IT Support in St. Paul, MN
We are on the other side of the metro, and for almost everything we do that turns out not to matter. Here is exactly why.
Let us get the obvious thing out of the way
Computer Whatever is not a Saint Paul company. Our office is at 8851 Zealand Ave N, Suite B, in Brooklyn Park, up in the northwest corner of the metro. If you are on Grand Avenue or in Lowertown, we are the furthest away of any provider you are looking at, and pretending otherwise would be the first dishonest thing on a page that is otherwise built on not doing that.
So the fair question is why a St. Paul business would call a shop in Brooklyn Park.
The answer is that the great majority of IT work has stopped being a physical activity. When your email will not send, your Microsoft 365 migration is stuck, a machine is riddled with something it should not have, or QuickBooks is unusable, none of that is fixed by a person standing next to the computer. It is fixed by someone competent with access to the screen. Distance is a factor in exactly one category of work, and that category is smaller than most people assume.
We have been doing this for the Twin Cities since 2008, and we serve Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the surrounding metro.
How remote IT support actually works in Saint Paul
There is no software to buy and nothing to install ahead of time.
- You call (763) 515-1153 or fill in the form, and tell us what is happening.
- We give you an estimate. Roughly how long it should take and what it will cost. No surprises.
- You start the session. Go to whatever.support and open the screen share. You are the one who starts it.
- You watch the whole thing. Every click we make is on your screen in front of you. Nothing happens while you are not looking, and nothing stays running afterward.
- You end it, and you get a simple invoice for the time we actually spent.
Remote work has a fifteen minute minimum rather than an hour, which means one modest problem is worth a call. There is no trip involved, so nothing about the geography between here and Saint Paul changes the timeline.
When the problem is genuinely physical, a dead drive, failed hardware, a network that needs someone with hands and a cable, we schedule an on-site visit across the metro. We just do not pretend that is the fast path from where we sit, and we will tell you honestly when a visit is warranted.
Built for organizations that watch every dollar
Saint Paul's economy is different from the west metro's. It is a capital city: government offices, universities, hospitals, and an unusually deep bench of nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, wrapped in neighborhood commercial corridors full of independent businesses along Grand Avenue, Selby, West Seventh, Payne-Phalen, Rice Street and University Avenue through Midway.
A lot of those organizations run on grant cycles, lean margins, or a board that reviews recurring expenses line by line. The IT industry's default offer, a per-user monthly agreement on a multi-year term, is a difficult thing to defend in a quiet quarter.
Our arrangement is easier to justify. You pay for the time we work and nothing else. There is no contract, no monthly support fee, and no minimum spend. In a month where nothing goes wrong, the line item is zero.
T1 standard support is $140 an hour. T2 advanced support is $180 an hour. Billed in fifteen minute increments after the minimum, which is fifteen minutes remote and one hour on site. You get the estimate before we start.
What we take on for Saint Paul customers
When something is broken. Computer repair for machines that crash, crawl, or refuse to start, and urgent IT support when it is stopping the whole operation.
When email or Microsoft 365 fails. Business email setup and Microsoft 365 setup and migration for broken mail flow, migrations, domain moves, and getting new staff or volunteers working on day one.
When you are worried about your data. Cybersecurity work explained in plain language, which matters most for organizations holding client, patient, or donor information and running on a budget that will not stretch to a monitored security stack. Alongside it, backups that copy your data hourly to secure offsite cloud storage, monitored around the clock, so a failure gets caught by us.
When the finances live in one file. QuickBooks cloud hosting for the bookkeepers, treasurers, and small finance teams who need the same file from more than one desk, plus general cloud hosting.
When there is hardware in a closet. Server repair and maintenance, without a long-term agreement wrapped around it.
When you are moving or opening a space. Office setup for workstations, network, email and file sharing, and printer support for desktop, all-in-one, and network printers. Large-format machines under a managed contract are the one case where we help where we can and then point you to the right people.
When it is one person and one laptop. Home offices, remote workers, freelancers, and individual home users across Saint Paul are welcome.
What you are getting from a shop across the metro
Continuity. We have been operating since 2008. For an organization that is handing over access to its systems, a vendor that will still exist next year is worth more than a vendor that is nearby.
Locally owned. The business is locally owned and operated.
The same technicians on every call. They remember your systems, which means you spend the first ten minutes of the second call talking about the problem instead of re-explaining your network.
No jargon and no upselling. We tell you what is wrong in plain English and what it will actually take. We do not sell you things you do not need, which is a promise that costs us money and is the reason people call back.
Sessions you hold the controls on. You start remote support, you watch it, you end it.
Real Minnesota support. Customers most often mention response speed, clear communication, and reaching someone here rather than a call center.
Serving Saint Paul and the east metro
We support businesses, nonprofits, and households throughout St. Paul, MN, including downtown and Lowertown, the Capitol area, Midway and Hamline-Midway, Union Park, Macalester-Groveland, Summit Hill and Summit-University, Highland Park, West Seventh and the Fort Road corridor, the West Side, Como, St. Anthony Park, Frogtown, North End, Payne-Phalen and Dayton's Bluff. Common ZIP codes include 55101, 55102, 55103, 55104, 55105, 55106, 55107, 55108 and 55116.
Beyond the city we cover Ramsey County and the east metro, including Maplewood, Roseville, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, West St. Paul and South St. Paul.
Our office is in Brooklyn Park, and we also serve Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Plymouth and the wider Twin Cities metro.
Questions from Saint Paul
Can you really support a Saint Paul business from Brooklyn Park?
For most work, yes, and the reason is that most work is remote. Screen sharing does not care about the miles between us. Where distance does matter is physical hardware, and for that we schedule an on-site visit rather than promising you a fast one. We would rather be straight with you about that up front than have you find out later.
Do I need an on-site visit, or can this be done remotely?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly. The majority of what we handle never needs anyone in the room. Software, email, Microsoft 365, security cleanup, and configuration work are all remote. Failed hardware, cabling, and new office builds are not.
Is there a contract or a monthly minimum?
Neither. No contract, no monthly support fee, no minimum spend, and nothing to cancel. You are billed for the time we work and nothing in the months we do not.
We are a nonprofit with a small budget. How do we keep the cost down?
Call early, before a small problem becomes a recovery job, and let us work remotely where possible. Remote has a fifteen minute minimum instead of the one hour on-site minimum, and we bill in fifteen minute blocks after that, so a short job stays a short job. We also give you the estimate before we start, so nothing lands on the invoice that you did not agree to.
What is your hourly rate?
$140 an hour for standard T1 support and $180 an hour for advanced T2 work, billed in fifteen minute increments after the minimums.
When can we reach you?
Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. For after-hours emergencies, give us a call and we will do our best to help. We do not advertise a 24/7 support line or a guaranteed response time.
Start a session or pick up the phone
Call (763) 515-1153 or open a secure screen share at whatever.support. Tell us what is going on and we will tell you what it will take.
Computer Whatever Inc.
8851 Zealand Ave N, Suite B, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
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