Your questions about our services

Summary

These questions cover our services, support, assurance, data handling, contracting and case studies. Contract summaries reference General Terms v3.6; confirm the version and variations incorporated into your own agreement.

Key facts

What do you do?

We are an Australian technology services provider founded in Melbourne in 1998 that delivers managed services, security, cloud, connectivity, collaboration, procurement, Microsoft and advisory services under our emPOWER portfolio. Our 2026 positioning is "IT Operations Excellence as a Service". See Leadership and company.

Who owns and runs blueAPACHE?

We are privately owned. Our leadership team includes Chris Marshall as Founder and Managing Director, Michael Zuppa as Chief Executive Officer and Jean Roux as Chief Financial Officer. See Leadership and company.

What is the legal entity I would contract with?

BLUE APACHE PTY LTD, ABN 82 083 664 224, as printed on the General Terms and Conditions v3.6. The ISO/IEC 27001 certificate names Blue Apache Pty Ltd. See Terms and conditions guide.

Where are your offices?

Melbourne head office at Level 21, 242 Exhibition Street; Sydney at Level 7, 219 Castlereagh Street; Brisbane at Level 2, 16 Marie Street, Milton; plus Miami and London. See Offices and contact.

Which regions do you serve?

Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and North America, with delivery teams in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom and network cores in Australia, the US, London and Singapore. See Offices and contact.

How big are you?

Published figures are more than 300 mid-tier and enterprise customers, 100 employees reached in 2017, five offices and data centre presence in 165+ locations. See Leadership and company.

What is emPOWER?

emPOWER is our service portfolio brand, created in 2003. Individual services carry the prefix, for example emPOWER Cloud, emPOWER Connectivity and emPOWER Managed Services. See Glossary.

Who are your technology partners?

Our published material describes relationships and technologies including Microsoft, HPE, Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Veeam, Mimecast, Huntress, ControlUp, NinjaOne, Citrix, RingCentral, Zoom and HP Inc. Confirm the products, partner status and responsibilities relevant to your engagement. See Vendor partners.

What services do you offer?

Our eight service pillars cover Managed Services (bundles, advanced infrastructure, field services), Security (MDR, exposure management, GRC, human risk), Cloud (emPOWER Cloud, Azure, Azure Local, DRaaS, offsite backup, SaaS backup, STaaS), Connectivity (SASE, core network), Collaboration (Teams, Zoom, RingCentral), Procurement, Microsoft Practice and Consulting. See Service comparison.

What is emPOWER Cloud?

Our private and hybrid IaaS offering uses HPE infrastructure. Published material describes Synergy and Primera architecture, a consumption model, 24x7 support, 99.999 per cent uptime for cloud services and 100 per cent for storage. Confirm current hardware, billing, Minimum Spend, measurement rules and contractual commitments for your service. See Service comparison.

What is the difference between Offsite Backup, SaaS Backup and DRaaS?

Offsite Backup keeps an independent copy away from primary infrastructure; SaaS Backup protects cloud application data beyond platform retention; DRaaS (emPOWER IT Continuity Services) is a contracted restoration of data and software to an agreed RTO and RPO. See Glossary.

What does MDR include?

24/7 alert notification, triage and remediation across the IT environment using EDR, ITDR, SIEM and threat intelligence, with ITIL-aligned incident management and monthly reporting. Confirm whether related capabilities such as vulnerability management, an incident response retainer, vCISO advice and Human Risk Management are included in your selected service. See Service comparison.

What is Human Risk Management?

A fully managed service with four components: security awareness and phishing simulation, email threat detection and alerting, user-reported phishing response, and insider risk and data exposure protection. We confirm the platform and licensing in your proposal. See Glossary.

Do you own your network?

Yes. The emPOWER Network is our own MPLS core on Cisco ASR routing with points of presence in Australia, the United States, London and Singapore and interconnection into 165+ data centres. We use a tier 1 carrier-agnostic model and confirm carrier arrangements for your solution. See Vendor partners.

Which collaboration platforms do you support?

Microsoft Teams (including Direct Routing through emPOWER Connectivity), Zoom, and RingCentral RingEX within emPOWER Voice. Planning, deployment, migration and support responsibilities depend on the selected engagement. See Service comparison.

Can you manage Microsoft Azure?

Yes. Public Cloud Microsoft Azure covers planning, migration and management with ExpressRoute from the emPOWER Network, and Azure Local extends Azure to on-premise infrastructure. We are a Microsoft Solutions Partner across four solution areas. See Service comparison.

Which industries do you work in?

Our industry pages cover financial services, government and public sector, healthcare and aged care, not for profit, professional services, retail and consumer services, transport and logistics, and utilities. Named examples cover insurance, not-for-profit, retail, manufacturing and strata operations. The pathology-provider healthcare example is anonymised. See Industries and services matrix.

Is support 24/7?

emPOWER Managed Services advertises unlimited 24/7 support with a follow-the-sun model; emPOWER Cloud states 24x7 support; MDR is 24/7. The emPOWER Connectivity service desk is 7am to 7pm on business days with 24x7 monitoring. See Support and service levels.

How do I contact support?

Call 1300 135 548 option 2 in Australia or +61 3 8696 9369 option 2 from overseas, email support@blueapache.com if you are a registered managed services customer, or use the client portal at portal.blueapache.com. See Offices and contact.

What uptime do you publish?

99.999 per cent for emPOWER Cloud services and 100 per cent for our storage, and a minimum 99.99 per cent site uptime for emPOWER Connectivity under a dual-firewall, dual-carriage, multi-carrier design. Schedule 4 also describes 99.8 per cent availability for the DRaaS environment, subject to its scope, measurement rules and exclusions. Confirm all commitments in your applicable agreement. See Support and service levels.

What response and resolution times do you commit to?

Request your agreed priority and escalation matrix, response and resolution targets, and the provisions distinguishing Service Levels from Compliance Targets. See Support and service levels.

Are there service credits?

Check service-specific credits and remedies in the applicable Schedule. The General Terms also contain particular remedies, including a qualifying pro-rata prepaid-fee refund under clause 3.28 and cumulative-remedies wording in clause 27.8. See Terms and conditions guide.

When do you do maintenance?

Clause 3.10 requires best efforts to use Schedule windows or give at least 3 Business Days' notice at other times, and to minimise disruption. In an Emergency, notice is as much as practical and we use best efforts to restore Services. The Reasonable Excuse applies to the extent it causes or contributes to a failure. See Support and service levels.

What is a Reasonable Excuse?

The contractual list of events that excuse blueAPACHE from breach and switch off Service Levels to the extent they contribute to a failure, including customer-caused faults, third party software we use, third party acts and Emergencies. See Glossary.

What reporting will I receive?

Standard reports on performance against key metrics, including Service Levels, within 5 Business Days of each month end, plus a joint review of the Services every six months. See How to work with us.

Are you ISO 27001 certified?

Yes. Blue Apache Pty Ltd holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate 202507-118, issued by Sensiba Australia on 1 August 2025 and valid to 1 August 2028, covering its ISMS for emPOWER infrastructure and managed services at Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. See ISO 27001 certification.

Does the certificate cover every service?

The certificate lists ten service offerings; emPOWER Mobile Services (Schedule 8) is not among them, and the certificate states it does not imply any product or service is certified. See ISO 27001 certification.

Do you hold SOC 2?

MDR material describes alignment with SOC 2 Type II and other frameworks. Alignment does not establish that blueAPACHE holds a SOC 2 report; request the relevant report, scope and reporting period if required. See ISO 27001 certification.

Does my data stay in Australia?

Our residency statement says customer data is stored and processed in Australian data centres and cross-border transfers do not occur by default; clause 18.3 of our general terms records a standing consent to transfer Personal Information to the US, EU, UK and other listed destinations where necessary or convenient. Confirm the locations of your particular workloads, backups, administrative access and third-party processing, and record any agreed Australian-only requirement in the Service Order. See Data sovereignty and privacy.

What happens after a data breach?

For an eligible breach involving Personal Information provided by the other party, clause 18.4 requires immediate notice to that party and within 24 hours of discovery of the eligible breach, with required notification information and cooperation. Third-party disclosure requires prior written approval unless the other party fails to make a legally required notification and the breaching party is itself legally required to notify. Statutory reporting duties and deadlines still apply. See Data sovereignty and privacy.

Can you handle GDPR-regulated data?

The customer warrants it will not provide, or ask us to process, personal data subject to the GDPR. Assess the law applying to the actual processing; EU GDPR and UK data-protection law are distinct and citizenship alone does not determine applicability. Resolve the clause 18.6 warranty before providing EU-GDPR-regulated data. See Data sovereignty and privacy.

What applies if we are APRA regulated?

Where clause 10's conditions apply, it addresses customer warranties and APRA Requests. For a BCP required under clause 15, clause 10.4 specifies ten minimum elements, joint tests every six months or when reasonably requested, and results within 7 days of the test's end. The technical-review right has disclosure limits, and clauses 10.5 and 10.7 govern the respective customer-paid work. See Data sovereignty and privacy.

Do you use subcontractors?

Clause 27.4 permits subcontracting without the customer's prior written consent, while responsibility for subcontractors remains with us. This does not waive notification duties elsewhere in the agreement or law. Confirm any supplier-disclosure and change-notification requirements for your engagement. See Terms and conditions guide.

How do I engage blueAPACHE?

Call 1800 248 749 for Australian sales enquiries, +61 3 8696 9369 internationally, or use the Contact page. A proposal becomes a Service Order, which with the General Terms and Conditions, Acceptable Use Policy and Schedules forms the Service Agreement; clause 8 describes Transition In Services immediately following the Service Commencement Date. See How to work with us.

How long is the contract?

The default is 36 months from the Service Commencement Date except Professional Services, unless the Service Description or Service Order states otherwise. Renewal periods are 36 months unless we advise otherwise; follow the applicable notice and renewal provisions. See How to work with us.

What if we do not give notice at the end of the term?

If the Service Period ends without the required notice and use continues, clause 2.9 extends all Services on that agreement for three months, Service Levels do not apply, and Fees revert to full list price; the Service Period then ends unless a Variation extends it. See Terms and conditions guide.

How are fees paid?

Unless the Service Order states otherwise, fixed fees are monthly in advance; usage-based billing applies where specified and remains subject to Minimum Spend. Direct debit is the default; EFT or cheque within 14 days requires written agreement and credit approval. The no-set-off and non-cancellation provisions apply to the extent permitted by law and alongside specific remedies. We may charge late-payment interest at 4 per cent over the RBA Cash Rate under the terms. See How to work with us.

What does it cost to leave early?

Costs depend on the termination ground, Schedule and agreed variations. An Early Termination Payment may apply, and clause 25.2 addresses unpaid minimum-term or Minimum Spend amounts. Read these with specific refund rights and rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. See Terms and conditions guide.

What is your liability cap?

Clause 19's general cap is the greater of amounts paid in the prior three months or $25,000 per single claim. Separate categories have $5 million per event or series of connected events/$10 million aggregate limits for specified negligent injury or tangible-property damage, and $1 million per event or series of connected events/$2 million aggregate limits for confidentiality, security, privacy and IP-indemnity breaches. Data-loss provisions depend on contracted backup or DR duties. These summaries are subject to the full clause and non-excludable legal rights. See Terms and conditions guide.

What happens to our data when we leave?

We delete Customer Data from our environment at no cost as part of Disengagement Services, and the customer is solely responsible for taking a copy beforehand; clause 9 does not itself promise a retrieval grace period or included export assistance, and additional disengagement work can be agreed separately. Negotiate an exit data window on the Service Order. See How to work with us.

Who owns the deliverables you produce for us?

blueAPACHE. Deliverables are licensed for internal use during the Service Period once paid for, and the licence terminates at the end of the agreement, so a surviving licence needs to be negotiated. See Terms and conditions guide.

What evidence is there that you deliver?

Examples include Archers (2026), Lovisa (RingCentral to 42 countries in four weeks), Sealy (18 international sites), Honan Insurance (about 65 per cent telecommunications saving), Berry Street (1400 staff remote), Brotherhood of St. Laurence (WAN in 12 weeks), a pathology provider (tape to STaaS) and blueAPACHE on HPE GreenLake. See Case study index.

Related

• Glossary
• How to work with us
• Service comparison
• ISO 27001 certification
• Terms and conditions guide
• Data sovereignty and privacy
• Industries and services matrix
• Offices and contact
• Leadership and company
• Case study index
• Support and service levels
• Vendor partners
• Contact

How do I confirm the details for my engagement?

Response and resolution times, RPO, RTO, retention, maintenance windows and service credits depend on the applicable Service Order and Schedule. Ten service Schedules are publicly available through our service-agreement page; customer-specific commitments still need to be checked against the applicable agreement.

Are the uptime figures contractual guarantees?

Published brochure figures are not enough to establish your contractual commitment. Confirm the Service Level stated in your Service Description, the measurement rules, exclusions and applicable remedies in your agreement.

Which terms apply to my contract?

The versions of the General Terms and Conditions, Acceptable Use Policy and Schedules posted on our website at the time the Service Order is signed, with the Service Order prevailing over all of them where they conflict.

Where is the full contract text?

The live Service Agreement is on this site at the legal pages; the plain-English clause-by-clause guide is at Terms and conditions guide.

Is there a glossary?

Yes. The Glossary defines emPOWER terms, the contract vocabulary (Service Order, Schedule, Reasonable Excuse, Written Notice, Minimum Service Period), the certification terms and the IT operations acronyms as we use them.

How current is this information?

Case studies include historical events and dated publications. Check each example's source and distinguish event, publication and copyright dates; a historical case does not confirm a current relationship.

Which case studies are cited?

Only publicly released ones: Archers, Lovisa, Sealy of Australia, Honan Insurance, Berry Street, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, an anonymised pathology provider, and our own HPE GreenLake, CyberArk and Zoom stories.

Can I rely on this page for a tender response?

Use this guide to explore our services, then confirm the scope, service levels, data residency, delivery responsibilities and exit arrangements with our team and in your Service Order.

How do I contact you directly?

Call 1300 135 548 within Australia, 1800 248 749 for sales, or +61 3 8696 9369 internationally, or use the Contact page. Existing customers use option 2 or support@blueapache.com.