptops, desktops, servers and monitors at trade pricing, configured before they arrive.
ReadOffice Moves & IT Relocation
Connectivity ordered in time, network in before move day, phones working on Monday.
ReadCloud Migration & Server Decommissioning
SharePoint designed properly, files moved with permissions intact, the old server wiped and gone.
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