Synapse IT Group

What Synapse IT Group does

Synapse IT Group is a UK-headquartered, founder-owned managed IT services provider founded in January 1998 by Clive Sheppard, operating through Synapse IT Group Ltd (England & Wales, company number 03494151) and a Romanian subsidiary, Synapse IT SRL. The company positions itself as a 'surrogate in-house IT department' for small and mid-size businesses, charities, and start-ups, while also delivering project-based work for large multinationals (including 3M, Unisys, and DHL). Its service portfolio spans ad-hoc and Proactive Total Care (PTC) support, 24x7 device monitoring via a proprietary agent, cloud solutions (LucidLink Cloud NAS on Wasabi, Cloud Hosted Desktop on Vultr including Windows 11 since 2022), hosted email on a hybrid SynapseMail platform (Linux IMAP plus Microsoft Exchange), SynapseBackup, web and server hosting, domain registration, VOIP telephony, and professional services including 300,000-mailbox enterprise migrations.

The technology stack is an assembly of best-of-breed third-party vendors layered with a thin proprietary software footprint: SynapseMail, SynapseBackup, and a Proactive Monitoring & Maintenance Agent. The firm is an authorized reseller of Microsoft (since 2004), Google (since 2018), Acronis, Proofpoint, Datto, LucidLink, and Webroot, and has run strategic infrastructure partnerships with Wasabi (2019), LucidLink (2020), and Vultr (2021). Datacenters span London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, New York, Dallas, and Sydney with ISO, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance; engineering and support staff are distributed across London, Bucharest, Amsterdam, Dallas, and Sydney to deliver 24x7 follow-the-sun coverage.

Commercially, Synapse runs a per-user, per-month subscription model (no minimum contract) on the majority of services, augmented by ad-hoc and project-based professional services billed at cost-plus, and reseller pass-through pricing on third-party products. Go-to-market combines consultative direct sales, authorized-reseller channels, and a self-service website for domain registration and pricing transparency. The company has not raised institutional capital, has no disclosed M&A, and has not reported revenue, and operates with no disclosed AI/ML capability of its own.

Name

Synapse IT Group

Legal name

Synapse IT Group Ltd

Website

https://synapse.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Synapse IT Group is a founder-owned UK managed IT services provider, founded in 1998, delivering outsourced IT support, 24x7 monitoring, cloud hosting, email, backup, and professional services to small and mid-size businesses, charities, start-ups, and select multinationals across Europe, the US, and Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Managed IT Services

NAICS

Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Helpdesk & End-User Support Services (BPAEABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Service Desk & ITSM Outsourcing (BPAEAMAF), Captive/Global In-House Center (GIC) Setup & Managed Services (BPAEAMAK), IT Asset Lifecycle Services (Procure-to-Retire) (BPAEAOAF)

Keywords

• Managed IT services
• Cloud hosting solutions
• Business email hosting
• Backup and recovery
• IT support services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Managed IT Support Services: Per-user, per-month subscription for IT support including ad-hoc support and 'Proactive Total Care' packages. Proactive Total Care encompasses monitoring, antivirus/antimalware protection, and all labour charges for a flat monthly fee per workstation or server.
2. Professional Services: Expert IT consulting and project work for enterprise clients including infrastructure deployment, office moves, and email migrations. Billed at cost plus expenses (45 pence per mile for travel).
3. Web & Server Hosting: Cloud web hosting, domain registration, virtual machine hosting, enhanced firewalling, and SSL certificates. Revenue from both recurring hosting fees and domain registration/renewal.
4. Email Solutions: Hosted email services including SynapseMail hybrid platform and Microsoft 365/Google Workspace migration and management. Additional revenue from email archiving (MailStore) and enhanced spam filtering (Proofpoint).
5. Domain Registration & Management: Low-cost domain registration and renewal services.
6. VOIP Telephony: Voice over Internet Protocol services enabling businesses to reduce communication costs, with potential 90% savings on international calls.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Synapse IT Group is a managed IT services provider that acts as a "surrogate in-house IT department" for small and mid-size businesses, delivering proactive device monitoring, technical support, cloud-hosted desktops, encrypted cloud storage, hybrid email hosting, managed backup, web and server hosting, VOIP telephony, and project-based IT consulting. The company combines its own proprietary platforms (SynapseMail, SynapseBackup, Proactive Monitoring & Maintenance Agent) with authorised-reseller integrations from Microsoft, Google, Proofpoint, Wasabi, Vultr, and other vendors.

Product overview

Synapse IT Group is an IT services provider offering a portfolio of managed technology services rather than a single software product. The core offering combines proactive IT support (Adhoc Support and Proactive Total Care) with 24×7 device monitoring via a proprietary Proactive Monitoring & Maintenance Agent. The cloud solutions stack includes LucidLink Cloud NAS (encrypted cloud storage via Wasabi) and Cloud Hosted Desktop (virtual Windows desktops hosted at Vultr, including Windows 11 since 2022). Email services are anchored by SynapseMail, a hybrid Linux/Exchange platform, with complementary layers of Proofpoint spam filtering, MailStore email archiving, and automated backup via Dropsuite/Datto. The hosting tier provides cloud web hosting, WordPress hosting, virtual machine hosting, enhanced firewalling, domain registration, and SSL certificates across datacenters in Europe, the USA, and Australia. Additional services include VOIP telephony, professional IT consulting (project work for 3M, Unisys, DHL), and SynapseBackup — a fully-managed backup service for laptops, desktops, and servers. Synapse is an authorised reseller for Microsoft, Google, Acronis, Proofpoint, Datto, LucidLink, and Webroot, with some partnerships spanning over 25 years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SynapseMail: Hybrid Linux (IMAP) and Microsoft Exchange email platform enabling flexible mailbox features for clients.
• SynapseBackup

Products and services

• Adhoc Support On-demand IT support service available without lengthy contracts or minimum commitment. Synapse's engineering team assists with technical problems via phone or email, covering issues across PCs, Macs, mobile devices, and servers for clients ranging from individuals to large corporates worldwide.
• Proactive Total Care (PTC) Fixed monthly subscription covering proactive monitoring and maintenance of devices, perpetual Bitdefender AntiVirus and AntiMalware protection, plus all Synapse labour charges (remote and on-site). Devices are monitored 24/7/365 by Synapse's Network Operations Center.
• 24x7 Monitoring Round-the-clock proactive protection, monitoring and maintenance of client devices powered by Synapse's proprietary Proactive Monitoring & Maintenance Agent. Includes monthly downloadable PDF reports showing trends in disk space, RAM usage, antivirus activity, and internet connectivity, with automatic engineer alerts when human intervention is required.
• LucidLink Cloud NAS Encrypted cloud-native NAS solution providing unlimited shared storage via Wasabi Cloud. Accessed via the LucidLink app on Windows, Mac, or Linux devices, eliminating the need for on-premises servers or hardware appliances. Features include end-to-end AES-256 encryption, immutable snapshots, user access control, and global file locking.
• Cloud Hosted Desktop Remote desktop solution hosted at Vultr using virtualisation technologies, allowing access to a full Windows desktop, office network, core programs, documents, and emails from anywhere. Supports hosted Windows 10 and Windows 11 Desktops, with applications such as Sage and QuickBooks available inside the hosted environment.
• SynapseMail Proprietary hybrid email hosting platform combining Linux (IMAP) and Microsoft Exchange, enabling clients to tailor mailbox features to their needs. Exchange mailboxes offer 100GB storage as standard with file attachments up to 50MB.
• SynapseBackup Fully-managed online backup and disaster recovery service supporting Windows, Mac OS, and Linux laptops, desktops, and servers (including SQL and Exchange applications). Backed up data is securely replicated to Synapse's offsite datacenter, and engineers review nightly logs each morning to confirm backups completed successfully.
• Web & Server Hosting Range of hosting services including Cloud Web Hosting, WordPress Hosting, Virtual Machine Hosting, Enhanced Firewalling, and SSL Certificates. Supports both Windows and Linux environments, with servers located across Europe (London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt), USA (New York, Dallas), and Australia (Sydney).
• VOIP Telephony Voice over Internet Protocol telephony service enabling cost-effective or free phone calls via an internet connection. Allows businesses to reduce communication costs (up to 90% savings on international calls) while adding more features than traditional phone systems.
• Professional Services Expert IT consulting and project assistance covering new machine setup/installation, application suite installation and configuration, international office moves, large-scale email migrations (including 300,000 mailboxes across three continents), and server upgrades or new infrastructure deployment. Synapse has delivered projects for clients including 3M, Unisys, and DHL, billed at cost plus expenses.
• Domain Registration & Management Low-cost domain registration and renewal services for new and existing domains, offered as a standalone service with online availability checking and self-service signup at synapse.it/domain-registration/.

Quantifiable outcome

• Email spam blocked: 99.98% with Proofpoint, false positive ratio less than 1 in a million
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VultrcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2021Managed infrastructure provider partnership since 2021. Used for Cloud Hosted Desktop virtualization hosting.
• LucidLinkcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2020Strategic partnership since 2020 for Cloud NAS 'Filespaces' solution. Enables encrypted cloud storage with AES-256 security and unlimited shared storage via Wasabi.
• WasabicoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019Global cloud storage provider partnership since 2019. Used as the underlying storage layer for LucidLink Cloud NAS solutions.
• GooglecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2018Google Workspace partner enabling migration and management of Google email and productivity tools.
• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2004Long-standing partnership as authorised reseller since 2004. Provides Microsoft 365 migration and ongoing management services. Some partnerships spanning over 25 years.
• DattocoreTechnology or IntegrationBackup and disaster recovery partnership providing automated backups of client Microsoft 365 data to non-Microsoft datacenters.
• DropsuitecoreTechnology or IntegrationSaaS backup protection for email including O365 and G Suite with regular automated backups to non-Microsoft/non-Google datacenters.
• ProofpointcoreTechnology or IntegrationEmail security partnership providing spam filtering, virus protection, and phishing defence. Blocks 99.98% of spam with false positive ratio less than 1 in a million. Offered via SaaS with 24x7 monitoring.
• AcronisminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorised reseller for Acronis backup and security products.
• WebrootminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorised reseller for Webroot antivirus and security solutions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SysGroup plc: UK-listed managed cloud hosting and IT services provider serving SMB and mid-market customers with managed hosting, security, and support. Comparable on the cloud hosting / managed IT services overlap with Synapse's UK customer base.
• ANS Group: UK-based managed cloud and digital services provider focused on Microsoft-centric managed IT and cloud solutions for mid-market and enterprise. Comparable as a UK managed IT services competitor with similar Microsoft 365 and Azure positioning.
• Datapoint: UK-based IT support and managed services firm serving SMB customers with helpdesk, cloud, and infrastructure support. Comparable on UK SMB outsourced-IT positioning and managed support offering.
• Razorblue: UK-based managed IT services and cloud provider delivering helpdesk, cloud hosting, and managed support primarily to SMB and mid-market. Very similar positioning to Synapse's Proactive Total Care / 24x7 monitoring offering.
• iomart Group plc: UK-listed cloud and managed hosting company providing dedicated servers, managed cloud, and security services to SMB and mid-market. Overlaps with Synapse's web hosting, cloud, and managed services offerings.
• Littlefish: UK-based managed IT services and support provider offering helpdesk, monitoring, and cloud services to SMB and mid-market clients. Comparable customer segment and outsourced-IT-department value proposition.
• Claranet: UK-headquartered managed services and cloud provider offering managed IT support, hosting, and cloud infrastructure to SMB and mid-market clients across Europe. Closest direct comparable by geography, customer segment, and managed services portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Rackspace Technology: Global multi-cloud managed services provider across hosting, email, backup, and cloud infrastructure. Broader and larger-scale incumbent offering overlapping services (managed email, hosting, virtualization on Vultr/equivalent infrastructure) to similar customer types.
• Kyndryl: Large global IT infrastructure services provider spun out of IBM, delivering managed infrastructure, hosting, email, and workplace services. Operates far up-market from Synapse but competes in adjacent managed-services capability areas.

Others

• Microsoft Partner Network: Enabling partner ecosystem through which Synapse delivers Microsoft 365 migration and Exchange services. Not a competitor but a structural ecosystem dependency affecting Synapse's go-to-market and reseller economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/gosynapse

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Synapse IT Group