Picture a networking breakfast in Perth. Over eggs and lukewarm coffee, one owner says she’s looking for an MSP, and the fellow beside her says she’d be mad not to want an MSSP too. She nods, smiles, and quietly Googles both under the table. Honestly, most of us have done something similar at some point.
The letters sound like a trap, but the idea behind them isn’t complicated. One looks after your everyday IT. The other puts security at the centre. For small and mid sized businesses in WA, the useful question is whether you need two separate suppliers, or one team that does both properly.
Sorting the Letters Out
The Everyday Side
An MSP looks after the technology you use all day: laptops, email, files, phones, internet, the printer that sulks. Modn Tech Solutions takes ownership of the whole environment for one flat monthly fee, with a named team and a 15 minute resolution target on most issues and requests.
Because 98% of issues are aimed to be fixed remotely, most of the work is invisible. Somebody logs a problem at 9:12, it’s gone by 9:25, and nobody has to leave their desk. That’s how an MSP is supposed to feel. Quiet, quick, and just a little bit boring.
The Security Side
An MSSP leans the other way, with security first and everything else second. Think threat detection, vulnerability checks, compliance and what to do on a bad day. Modn’s cyber security work covers all of those, mapped to the Essential Eight, alongside the daily support.
So when the owner at the breakfast hears two sets of letters, what she’s really hearing is two jobs. Keeping things running, and keeping things safe. Plenty of businesses buy these separately and then discover the gap between them is exactly where trouble hides.
Why Two Suppliers Can Mean Two Problems
The Finger Pointing Gap
Say a staff member’s account starts behaving oddly. The support provider says it’s a security matter. The security provider says it’s a configuration matter. Meanwhile the owner is stuck in the middle, still waiting for someone to just own it.
Modn keeps support and security under one roof, across Microsoft and Apple environments, so there’s one partner and one number to call. No ping pong. A good MSSP style service works best when the people doing it also know how your daily systems are set up.
Hardening the Place Where Work Happens
Most daily work lives in Microsoft 365, so that’s where Modn does a lot of its security hardening. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, the team also designs, migrates and manages Microsoft 365 and Azure environments, and it’s honest about when the cloud is the wrong answer for a workload.
That mix of building and protecting is the reason a combined arrangement tends to work better. The people who set up an environment usually know its weak spots, and the plain language view Modn gives you instead of a 40 page report points straight at them.
What the Security Work Looks Like
Four Jobs, One Team
Threat detection and response watches for odd behaviour. Vulnerability management finds the soft spots. Compliance and risk management keeps you in line with what’s expected, and incident response and recovery handles the bad day, with offsite backup standing behind it.
Defence suppliers that need DISP compliance get support through strategic consulting too. If you’re weighing up an MSSP style service, ask how each of those four jobs is covered and who in the team actually does them.
Reviews That Stay Practical
Quarterly reviews with a senior advisor tell you what to budget for next and what to ignore. It’s a conversation about the business first and the technology second, which is how it should be. Nobody needs a sales pitch dressed as a roadmap.
SharePoint, AI governance and business relocations sit inside the same strategic work, so as the business changes shape, the advice follows. A manufacturer opening a second site, for instance, can plan phones, internet, backup and security in one go.
Choosing Without the Stress
Questions to Take Along
Ask who answers the phone. Ask how fast issues get fixed. Ask what the monthly fee covers, and whether security is part of it or an extra. Honest providers answer quickly, and usually in fewer words than you expected.
Modn manages IT for more than 100 WA businesses, from engineering and mining to schools and not for profits. It’s Perth owned, founded in 2017, with a head office in Balcatta and a second site in Henderson.
What Others Say
A director described Modn as a valued and trusted partner delivering proactive IT and cybersecurity services. A CEO said the team is incredibly responsive to service desk requests, big or small. Those comments are the sort of evidence worth asking any provider for.
Modn also holds a 5.0 Google rating and has been named in the techpartner.news Fast50 for a second year, plus SmartCompany’s Smart50 for 2026. Numbers and awards don’t settle everything, but they’re a decent start.
Back to the Breakfast
The owner at that breakfast doesn’t need to memorise acronyms. She needs a team that keeps her systems running and her data safe, and one that explains things in words she can repeat to her business partner. That’s the real test of an MSP.
Whether you call the security side an MSSP or just good practice, ask the same questions and expect plain answers. Modn’s flat monthly fee, named team and remote first support are built around exactly that.
FAQs
What’s the difference between an MSP and an MSSP?
An MSP runs your daily IT, while an MSSP focuses on security. Modn covers both sides under one team.
Do I need both?
Most small and mid sized businesses are better off with one provider handling support and security together, so nothing falls between suppliers.
What does Modn’s security work include?
Threat detection and response, vulnerability management, compliance and risk management, and incident response and recovery.
How is Modn priced?
One flat monthly fee covers IT across Perth and WA, with no surprise invoices.
Which businesses does Modn support?
Small and mid sized businesses in Perth and regional WA, roughly 10 to 200 staff.
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