Finally, IT support that actually knows Macs.
Built for teams with no office and the setups that come with that.
Most remote teams don’t have an IT problem. They have seventeen IT problems, across as many cities, tools not designed for remote work, and one ops manager holding them together with a calendar invite and a prayer.
We’ve been helping creatives untangle problems like these for over twenty years. So tell us what’s going on. Worst case, you get free advice from someone who actually knows Macs.
Services
What we do.
Fixed, Actually.
Everyday help desk, plus the problems nobody else has cracked.
“Have you tried turning it off and on again?” only goes so far.
We answer the everyday questions and hunt down the issues nobody’s solved. No question too basic, no problem too weird.
We know Macs, we know your setup, and we’re not going anywhere until it’s sorted.
Here Be Dragons.
We audit your tools, cut what you don’t use, and streamline the rest.
Most teams accumulate tools faster than they can evaluate them.
We take stock of what you have, what you actually use, and what you need, then build a setup that’s streamlined, integrated, and refreshingly low-maintenance.
Lights. Camera. Sorted.
Reliable video, audio, and network for client calls.
On a client call, your team isn’t just representing the company. They ARE the company.
Dropped connections, garbled audio, and potato-quality video reflect poorly on everyone.
We make sure their network, camera, and mic are solid before the calls that matter.
Email. Website. Cloud Storage. Handled.
We keep your core services running so you don’t have to.
Some things just need to work, especially for a remote team, or everything else grinds to a halt.
We manage your email, website, and cloud storage so they keep humming along, and keep the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad tech days at bay.
The Boring Kind of Security.
One login, phishing blocked, and access you can revoke in a click.
Good security stays out of your way, and makes the right move the easy one.
→ One secure login instead of reused passwords.
→ Phishing blocked in the background.
→ One switch to revoke access when someone leaves.
Even if someone clicks a fake login page, the door’s already locked.
Backups. Hold the Drama.
Automatic backups for every machine on the team.
Most teams assume they’re backed up because their data is in the cloud, and mostly they’re right.
But not everything syncs, people leave before uploading, and machines fail.
We back up every machine, so when a drive dies, your deadline doesn’t go with it.
Ready on Day One.
New-hire Macs configured and shipped, and a clean exit when someone leaves.
New hire on Monday?
We configure and ship their Mac to wherever they are, set up their accounts, and they can dive right in.
When someone moves on, we lock the doors behind them. Every account, every device, every time.
Institutional Knowledge, Institutionalized.
We document your whole setup, so it never lives in one person’s head.
Every team has someone who knows where everything is, until they leave.
We document everything: the login nobody wrote down, the subscription nobody remembers authorizing, the laptop still in a former contractor’s apartment.
So if someone leaves, you’re not starting from scratch.
About
Where we’re coming from.
Why Patrin?
We mark the trail through technology, so our clients can focus on their work.
Patrin is an ancient word travelers used for the trail markers they left, arrangements of leaves and grass that said, “this way, the path is clear.” It captures something true about the work: we navigate terrain our clients don’t have time to learn, and we leave things better marked than we found them.
Remote teams are our focus because that’s how creative companies are being built: principals in different cities, talent wherever the talent is, and no file server anchoring them. Most small creative teams have never had dedicated IT staff; they’ve had whoever was stuck figuring it out, and no clear path forward. We built Patrin for them.
For you.
About Our Founder.
Thirty years supporting Mac teams, retaining some clients for well over a decade.
James didn’t set out to work in tech. He took a job at Adobe Technical Support to learn the software for his own artwork. He turned out to be good at it. Better still, he could explain it to other creatives without losing them.
Over the next few decades, he closed a few thousand help desk tickets and made a couple of cross-country moves. He spent long stretches at some of NYC’s best creative agencies: MediaMonks, Big Spaceship, Campfire, and a few dozen others. Along the way, he has grown with the arc of modern creative infrastructure: the internet and WiFi, MacBooks replacing desktops, iPhones replacing paper, servers moving to the cloud, and the office itself going remote.
When the work went remote, the options for supporting distributed creative teams fell short of what those teams needed. James built Patrin to close that gap.
Whatever the challenge, the deadline, or the stakes, the work is always the same: understand the problem, explain it clearly, lay out the costs and consequences of each option, and let you make the call.
I’ve worked with James for nearly twenty years across multiple companies. When Kit and I launched WONN:DAY — a team split across New York, London, and beyond — bringing James on wasn’t a question. He came back with the right setup from scratch: Google Workspace, LucidLink, the whole thing sorted before we had our first client.
For a distributed team, that kind of relationship isn’t a luxury. It’s how you actually get work done.
— Martin Wonnacott, Co-Founder, WONN:DAY
Questions
We’re glad you asked.
Fit & scope.
Do you really know Macs?
Macs are all we do. James has been supporting Apple users long enough to have watched the entire modern creative stack get built from scratch. Multiple times.
Every tool your team runs on, every quirk of macOS, every new way creative software finds to misbehave at the worst possible moment: we’ve seen it, fixed it, and probably have an opinion about it.
Can you help my Seattle office or home setup?
Are we too small?
Absolutely not. We built Patrin for the “little giants”: small teams doing outsized work, the 8-person agency doing 50-person work, the two-person shop with Fortune 500 clients. Small teams move fast and can’t afford to be slowed down by technology. That’s exactly what we’re here to fix.
What if we already have some IT figured out?
That’s great, most clients do. We’re happy to step in wherever you need us, whether it’s a single project, a specific problem, or ongoing support for the parts of your stack that no one owns yet.
Can you support our entire tech stack?
The short answer: if it runs on macOS and your team depends on it, we probably know it. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, LucidLink, Dropbox, Zoom, Slack, Jamf Pro, Apple Business Manager, network infrastructure, VoIP, SSO and identity management, endpoint security, and asset lifecycle — the tools creative and remote teams actually run on.
What we don’t do: AWS/GCP/Azure provisioning, web development, custom software, DevOps pipelines, or Windows-primary environments. That’s a different specialty, and there are people who do it brilliantly (not us).
If your stack includes something not on either list, ask. There’s a good chance we’ve seen it before.
Cost & billing.
What does this cost?
Our services are time-based and billed in 15-minute increments, with rates that depend on the service:
- Remote Support:$ 175/hr
- On-site Studio Support:$ 200/hr *
- On-site Home Support:$ 150/hr *
* Travel costs and session minimums may apply to on-site appointments.
Once we’re working together, quick questions by email or text are generally free; we’re not going to nickel-and-dime you for a two-minute question.
Optional monthly retainers are available for teams that want ongoing or priority support.
How and when do I pay?
When the work’s done, we send an invoice with links to pay by card, ACH/bank transfer, or Zelle. Payment is due upon receipt unless we’ve agreed otherwise in advance.
Prompt payment is the one thing we’re firm on. Not to be difficult, but because chasing invoices takes time neither of us gets back.
How does this work?
We bill by time: no monthly minimums, no lock-in, no surprises. You reach out when you need something, we handle it, you get an invoice.
For teams who want the assurance of fast response times, predictable billing, or preventive maintenance, we offer optional retainers. We work out the scope, hours, and terms with you, based on your needs and goals.
Either way, the first conversation is a no-cost, no-commitment needs assessment. We’ll talk through what makes sense before anyone signs on.
Working with us.
How fast do you respond?
Reach out by text or email, and we’ll acknowledge within 24 hours; usually much faster. For emergencies, text us directly, and we’ll respond as soon as possible.
Spread across time zones, your team’s problems don’t keep business hours. We do our best to be there when you need us, and we’ll flag it if we’ll be out of reach for a stretch.
24 hours not fast enough? A retainer can include shorter response times. Reach out to discuss.
What if something needs hands-on?
Remote support, like remote work itself, requires creativity to solve problems that no one has encountered before. Luckily, we’ve been doing this for a long time and are used to thinking on our feet.
We can resolve most issues with a remote session or by walking you through the fix on a call. For tougher ones, we might have you ship the machine to us, or, if possible, loop in a local tech to be our hands.
For big projects or major upgrades, it might make sense for us to fly to you. If you think that may be the case, reach out to us and we’ll put together an estimate of the costs and timelines.
Will you have access to our computers?
Most of the time, we don’t need it. The fix usually lives in your cloud services, not on your machine, and we handle it there.
When it’s on your machine, we connect only with your permission. We’ll walk you through starting the session, and you’ll see everything we do. A small tool finds your computer and establishes the connection.
We never install anything that gives us access without you starting the session yourself. When it ends, so does our access; nothing lingers in the background.
Do you support our team members’ home setups?
Absolutely. A remote team’s home offices are its infrastructure.
WiFi that drops during a client call, the monitor that refuses to connect, the Adobe account that won’t let the new designer in — these are the kinds of problems we’ve fixed a hundred times.
What if we need to cancel?
We respect your time and ask that you respect ours, but we understand that things happen. If you need to cancel a scheduled session, we ask for 24 hours’ notice.
- Cancel more than 24 hours out, and there’s no charge.
- Cancel less than 24 hours out, and you’ll be billed at 50% of the session minimum (one hour for on-site, 15 minutes for remote).
- A no-show is billed at the full session minimum, plus any travel costs.
We show up on time and ready to work; if we ever need to cancel, we’ll give you as much notice as we can. And of course, if we do, there’s no charge.
How do we get started?
Schedule a no-cost needs assessment. Bring your pain points and as much detail about your current setup as you have: the tools your team runs on, what’s holding you back, and what you wish worked better.
No sales pitch, no obligation. Just a conversation.
Reviews
I think they like us.
James managed IT for Campfire for over five years, introducing us to Google Apps and saving us tens of thousands of dollars on email hosting every year.
The server system he created for us was much easier for our Macs to utilize, had a backup routine that we could understand and trust, and was flexible enough to see us through multiple office moves without a hitch.
He was always very responsive and explained problems in non-techie terms we could understand; to be honest, I miss working with James.
— Lisa Erwood, Former Office Manager, Campfire NYC
James continues to be a long-term trusted partner in establishing excellent and scalable solutions for IT help desk, deep technical infrastructure standards, and hardware solutions to suit any need, plan, or configuration.
Simplicity, stability, and scale consistently lead the way, and options are always part of any solution James recommends.
In a word: Lifesaver.
— S Jason Prohaska, MediaMonks NYC
Apostrophe’s mighty team of artist representatives are experts in many things, but IT is not one of them. Thanks to James, we don’t have to be. James has been a godsend in conquering our New York office’s unique technical challenges — like being left unable to get reliable internet after Hurricane Sandy.
James helped us find an innovative, stable, high-speed internet solution, then upgraded our server, and conquered our backup situation. He was even there for us when our phone system went down, getting us back up and running with much better service.
Really, my only wish is that we could clone James for our other offices!
— Kelly Montez, ApostropheReps.com
I’ve worked with James exclusively in my small business since we opened. His support and expertise have been an invaluable asset to our company and team. He is incredibly responsive and has come to save the day at a moment’s notice on more than one occasion.
As a small business owner, I have found this to be a tremendous support. I can highly recommend him to any business looking for superb, reliable tech support.
— Aubri Balk, Agency Director, Aubri Balk Inc.
Our office has been utilizing James’ exceptional services for quite a while now, and I can’t emphasize enough how crucial their knowledge, expertise, and patience have been in streamlining our company’s IT operations.
James has helped us through a number of hurdles, especially when we set up a brand new office space earlier this year. His efficiency is remarkable, and his friendly demeanor has made us all feel much better about our lack of technological skills. I would gladly recommend James as an excellent resource to anyone in need of IT services!
— Nicole Palermo, Studio Manager, Frank Collective
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