Plain talk since 2012
We started Plainspoken because too many small offices were paying for IT they could not understand. The fix was not new technology. It was writing things down in normal words.
Our story
Dana Kowalczyk spent eight years on a hospital help desk. The work was good, but the thing she remembers most is the look on people's faces when a technician finished a fix and walked away without saying what they did. In 2012 she started Plainspoken with one rule: every fix gets explained.
That rule turned into a way of working. Prices published as ranges. Response targets written into the agreement. A monthly report that lists our misses. None of it is clever. It just makes it easy for an office manager to know whether their IT company is doing the job.
Today we are 11 people in the Exchange District, looking after about 70 offices across Manitoba. We are not the biggest IT company in town, and we do not want to be. We want to be the one you never have to chase.
- founded in Winnipeg
- 2012
- people on the team
- 11
- offices we look after, give or take
- 70
- users, our usual minimum
- 5+
What we hold ourselves to
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Explain it or it didn't happen
If we cannot explain a fix in plain words, we do not understand it well enough yet.
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Publish the boring numbers
Prices as ranges, response targets in writing, misses in the report.
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Fix the cause, not the ticket
Three tickets about the same thing means we are looking at the wrong problem.
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Your systems, your keys
Everything we set up is documented and handed over. No lock-in by obscurity.
The people you will talk to
Five of the eleven. The rest are on the help desk and in the field, and you will meet them too.
- Dana Kowalczyk Founder and service lead Spent eight years on a hospital help desk before starting Plainspoken in 2012. Still takes help desk calls on Fridays.
- Marcus Oyelaran Help desk lead Runs the queue and the monthly response-time reports. Writes the clearest ticket notes on the team.
- Priya Raman Security and cloud lead Plans Microsoft 365 moves and security rollouts. Holds networking and security certifications.
- Luc Fontaine Field technician Networks, cabling and office moves. The person most likely to come in on a Saturday so Monday is normal.
- Hannah Reimer Client onboarding Runs every new client's first 30 days, from the walkthrough to the first report.
Your first 30 days
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Step 1
Week 1
Walkthrough, account review and a written list of what we found
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Step 2
Week 2
Monitoring installed and backups checked by restoring a real file
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Step 3
Weeks 3 and 4
We fix the urgent items from the list, one at a time, with notice
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Step 4
Day 30
A plain-English report and your first planning meeting
Hannah runs every onboarding and sends a short update each Friday. Bigger or older setups can take six to eight weeks; you will know on day one.
What we don't do
Saying no to the wrong work is how we keep the right work good.
- Home computer repair. We are a business IT company only.
- Promise 24/7 support we do not staff. After-hours cover is Managed Plus, and we say so.
- Lock you in. Your passwords and notes are yours from day one.
- Sell you hardware you do not need. Every purchase comes with the reason in writing.
Where we work
Winnipeg, Steinbach, Selkirk, Portage la Prairie and remote offices across Manitoba. Onsite visits in the Winnipeg area; remote first everywhere else.
Meet us before you decide.
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Book an IT assessment
A free walkthrough or video call. You get a written list of what we found, whether you hire us or not.
Pick a time -
See the price ranges
Per-user ranges for every plan, what is not included, and a ballpark estimator with the arithmetic shown.
View pricing -
Talk to a person
Call (204) 555-0148 on weekdays. You will reach someone who can answer the technical questions too.
Call us