Most businesses in Sussex have no real way to know whether their IT company is doing the security work they’re paying for. You see a logo, a certificate on the wall, and you take the rest on trust.
We’ve just done something about that. Ingenio is now certified by Assurix — an independent body that checks how an IT provider really operates, continuously, and publishes the result for anyone to verify. We’re the first Assurix-certified managed IT support company in Sussex, and among the first in the UK.
The 30-second version
- Ingenio is now an Assurix-certified IT support company — independently verified on how we actually run, not just what we claim.
- Unlike a once-a-year audit, Assurix checks more than 60 security and operational controls continuously. If standards slip, we have 30 days to fix it — or we lose the trustmark.
- We’re the first in Sussex and the South East (outside London) to hold it, and among the first in the UK.
- You can check our status yourself, any time — links are further down.
What “Assurix-certified” actually means
Assurix is a new, independent standard for IT companies — a way to prove, with evidence rather than words, that a provider is genuinely secure and well run.
What makes it different is how it works. Rather than a single audit on a single day, Assurix connects to the systems we use to run our clients’ IT — our service desk, our monitoring, our Microsoft 365 management, our backups — and continuously checks more than 60 security and operational controls against the UK’s Cyber Assessment Framework. The result is a live record, held on an independent registry, that shows whether we’re meeting the standard today. Not last March. Today.
If a standard slips, we have 30 days to put it right — or we lose the trustmark. That accountability is the part that makes it mean something.
We already hold Cyber Essentials Plus. So why this as well?
We’re certified to Cyber Essentials Plus, the government-backed scheme run by IASME, and we rate it — we help our clients achieve it too. It’s a genuine, hands-on test of your defences by an independent assessor, and every organisation should have it.
But any annual certificate has the same limit: it describes one day. It tells you a provider passed in, say, May. It can’t tell you what changed in June, or whether the good habits held in November. Security is something you do every day, not once a year. We wanted a way to show our clients the difference between passing a test once and doing the work all year round.
| Cyber Essentials Plus | Assurix Trusted MSP | |
|---|---|---|
| How often it’s tested | Once a year, on the day of assessment | Continuously — re-checked every day |
| What it checks | A defined set of technical controls | 60+ security and operational controls, including our Microsoft Secure Score |
| Where the evidence comes from | Prepared and presented for the assessment | Pulled automatically from our live systems |
| If a standard slips | Nothing changes until next year’s assessment | 30 days to fix it, or the trustmark is withdrawn |
| What you can see | A pass/fail certificate | A live status anyone can check, any time |
| Think of it as | An annual MOT | A continuous health monitor |
The two work well together. Cyber Essentials Plus proves we passed a thorough test on the day. Assurix shows we’re still meeting the standard today, and updates if that ever changes.
The unglamorous work that actually keeps you safe
Good security isn’t dramatic. It’s a set of habits, done consistently — the same controls behind recognised standards and the NCSC’s guidance for IT providers. In plain terms:
- Patching and updates. Keeping operating systems and software current so known weaknesses are fixed quickly. Many security incidents involve a known weakness that a patch had already fixed.
- Microsoft 365 security. Keeping our Microsoft Secure Score where it should be, with the right protections switched on across email, identity and devices.
- Proactive monitoring. Watching for issues and acting on them before they reach you, rather than waiting for something to break.
- Access control. The right people with the right access — and leavers losing it promptly. Multi-factor authentication as standard.
- Backups you can actually restore. Tested recovery, so a bad day stays a bad day rather than becoming a disaster.
None of that is new or flashy. The hard part is doing it consistently, for every client, every week — and being able to prove you did. That is the gap Assurix closes: it turns the quiet, continuous work of security into evidence you can see.
“Every IT company says they’re secure. We wanted to do better than ‘trust us’. Cyber Essentials Plus shows we passed an audit on one day; Assurix shows — continuously and independently — that we’re still doing the right things today. Our clients shouldn’t have to take security on faith.”
— Simon Smyth, Managing Director, Ingenio Technologies
Don’t take our word for it — check
The whole point of independent verification is that you don’t have to believe us. Our certification is recorded on an independent, tamper-evident registry run by BlockMark, and listed in the Assurix directory of verified providers. Both are public, and both update on their own.
Check us yourself
- Status: Active
- Issued by: Assurix Limited
- Valid until: 8 May 2027
- Verify it on the BlockMark registry or find us in the Assurix directory.
What this means if you run a business in Sussex
If you run an organisation in Brighton, Horsham, Crawley, Eastbourne or anywhere across Sussex and the South East, choosing an IT company is mostly an act of faith. You’re trusting people you can’t easily check with something you can’t easily judge.
Independent verification gives you a way to judge. It means you can ask a provider to show you, not tell you. Assurix has put together a plain-English guide for business owners on what good looks like and the questions worth asking any IT company — worth a read whether or not you ever talk to us. You’ll find it on the Assurix for businesses page.
Managed IT support across Sussex you can actually check
Ingenio provides fully managed IT support in Sussex for businesses, charities and nonprofits across East and West Sussex — Brighton, Crawley, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Worthing and Eastbourne — plus parts of Surrey and the wider South East. It’s a complete, outsourced IT support service: a responsive helpdesk with fast response times, proactive monitoring to cut downtime, on-site help when it’s needed, and Microsoft 365, cloud services and backups looked after properly.
For most Sussex organisations, fully managed IT services for SMEs work out steadier and often cheaper than an in-house team — and, now, easier to trust. Whether you run a growing business, a law firm or a charity, the point is the same: IT you can depend on, from a provider who can show you how they work rather than ask you to take it on trust. Being Assurix-certified is how we prove it.
What it doesn’t mean
No certification, ours included, means nothing will ever go wrong — anyone who tells you otherwise is overselling. What continuous verification does mean is simpler: the security and operational work is genuinely being done, it’s checked by someone other than us, and if it ever slips, it shows. That’s a better position for your organisation to be in than hoping for the best.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Assurix-certified IT support company?
It’s a managed IT support provider whose security and operational standards are independently verified by Assurix on an ongoing basis, rather than self-declared. The result sits on a public registry, so clients can check it for themselves. Ingenio is the first Assurix-certified provider in Sussex.
What is a managed service provider (MSP)?
It’s the industry term for a company that looks after another organisation’s IT — support, security, infrastructure and the day-to-day running of it — usually for a fixed monthly fee. Most businesses just call it “our IT company”. Ingenio is an MSP, and now an Assurix-certified one.
Do you provide on-site IT support in Sussex?
Yes. Alongside our remote helpdesk, we provide on-site support across East and West Sussex and into Surrey, with response times agreed up front. If a problem needs someone in the room, someone comes.
Is managed IT support a fixed monthly cost?
Usually, yes. Most organisations prefer a predictable monthly fee covering their support, monitoring and security, rather than unpredictable call-out charges. We scope it to what your business actually needs.
What kinds of organisation do you support?
Businesses, charities and nonprofits of around 20 to 100 people, including law firms and other professional services, across Sussex and the South East. Different sectors, the same standard of support — now independently verified.
Final thought
We didn’t do this for a badge on the website. We did it because “trust us, we’re secure” has never been good enough, and now there’s a way to prove it instead.
If you’d like to see what verifiable, properly-run IT support looks like — or you just want a second opinion on your current setup — we’re happy to talk it through. No hard sell.
