Technology questions deserve straight answers. Below you'll find responses to the questions we hear most often from Michigan businesses — from compliance requirements to how our help desk actually works. Looking to solidify your cybersecurity? Request your free assessment today and see where you’re at risk.
What is AI compliance, and does my business need to worry about it?
AI compliance refers to the policies, documentation, and technical controls that govern how artificial intelligence tools are used within your organization. For most businesses, it's still an emerging consideration — but for defense contractors and others working with the federal government, it's becoming a formal requirement.
Businesses that operate as DOD contractors or handle controlled unclassified information (CUI) are seeing AI compliance woven into existing regulatory frameworks. Using public AI tools — chatbots, document processors, writing assistants — can inadvertently expose sensitive data if there's no policy in place governing what information is shared.
At Image Tech, we're actively developing a private AI solution and an AI compliance handbook specifically designed for Michigan businesses navigating these requirements. If you're a defense contractor or just want to get ahead of this issue before it becomes a mandate, we can help you build a responsible AI policy now.
What is NIST compliance, and why does it matter?
NIST stands for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a set of guidelines widely recognized as the gold standard for managing and reducing cybersecurity risk. It's used by businesses of all sizes, and compliance with NIST is often required for companies that work with the federal government.
The framework organizes cybersecurity around five functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Our NIST compliance consulting team helps you understand where your organization stands against each of those functions, builds a roadmap to close the gaps, and supports you through ongoing compliance maintenance.
Learn more on our NIST Compliance Consulting page.
What is CMMC, and how does it relate to NIST?
CMMC stands for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. It's a DOD-specific certification framework that defense contractors must meet to bid on and maintain federal contracts. Think of CMMC as NIST compliance with a formal audit and certification attached to it.
NIST provides the standards; CMMC verifies that a defense contractor has actually implemented them. If your business works with the Department of Defense — or wants to — achieving and maintaining CMMC certification is non-negotiable.
Our team guides defense contractors through the full CMMC process: gap assessment, remediation planning, documentation, and readiness for third-party review.
What does FTC compliance mean for my business?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sets data security requirements for businesses that handle consumer information. The FTC Safeguards Rule, in particular, requires companies in financial services and adjacent industries to implement specific security measures to protect customer data.
In practice, FTC compliance often involves securing your email communications and implementing access controls like geofencing — technology that restricts system access to approved geographic areas or networks. If your employees connect to business systems from locations you haven't authorized, geofencing can flag or block that activity automatically.
We help businesses assess their FTC compliance posture and put the right technical controls in place, including secure email configuration and geofencing tools.
How do you support remote and hybrid employees?
Approximately 90% of the support we provide is delivered remotely. Whether your team works from a single office, splits time between home and work, or is fully distributed, our help desk is built to reach them wherever they are.
Our IT Help Desk operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year — and when someone calls, a live technician answers. Not a ticket queue. Not a bot. A person.
Most issues are resolved over the phone or through a secure remote session. For problems that require a hands-on fix, we offer on-site and emergency support as well.
Can you help us move from on-premise servers to the cloud?
Yes. We handle on-premise to cloud migrations for businesses of all sizes. The most common migration we manage is Microsoft 365 — moving your email, file storage, and collaboration tools from local servers into Microsoft's cloud environment.
We also work with Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS), depending on what makes sense for your business. Every migration is planned carefully to minimize downtime and protect your data throughout the transition.
If you're not sure whether cloud migration is the right move for your organization, we're happy to walk through the options during a free consultation.
How does Image Tech protect against ransomware?
Ransomware protection starts with Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) — software that continuously monitors the devices on your network for suspicious behavior and responds before an attack can spread.
We deploy Barracuda's EDR platform for our managed clients. Barracuda monitors activity at the device level, detects ransomware indicators in real time, and can isolate infected endpoints to contain a threat before it reaches the rest of your network.
EDR is one layer of a broader defense strategy that also includes backups, access controls, and employee security awareness. The goal is to stop ransomware before it starts — not scramble to recover after the fact.
What is a network health assessment?
A network health assessment is a thorough evaluation of your IT infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities, performance gaps, and security risks — before someone else finds them for you.
You may have heard this referred to as penetration testing. We prefer 'network health assessment' because that's what it actually is: a proactive, positive process that gives you a clear picture of where your network stands and what needs attention. It's not about finding fault — it's about finding opportunities to make your environment more secure and reliable.
Assessments are a smart starting point for any new client relationship, and we also recommend them periodically as your business grows and your IT environment evolves.
How does IT service licensing work? Can I add or remove users?
For most services, we offer flexible 30-day licensing adjustments. If you hire someone mid-month or a team member leaves, you're not locked into paying for seats you don't need.
Microsoft 365 is the exception — it's an annual commitment per Microsoft's licensing terms. We'll walk you through the options and make sure you're not over-licensed from the start.
Our goal is a pricing structure that grows with your business without penalizing you for changes along the way.
What is compliance coaching, and what does a CISO meeting look like?
Compliance coaching is ongoing, structured support for businesses that need to maintain certifications like NIST or CMMC — not just achieve them once.
We offer monthly or quarterly CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) meetings with our compliance team. In these sessions, we review your current security posture, assess performance against your compliance benchmarks, and plan for any upcoming certification renewals or new requirements on the horizon.
For many businesses, this replaces the need to hire a full-time CISO internally. You get senior-level security guidance on a schedule that fits your budget.
Still have questions?
Contact Image Tech today for more information!
