IT Support for Financial Services in Grand Rapids
Built By Engineers. Trusted By CPA Firms & Financial Advisors.
Real IT Solutions was built by engineers, not salespeople. CPA firms and advisors across West Michigan feel that difference. Security is our foundation — because tax returns, investment accounts, and estate plans can’t end up in the wrong hands.
- FTC Safeguards Rule compliance support
- SEC Regulation S-P readiness for advisers and broker-dealers
- Annual penetration testing and vulnerability scans in every RealCare™ plan
- Encrypted email migration for CPA firms at tax time
- 24/7 managed SOC and threat monitoring, including Microsoft 365
- Auditable AI platform with GPT-4o, Claude, and Gemini
Why This Matters For Your Firm
The Stakes Are Higher Than Downtime
CPA firms and financial advisors in Grand Rapids don’t just manage data — you manage people’s most private numbers. Tax returns. Investment accounts. Estate plans. One breach doesn’t just cost you money. It costs you the clients who trusted you with theirs.
The FTC Safeguards Rule isn’t optional, and the SEC’s Regulation S-P isn’t going away. Smaller SEC-registered investment advisers face a compliance deadline of June 3, 2026 under the amended rule, while larger firms have been required to comply since December 2025. The firms that think their current IT provider “has it handled” are usually the ones calling us after something’s already gone wrong.
We’d rather meet you before that call.
MSPs Are Not All The Same
Built By Engineers, Not Closers
Some managed service providers were started by salespeople. Some were started by accountants who added IT on the side. Some were started by entrepreneurs chasing a market. Real IT Solutions was started by engineers who lived inside corporate IT and got tired of watching businesses get burned by vendors who couldn’t deliver.
That matters to you because security is not a product you buy. It’s a posture you build. When the people designing your security stack came up as technologists — not as closers — your firm gets a fundamentally different level of protection.
We’re not chasing shiny tech. We’re building a stable foundation so your firm can grow. Then we level up from there.
We’re not the cheapest option. We’re the right one.
IT & Cybersecurity Services Built For Financial Firms
Compliance, Security, and Strategy Under One Roof
FTC Safeguards Rule Compliance Support
Stay Compliant. Stay Out Of The Headlines.
The FTC Safeguards Rule requires covered financial institutions — including tax preparation firms, investment advisors, and accounting practices — to maintain a written information security program, documented risk assessments, multi-factor authentication, encryption, and either continuous monitoring or annual penetration testing with bi-annual vulnerability scans. We help your firm build and maintain that program so you stay compliant and out of the headlines.
Annual Penetration Testing — Built In, Not Bolted On
No Upsell. No Add-On. Just Included.
Every RealCare™ plan includes annual penetration testing. Not an upsell. Not an add-on. This is the kind of thing most MSPs charge extra for — or skip altogether. We also run vulnerability scans every six months, satisfying the FTC’s continuous monitoring requirement for financial institutions.
Secure Email Migration for CPA Firms
Tax Season Runs On Email. So Do Breaches.
Tax season runs on email. So do breaches. We migrate CPA firms to a hardened, encrypted Microsoft 365 email environment with proper data handling controls, so sensitive client documents don’t end up in the wrong inbox.
Learn More about IT for Accountants & CPAs →
Managed SOC + 24/7 Threat Monitoring
A Team That’s Actually Got Your Back
Our Threat Monitoring Platform watches your servers, workstations, network equipment, and Microsoft 365 environment around the clock. Human analysts perform triage and collaborate with your team on remediation — not just automated alerts, but a team that’s actually got your back.
Secure AI for Financial Firms
Controlled. Auditable. Built For Firms That Can’t Leak Data.
Your staff is going to use AI whether you have a policy or not. We give you a managed AI platform that keeps client data inside your walls, meets strict security policies, and connects to the Microsoft tools you already use. Access to 75+ models — including GPT-4o, Claude, and Gemini — all inside a controlled, auditable environment built for firms that can’t afford a data leak.
Power Automate + AI Workflow Automation
The Firms Doing This Are Moving Faster
We’ve helped financial firms across West Michigan automate repetitive manual workflows using Microsoft Power Automate — client onboarding, document routing, and reporting. The firms doing this are moving faster than their competition. We haven’t seen another MSP in West Michigan operating at this level. Now you know who to call.
vCIO Services — Strategic Technology Leadership
Enterprise Leadership, Without The Enterprise Salary
You get a Virtual CIO for technology roadmap, business alignment, and cybersecurity strategy — delivered through quarterly, biannual, or annual Strategic Business Reviews. Vendor risk management, compliance guidance, and security policy development are all part of the conversation. Enterprise-level IT leadership, without the enterprise-level salary.
Compliance Documentation Support
Ready Before Regulators Ask, Not Scrambling After
FTC and SEC audits want paper trails. We maintain documentation of your security program, risk assessments, training records, and incident response plans so you’re ready when regulators ask — not scrambling to assemble it after the fact.
Security Policy Review and Employee Training
Helping Staff Spot Threats Before They Become Incidents
We build and review your written security policies and run compliance-focused training through our Learning Management System. Your staff gets the knowledge to spot threats before they become incidents.
Built For Firms That Can’t Afford A Breach
West Michigan financial advisors, RIAs, and wealth management firms work with us because we understand what’s at stake — not just the downtime, its your reputation.If your current IT company can’t tell you whether you’re SEC Regulation S-P or FTC Safeguards Rule compliant right now, that’s a problem. We can tell you in the first conversation. Let’s Talk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Financial Advisors & Wealth Managers Ask Us
Q: Does SEC Regulation S-P apply to my advisory firm?
A: If you’re a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer handling nonpublic personal information about clients, Regulation S-P almost certainly applies to you. The rule covers how you safeguard, dispose of, and respond to breaches involving that data. We can tell you exactly where your firm stands in your first conversation with us.
Q: Can my advisors use tools like ChatGPT or Copilot and stay compliant?
A: Not safely, on their own. Public AI tools weren’t built with FTC Safeguards Rule or Regulation S-P data handling in mind. Real IT Solutions’ managed AI platform gives your team access to leading models in a controlled, auditable environment that keeps client data inside your firm’s walls.
Q: What’s the deadline for SEC Regulation S-P compliance?
A: Larger covered institutions (generally investment advisers with $1.5 billion or more in assets under management) were required to comply by December 3, 2025. Smaller covered institutions have until June 3, 2026. If you haven’t started, that window is closing fast.
Q: We already have a vCIO or compliance consultant. What does Real IT add?
A: Strategy and paperwork only go so far without the engineering to back them up. We implement and maintain the actual technical controls — monitoring, penetration testing, encryption, secure AI access — that your compliance strategy depends on. Most firms need both the strategist and the engineers; we’re built to be the engineers your strategy can rely on.
Q: Is penetration testing really required, or just recommended?
A: Under the FTC Safeguards Rule, covered financial institutions must either continuously monitor their systems or perform annual penetration testing along with vulnerability assessments every six months. Most firms choose annual pen testing because continuous monitoring at the required standard is far more expensive to run in-house.
Q: What makes Real IT Solutions different from other Grand Rapids MSPs?
A: We were founded by engineers, not salespeople, and security has been our foundation from day one — not an add-on. Annual penetration testing is included in every RealCare™ plan rather than sold separately, which is unusual among managed service providers serving West Michigan financial firms.