All businesses can benefit from fully managed IT services in Hong Kong.

Whether you are a firm opening your first Hong Kong office, a multinational restructuring your regional operations, or any other type of organisation that would rather focus on its core strengths, we can help.

FunctionEight has provided fully managed IT services in Hong Kong and across Asia since 2001. We take care of everything from day-to-day IT support to long-term planning, so you can spend less time managing technology and more time running your business.

Why You Need Managed IT Support

For the vast majority of businesses, it’s best to avail of managed IT support services from a reliable IT support provider. This is because such a company specialises in providing high calibre IT support and services to different businesses.

Rather than working with different providers, working with a highly experienced and trustworthy IT support company will save your business a lot of precious resources. You can take advantage of the economies of scale that the IT firm offers while getting a complete range of reasonably-priced IT services.

These benefits are simply bonuses, because the best advantage is that you can then devote your business’s resources to your core business.

Here’s a rundown of the top advantages of getting managed IT support for your business:

Having an in-house IT department is costly. After all, you need to have experienced HR personnel who will scout, screen, hire, onboard, train, and manage IT engineers—and then keep them happily employed in your business so that they don’t get poached.

If you think that’s a lot already, unfortunately, you must also have a budget for their health insurance, bonuses and other types of incentives, retirement, termination, and more. But it’s not just the people that you have to spend on; they also need to have the best equipment to do their job effectively—computers, routers, software programs, accessories, and others. Those things need to be assembled and set up correctly. They also need to be constantly maintained to perform well consistently.

All of those things require a lot of important resources, which you can devote to equally or even more important parts of your business. By getting managed IT support services, you can eliminate all of the expenses and headaches involved in those requirements. With a dependable managed IT support company, you’ll have a partner whose specific forte is IT services and support. They’ll take care of your IT so you can take care of your main business.

As a bonus, when you avail of managed IT support services, you’ll instantly get access to a dedicated team of IT experts who can fulfil all IT needs of your business—all day, every day of the year. This means that you don’t have to worry about losing IT personnel when they get sick, go on holidays, or experience other unfortunate events. Thus, you can avoid interruptions in your business operations and ensure everything continues running smoothly no matter what happens.

The field of information technology or IT is constantly evolving. Several decades ago, businesses had to invest in a lot of typewriters, and then fax machines, and in more recent decades, computers and other related machines.

For your business to stay relevant and competitive, you need to make sure that your IT adapts with the ever-changing times.

Unfortunately, this is not always feasible for most businesses due to the rapid advances in technology. Most organisations simply do not have the time, money, nor expertise to keep updating their IT.

The good news is that a reliable and experienced managed IT support services company has all of these and will happily do this for you. However complicated the IT world gets, the right IT outsourcing firm can help you keep your business running well.

Most in-house IT personnel don’t have the resources to deal with massive changes in IT needs that are due to relocation, expansion, or some other business changes. In contrast, an experienced IT outsourcing firm such as FunctionEight offers clients the capability to scale their IT up or down based on your business’s exact needs at any given point in time.

Finally, getting managed IT support services automatically gives your organisation access to extensive knowledge and vast experience of highly qualified IT experts. Anyone who has worked in HR knows how difficult it is to get true professionals in IT, since there’s a constantly high demand for this specific group of workers all over the globe.

When you delegate your IT, you’ll immediately receive IT support and services from knowledgeable and experienced IT experts who have gained years of experience in this field. Thanks to their exposure to a myriad of IT concerns and issues faced by different businesses, they are more efficient in helping you with your own IT needs.

A bonus advantage is that they are typically well-versed in cybersecurity and will help your organisation avoid various risks such as cyberattacks, which can greatly impact your business.

What Our Managed IT Services Include

Every managed IT services agreement is scoped around your requirements, so the exact cover is agreed with you before we begin. Our agreements typically include the following.

Service desk and user support

Your staff get direct access to our engineers by phone and email, 24 hours a day and across all time zones. Our average first response time across support requests is 15 minutes. Wherever an issue can be resolved remotely we do so, and where it cannot, an engineer attends your Hong Kong office.

Proactive monitoring and maintenance

We monitor your servers, network devices and endpoints, so problems are identified and dealt with before your staff notice them. Patching, updates and health checks are carried out to an agreed schedule rather than being fitted in when something breaks.

Network and infrastructure management

Firewalls, switches, wireless, VPN and remote access are configured, maintained and reviewed by our engineers. We keep your documentation current, so your infrastructure never depends on one person’s memory.

Cloud and Microsoft 365 management

Licences, user accounts, mailboxes, security policies and backups across Microsoft 365 and other cloud platforms are administered on your behalf. Around 95% of our clients are already on the cloud, and we manage those environments day to day.

Cybersecurity and compliance

Our managed IT services typically cover endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, access control and security patching. We also help you meet your obligations under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance and the standards your industry expects.

Onboarding, offboarding and procurement

We prepare equipment and accounts for new starters, and remove leavers from your systems promptly once you notify us. Hardware and software are sourced through our established supplier relationships.

Reporting and account management

You receive regular reporting on tickets, response times and system health, and a named point of contact who understands your business rather than a queue.

Response Times and Service Levels

We agree service levels with you in writing before your agreement begins, and we report against them. As a guide:

  • Average first response across all requests: 15 minutes
  • Critical issues affecting the whole business: escalated and prioritised ahead of routine requests
  • Support hours: 24/7 across all time zones, with engineers on the ground in Hong Kong and Singapore
  • Scheduled maintenance: agreed in advance and, wherever practical, carried out outside your working hours

Costs are fixed monthly, so your IT budget stays predictable and does not spike when something goes wrong.

Why Choose FunctionEight For Your Managed IT Support in Hong Kong

We are FunctionEight, and we enable companies from the United Kingdom and everywhere else around the globe to organise and outsource their IT requirements in Hong Kong (and practically everywhere else in Asia).

From the time we were established in 2001, we have had the pleasure of supporting more than 200 businesses from all parts of the globe, and we look forward to working with your organisation as well by becoming your IT partner in Asia.

We help businesses of all sizes in all kinds of markets. We’ve collaborated with companies without any in-house IT department and even those which have an in-house IT team, by being their ‘arms and legs’ in Hong Kong.

We offer all of the following managed IT support services in Hong Kong:

Managed IT Services

  • Onsite IT support (Level 1, 2, 3) for network as well as systems
  • IT helpdesk (remote) 24/7
  • IT procurement
  • IT consulting

Professional IT Services

  • Cyber security consultation and implementation
  • Office relocation
  • Cloud services
  • Infrastructure
  • Migrations

Digital Services

  • Digital consultancy (includes Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation)
  • Website development (either revamping your current website or developing a new one)
  • System and software development (includes database and hosting solutions)

Why Trust Us For Your Managed IT Support in
Hong Kong

Here are two major reasons why you can entrust us for your managed IT support
in Hong Kong:

  • Reliable IT experts
    For over two decades now, we’ve been providing businesses with comprehensive IT support and services. Our clients have commended our IT engineers for their knowhow—including the crucial and fast-growing niche of cybersecurity—and work ethics.

    Our engineers are adaptable, professional, and friendly. They are likewise proactive, informing clients of possible risks they may face as soon as possible, and recommending preventive measures to ensure that business operations are not disrupted.

  • Quick and specialised on-the-ground services
    To efficiently provide our clients’ needs, our IT engineers are on-the-ground in Hong Kong, and they can also be available for you in other major cities in Asia.

    Over the past 20 years, we’ve gained deep knowledge in Retail, Financial Services, Insurance, Hospitality, Recruitment, Membership Organisations, and Architecture, and we’re continuously deepening our knowledge of other industries.

    Last but not the least, we aim to respond to IT service requests in less than 15 minutes (on average), and we offer 24/7 remote IT support in all timezones.

Managed IT Services and IT Support in Hong Kong – FAQs

General Information About Managed IT Services

Managed IT support means handing responsibility for your technology to an external provider who looks after it continuously, rather than calling someone in when a problem appears. For businesses in Hong Kong, where commercial rents and salaries make an in-house IT team expensive, this usually means:

✔ Access to a full team of specialists for less than the cost of one senior hire

✔ Problems identified and resolved before they interrupt trading

✔ Predictable monthly costs rather than unexpected repair bills

✔ Cover that continues through public holidays, leave and staff turnover

It also removes the risk of your entire IT knowledge sitting with one person.

Managed IT services and managed IT support overlap, and the terms are often used interchangeably. Managed IT support usually refers to the day-to-day helpdesk and technical assistance your staff rely on, while managed IT services describes the wider ongoing management of your technology environment. At FunctionEight both are covered by the same agreement:

✔ Day-to-day IT support for your staff

✔ Monitoring, maintenance and patching of your systems

✔ Network, server and cloud management

✔ Cybersecurity, backup and compliance

✔ Procurement, onboarding and IT planning

You will not be asked to choose between them, or charged separately for each.

Traditional support is reactive. Something breaks, you call, someone fixes it, and you receive an invoice. Managed support is continuous:

✔ Systems are monitored rather than waiting for a report

✔ Maintenance is scheduled rather than triggered by failure

✔ Costs are fixed monthly rather than varying with incidents

✔ Your provider has an interest in fewer problems, not more

Managed IT Services in Hong Kong

Every agreement is scoped individually, but our Hong Kong agreements typically cover:

✔ Remote and on-site support for your staff

✔ Server, network and endpoint monitoring

✔ Cloud and Microsoft 365 administration

✔ Cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery

✔ Hardware and software procurement

✔ IT planning and budgeting

The full list is set out earlier on this page.

Yes. Our support runs 24 hours a day across all time zones, which matters for Hong Kong businesses in particular:

✔ Your Asian trading day is covered by engineers in the region

✔ Overnight work can be scheduled without disrupting your staff

✔ Offices in Europe or North America are supported at their own local hours

✔ Urgent issues are picked up regardless of when they occur

Pricing depends on the size of your team, the systems you run and the level of cover you need. Rather than charging per incident, we agree a fixed monthly fee, which means:

✔ Your IT costs are predictable and easy to budget for

✔ There is no incentive for anyone to let problems accumulate

✔ Routine work, monitoring and support are all included

✔ Your agreement is reviewed as your requirements change, so cover keeps pace with your business

Contact us for a consultation and we will put a figure against your specific requirements.

Yes. Many of our clients have their own IT staff and use us to extend what that team can cover. This typically includes:

✔ Out-of-hours and weekend cover so your team is not permanently on call

✔ Specialist expertise for projects such as migrations, office moves or security reviews

✔ Cover during leave, sickness and staff turnover

✔ Support on the ground in other Asian offices where you have no local IT presence

We work alongside your team rather than replacing it.

Yes, and this is one of the main reasons Hong Kong businesses come to us. We have engineers on the ground in Hong Kong and Singapore, and can arrange support in other major Asian cities including Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Bangkok. That gives you:

✔ One provider, one agreement and one point of contact across your offices

✔ Engineers who can attend a site rather than only working remotely

✔ Consistent standards and documentation in every location

✔ No need to appoint and manage a separate supplier in each market

Cybersecurity and Compliance

Yes. The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance places obligations on how you collect, store and protect personal data, and much of what it requires is technical:

✔ Access controls so only the right people can reach personal data

✔ Encryption of data at rest and in transit

✔ Retention and secure disposal handled consistently

✔ Logging and monitoring so you can establish what happened after an incident

✔ Documentation you can produce if you are asked to demonstrate compliance

We are not a substitute for legal advice, but we put the technical controls in place and keep them working.

Business Continuity

By removing the causes rather than responding faster to the symptoms:

✔ Monitoring catches failures before users are affected

✔ Scheduled maintenance prevents many of the problems that cause outages

✔ Backups are checked, so a restore is a routine exercise rather than an unknown

✔ Where appropriate, we can design redundancy into business-critical systems

Why Choose FunctionEight

We have supported businesses in Hong Kong and across Asia since 2001, and the way we are set up suits international firms in particular:

✔ Western management and an international corporate culture, so we work the way our clients expect

✔ Engineers on the ground in Hong Kong rather than support routed offshore

✔ Low engineer turnover, so the people who know your systems stay with you

✔ Specialist experience in insurance, financial services, recruitment, architecture and hospitality

The timeline depends on the complexity of your systems and how well documented they are. The process runs as follows:

✔ We audit your current systems, licences and documentation

✔ We agree service levels and the scope of your agreement in writing

✔ We set up monitoring and access, working with your existing provider where possible

✔ We brief your staff on how to reach us, and support begins

Where a business is without IT support entirely, or the existing arrangement has broken down, we can move considerably faster.

Our Senior Team

Martin Abert
Martin AbertChairman
Chris Young
Chris YoungPartner
Henrik Runnström
Henrik RunnströmManaging Director
Rachelle Chee
Rachelle CheeDirector - Operations
Allo Hui
Allo HuiDirector – IT & Operations
Alex Ho
Alex HoDirector – IT & Operations
Kyle Lester Rabanillo
Kyle Lester RabanilloTeam Leader – Development