How a Toronto Managed Service Provider Delivered a 3.57x ROI for an Ottawa Construction Company

Tursa Group, a managed IT services firm serving businesses across Ontario, worked with an Ottawa-based construction company to untangle a technology mess. Here are what the numbers looked like:

A lot of people hear “managed service provider” and picture someone who shows up when the Wi-Fi goes down. The reality is that it is much bigger than that.

A good MSP looks at your entire technology ecosystem: what software you’re running, how (or whether) those systems talk to each other, where your security gaps are, and how much staff time is being lost to manual workarounds. Then they build a plan to fix it.

That’s exactly the approach Tursa Group took with this Ottawa-based construction company, which had grown rapidly to over 50 employees and $2.5–5M in annual revenue.

The core problems? More than 17 different software tools were in active use with zero integrations between them. Manual data entry at almost every stage of the client journey. Management distracted by multiple disconnected analytics dashboards. And a cybersecurity posture that, frankly, needed urgent attention.

Sound familiar? Here’s what the transformation looked like.

This company’s technology audit, conducted by Tursa Group, revealed a classic set of red flags that show up again and again in growing Canadian SMEs:

The operations team was juggling field scheduling software, a custom-built proprietary tool, job management software, project tracking spreadsheets, and a dashboard reporting platform, none of which were connected. Data had to be manually copied between systems at multiple points, creating constant risk of error and burning hours every week that could have been spent on actual work.

On the financial side, QuickBooks Online was in use but wasn’t being leveraged properly. There was no accounts payable automation, no bank feed reconciliation, and no automatic expense coding, meaning the finance team was doing by hand what software could have done automatically.

On the security front, of 21 cybersecurity criteria assessed against the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the company passed just one. Device monitoring, antivirus, anti-malware, ransomware detection, multi-factor authentication, strong passwords, onsite backups, and security awareness training were either absent or incomplete. The business was at high risk of a breach. Learn more about what a cybersecurity audit for your business covers and why it matters.

Tursa Group structured the recommendations across five key areas. Here’s what was proposed and why:

Phase-Based Operations Software Consolidation

Rather than recommending a rip-and-replace approach immediately, Tursa Group proposed a sensible four-phase plan:

Phase 0: Optimize what’s already there

Use Make.com’s API tools to connect existing platforms (including the scheduling tool, job management software, and spreadsheet system) so data flows between them without manual re-entry. Consolidate 15 active spreadsheets down to 5, each dedicated to a specific team.

Phase 1: Upgrade the core operational stack

The recommendation was Service Fusion, a field service management platform rated 4.3/5 on Capterra (opens in new tab) that handles job scheduling, customer management, fleet tracking, estimates, and invoicing in one place. At $349/month for the team’s size, it would replace multiple fragmented tools.

Phase 2: Scale with a construction ERP

As the business grows toward its franchising ambitions, migrate to Buildbook ($249/month) for mid-sized construction project management, then to Procore (from $549/month) if large commercial projects become the primary focus.

Phase 3: Build proprietary advantage

Develop custom tools and processes embedded in software to create a defensible competitive advantage. Especially important for a company with franchise ambitions.

For more on how IT consulting for construction companies typically works, see our full service overview.

Financial Software Optimization

Three tools were recommended to bring QuickBooks Online to its full potential:

Benji Pays ($99/month)

Connects your merchant account directly to QuickBooks for automatic credit card collection and reconciliation. Invoices get paid faster, with less friction for customers.

Dext ($27/month)

Captures receipts and vendor invoices automatically, extracts data at 99% accuracy, and codes transactions to the right expense categories. Vendor invoices forwarded by email are automatically matched and attached to the corresponding transaction in QuickBooks.

Plooto ($32/month)

Handles accounts payable and receivable with approval workflows, electronic payments, and automatic reconciliation. Eliminates the need to manually process and approve vendor payments.

Combined monthly cost for all three: $158/month. The time savings projected for the finance and admin team? See the ROI numbers below.

Cybersecurity Remediation

Given that the company failed 18 of 21 cybersecurity criteria, Tursa Group recommended immediate outsourcing of cybersecurity management to a managed IT service provider in Toronto, with the following priorities:

Immediate enforcement of multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all Office 365 accounts. Implementation of a password manager. Deployment of device/computer monitoring software (RMM). Anti-virus, anti-malware, and ransomware detection across all devices. Mobile device management to allow remote wipe in the event of a lost or stolen device. Cyber security insurance added as a rider to general liability. A formal disaster and compromise response plan so everyone knows who to call if something goes wrong. Monthly security awareness training with phishing simulations for all staff.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was used as the benchmark, which is the same standard used by private sector organizations across North America to assess and improve their security posture.

Office 365 Optimization

Of 24 Office 365 criteria assessed, the company passed 12 and failed 14, meaning they were paying for a full Microsoft 365 licence but only using half of what it offered.

Key gaps identified included: SharePoint not in use (meaning files were being stored inconsistently with no version control or permissions management), no consistent file naming convention, no training videos stored in SharePoint for staff onboarding, Teams channels not properly organized, and no defined external sharing policy.

The recommendation was to build a single structured SharePoint intranet site with document libraries, a shared company calendar, task lists, an employee directory, discussion boards, and properly configured permissions. This alone would significantly reduce the time staff spent hunting for files and clarifying who had access to what.

What Did It Cost and What Was the Return on Investment?

Tursa Group projected costs and ROI across two phases.

Labour Savings and ROI From Managed Services

Here is the projected labour savings for the Ontario-based company

Phase 0 ROI (current stack optimized with integrations):

Phase 1 ROI (full operational upgrade):

With the full tech stack upgrade in place, the projected savings jump substantially, primarily because operations and finance staff reclaim 6–8 hours per week each that were previously lost to manual data migration and reporting.

Why Most Small Businesses Under-Invest in IT Services Until It’s Expensive

Most of the problems this Ottawa-based construction company was dealing with didn’t develop overnight. They built up gradually, one “temporary” workaround at a time, until the business was running on digital duct tape.

The manual processes, the 17 software tools, and the cybersecurity gaps were none of those decisions anyone made deliberately. They were the result of growth outpacing the technology strategy.

This is exactly why partnering with a Toronto-managed IT services provider proactively makes such a measurable financial difference. The cost of doing nothing isn’t zero. It’s measured in staff hours, financial errors, security incidents, and leadership time spent managing dashboards instead of growing the business.

Tursa Group’s approach across this engagement was to build a phased, practical roadmap: fix what’s there first, upgrade when the business is ready, and build proprietary advantage over time. No big-bang transformation. No unnecessary spending. Just a clear path from where you are to where you want to be.

If you’d like a free IT assessment to understand where your business stands, we’d be glad to take a look.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tursa Group is a Toronto-managed IT service provider and technology consulting firm helping small and medium-sized businesses across Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa, and the surrounding region, modernize their operations through practical, phased digital transformation.