Digital Edge Ventures

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a non-technical co-founder and co-CEO of a dental SaaS company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Edge Ventures, and what were your goals?

Complete a long list of backlog items to enhance platform performance, improve administrative efficiency, and build out new features and integrations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

My co-CEO had a previous relationship with the firm and is very familiar with their work quality and process.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Prioritize backlog, ideate on user workflows, review and revise documentation, translate the SOW to engineers, develop the code, QA, and release code to production.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 3 people on our core team: 1 account manager, 1 project manager, and 1 senior engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The quality of their work is far superior to what we've received in the past from other vendors. When testing prior to releasing to production, I find far fewer errors and bugs and can focus on the user experience and provide feedback on the functionality rather than bug-reporting. After deployment of the last several projects, the customer service team is experiencing far less call from customers needing support.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We function primarily through email for development. They also support our platform when customer service issues arise, in which case we use their ticketing system.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are very responsive and get the entire team on a call when we are discussing things for the first time. They offer suggestions and we ultimately end up with a more superior solution and user experience.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I would like to see a better communication tool used to manage the backlog and to record meeting notes, action items, due dates, etc. I ended up creating a shared google folder and I do it myself, but I think this is something they could initiate and it would help streamline communication and keep everyone on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a medium sized Financial Services company. I am the Systems Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Edge Ventures?

We have a hybrid Citrix environment that was installed 2 years ago by Citrix Consulting Services. Citrix started throwing errors, preventing access to the published apps just as I was getting ready to head out for some pre-scheduled sick time.

With limited resources, I tried working with Citrix support to resolve the errors but was unsuccessful. With my back against the wall, my options were: to hire Citrix Consulting Services again or reach out to Digital Edge, who we use for other IT consulting and services.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I spoke with both companies and requested quotes to remediate the immediate issues. The Digital Edge quote came in at 1/6th the cost that Citrix Direct quoted us. I also learned that the Citrix Engineer from DE that would work on our project was also an Engineer that we have used many times in the past and have great confidence in him. The decision was simple.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

I spoke with the Sales Engineer on a Thursday, to describe the nature of the problem. I had a quote in hand on the Friday and the Citrix Engineer was logged in and working on my problem by Monday morning. The software on the 7 on premises servers needed to be upgraded to get us completely on supported levels of the software.

SSL certificates had to be reviewed to ensure we had the rights certs installed on all the servers. Then the engineer had to go in and reverse some of the temporary changes made by Citrix support when they were troubleshooting the issue. The issue was resolved by Wednesday (possibly earlier).

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked with the Sales Engineer and the Citrix Engineer on this project. I have worked with them both on other projects. The president of Digital Edge Ventures always took an active role in overseeing our projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Citrix solution is back up and available.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very easy to communicate on this project. We primarily used MS Teams.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have a wide range of experience and expertise and have been able to help on numerous projects.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a bookkeeping company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Edge Ventures?

We hired Digital Edge to provide a remote server to our team of bookkeepers. Digital Edge set us up with a remote server a few months before Covid affected our business in March 2020. Thank goodness we did this. The bookkeepers were working from home but they were able to work seamlessly because Digital Edge had already been put in place.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Digital Edge because one of my clients utilizes Digital Edge and they came highly recommended.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

It was simple on our end. Digital Edge handled the installation of the remote desktop icons on our computers and the setup of each employee's workstation. It was a very easy transition.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had an account manager and an installation person that helped us. We then would submit a ticket if we had an issue. They are very responsive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The switch to the remote server was a great success. I feel our data is very secure with the dual authentication required to access our files.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are a very reliable team and quick to respond and help us if we have a question or an issue.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team is extremely helpful and quick to respond.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I don't believe they could have done anything differently. They really know what they are doing so we didn't have issues.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a CEO and founder of ClinicalSelfie Inc, a company that made research and developed ALz Test app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Edge Ventures, and what were your goals?

We needed a phone app to digitalize our cognitive impairment face-to-face ALz test.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We read reviews online and Digital Edge was able to provide the highest quality of services we we looking for at a price we could afford.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We developed trial versions of ALz Test app and it’s the backend. Following rigorous testing we developed a solid backend and AppStore/GooglePlay apps. Subsequently Digital Edge helped us develop a Portuguese app version with audio component for our research in Brazil helping illiterate population get free cognitive testing.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with Digital Edge’s developmental team, accounting, and directly with a CEO Michael Petrov who was always able to quickly resolve problems.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Since launching the app in 2020 with no marketing budget we gained more than 2,200 organic downloads with the retention rate of over 50%. We steadily add new users every day incrementally increasing our audience. Most importantly, our users come back to the ALz Test app.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Excellent communication! We always got our emails answered promptly and problems addressed quickly. A head of DigitalEdge’s IT team, Konstantin, helped the project go smoothly through all developmental stages. A CEO, Michael Petrov, was and still is available 24/7 to instantly resolve any problems.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Our emails are always answered promptly and services are delivered on time.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Before using DigitalEdge we lost nearly $3000 and several months of time with another developer, so we are really happy with what we got.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT for The Enrollment Management Association. We’re a medium-sized nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

I’ve worked with them on a few things, primarily things around IT security.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped me get my logs off-site and moved to an environment that gives access to our organization. The logs are in a read-only mode being sent to Digital Edge and stored in their cloud that’s off-site for security and compliance purposes. All of their work is done remotely. They’ve come and visited me on-site a couple of times before the pandemic, but everything is remote now.

Their team has also done a couple of penetration tests on our environment. I use them to help us with some other things. We set up a risk register with them. I discovered our organization doesn’t have a risk culture or do anything regarding risk. I talked to Digital Edge about a risk register I was using. They have a product called Cyber Regulator that they let me use. I continue to use it to this day.

What is the team composition?

My main contact is Ilona (Enterprise Sales Manager). However, I’ve worked with many of their team members including Yana (Business Development Representative), Mike (CEO & Founder), and many others.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

I know and previously worked with one of their former employees. He recommended Digital Edge to me so I gave them a proof of concept.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in May 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their work has been very successful. I wish I could do more work with them but don’t have the budget for it. I receive very concise and professional reports from them regarding everything in our environment. This includes what our highest risks are and what they’ve been able to exploit. These tests are very helpful. Our internal technologists confirm that the reports are reasonable. The things Digital Edge has identified have been worthy of addressing and patching.

Additionally, I really like that I can talk directly to Mike. He’s a great person. He’s willing to work with us to be more of a partner rather than a vendor. I appreciate that; it’s very rare nowadays. I also love that I can call and get someone on the line the same day versus having to wait for an e-mail or chat ticket.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever we’ve had projects that span more than a few weeks, we have weekly updates through phone calls. I can also communicate with them on demand, whenever I want to. For example, if we have a pressing technical issue, Ilona would get someone on the line with me within minutes or an hour.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate their high level of support. I’ve had Mike hop on calls with me for planning phases; I love that commitment. We’re such a small customer, but they’re deeply committed to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to get Mike involved. He can make things happen. If there’s something you’re not getting, for example, timely follow up, get in touch with him. He’s a hands-on CEO that’s very involved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior VP of IT at Numerix. We’re a software vendor for the financial market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since our first review, we’ve expanded Digital Edge Ventures’ role beyond cybersecurity and network troubleshooting. We’re now doing compliance work with them. To be specific, they’re assisting us with our ISO 27001 certification. 

The team is also supporting us on technical and cloud consulting. They’re an AWS reseller and solution provider, meaning they can do anything from security and architecture review to cloud service monitoring. 

On the technical side, Digital Edge Ventures is good at implementing both purchased and open-source solutions such as a log file server. They’ve been very flexible and are good at finding technical solutions that other firms haven’t been able to accomplish.

What is the team composition? 

It’s around 10 people. Our technical contact is Naum (CTO), and I also work with Mike (CEO). They have a lot of resources who are extremely skilled.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

They were referred to us by an employee who’d worked with both of us. We did a couple of trial projects with them based on that recommendation, and they did exceptionally well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since July 2017 and are still working consistently with them.

SOLUTION

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t had any projects with them that have not been successful. Their response times have been excellent, too. We use them to monitor some of our cloud network services 24/7, and they’ve met all of our internal service-level agreements (SLAs). 

What did you find most impressive about them?

First of all, they have a higher technical skill across a wider range of products and technologies than most of the other providers that we’ve worked with. 

And, they’re very flexible and willing to work with us to accomplish a goal. Some providers are only good at one specific task and will only do things a specific way. In contrast, Digital Edge Ventures is able to do whatever we need to find a technical solution that matches our requirements and budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re very pleased with everything they’ve done so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more planning you do upfront and the more you properly scope your engagement, the more successful you’ll be with them.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on October 11, 2018.

Joe Gruna

VP IT, Numerix

Financial Services

201-500 Employees

New York, New York

$50,000 to $199,999

July 2017- Ongoing

Project summary: 

Digital Edge Ventures supports security controls for a variety of internal Linux projects. They also developed technical solutions to achieve ISO certification.

Feedback summary: 

The improved security measures have been well-received, resulting in the successful conclusion of the ISO audit. Digital Edge Ventures' team inspires confidence throughout the projects by communicating clearly from the start. Expertise and meticulousness are hallmarks of their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior VP of IT at Numerix. We’re a software vendor for the financial market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

There were two items. We were looking for assistance on Linux and networking. We were also looking for help in preparing and completing our ISO 27001 cybersecurity audit.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

On the networking and Linux side, Digital Edge Ventures helped us tighten down security. We’re a globally distributed company with a relatively complex networking structure. They helped us put better controls in place, as well as better logging and auditing tools. They improved the security and redundancy on our network. They also assist us on various different internal Linux projects.

They did a tremendous amount on the ISO 27001 audit. First we walked through the standards with them, and broke it down into policy-based and technical-based solutions. Then they defined some of the policies that we needed to improve. They developed technical solutions for the ones that we needed to improve and for a few that we were missing. After the ISO certification, we expanded our role with them so they also do some managed services with us as well.

What is the team composition?

We work with around 6–10 people. We have four primary contacts that we engage with regularly. One person assists in writing and managing documentation. We also have a project manager and a couple of technical people. The CEO also gives us assistance in terms of recommendations and planning.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

They were referred to us by an employee who’d worked with both of us. We did a couple of trial projects with them based on that recommendation, and they did exceptionally well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’re extremely flexible and capable. If the standard ways of doing things aren’t best practice for our company or aren’t cost effective, they'll work to find good secure workarounds. They've been very beneficial to us. Without a doubt, we feel more confident about the security of our network.

The successful conclusion of the ISO audit was a huge success. There was a lot of preparation and time that went into working with us through the audit process. The managed service environments that they've set up have also been quite good. They've been helpful in implementing additional security measures and monitoring.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is absolutely fantastic. They’re currently putting together some managed services documentation for us on a process-based audit. Their documentation is phenomenal. Any time that they haven't met a deadline is because we put additional requirements into the job or shifted the schedule on our side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their depth of technical capability is great. They have some really phenomenal technical people working for them. The flexibility of their solutions is also impressive. They're much better at follow up and follow through than other consultants we've worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would have said yes a couple of months ago, but they fixed and improved my one area of concern. They didn’t have enough people working as project managers when we first started. They’ve since pulled in some capable project managers to build their capacity.

Any advice for potential customers?

Digital Edge Ventures is good about scoping projects with us. My only advice would be to clearly define what you want so that they can help you accomplish it in the best fashion.

Star Ratings:

Overall rating: 5

Quality: 5

Schedule: 5

Cost: 5

Willing to refer: 5

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a data center operations manager at Hivelocity Inc, which is a data center.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

We needed a remote IT services provider to handle all of our technical needs in our Staten Island, New York location. We had a lot of equipment in a data center there, and Digital Edge happens to have an office in the same facility. So, we hired them for the job.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Digital Edge Ventures provides us with remote IT assistance within our Staten Island facility. It’s a simple process. We have our own ticketing system while they have theirs. We can put in a help ticket into their queue through phone, email, or their portal, and they’ll get to work from there.

They have a group of technicians that we can rely on to handle anything that comes up. For example, if a customer says that their server is broken, we can call their technicians to fix it or set up new servers online. They’re able to diagnose and fix issues for us remotely.

What is the team composition? 

The technicians are seasoned and very intelligent. I work very closely with Dmitri (VP) as well as other members of their senior management. Before that, I coordinated with their president to initially set everything up on a monthly basis. Most of my staff works directly with theirs as far as technician-to-technician goes.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

As I mentioned before, their office is in the same data center where we have our equipment. We figured that their response time for them to help us would be very minimal because they’re on site, so we decided to give them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re approaching $50,000–$100,000 in total. It costs around $30,000 in support per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for the past four years since the beginning of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’ve never once heard a complaint from our Staten Island site. For context, we have different sites around the world, and my staff complains about how easy it is to oversee simple issues at other sites. But that doesn’t happen in New York, which means Digital Edge Ventures is doing a superb job.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

The team’s organization is absolutely outstanding. They’re prompt with response times and are accommodating to our needs.

This has been the most difficult year to work with because everyone is at home. But, when it comes to data center work, we’re on the frontline and have to respond to accidents. We need to make sure that people’s online services work, so we can’t be cozy at home.

Digital Edge Ventures has worked their schedules around to make sure that all of our needs are met. Dmitry has reached out to me multiple times to make sure that he can schedule the right number of resources on shift when we have large projects coming up. 

They’ve done a phenomenal job even though their state (New York) has been one of the most affected by this pandemic. They did not miss one step this year.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As far as their knowledge goes, they’re outstanding. Most of our remote hands will rely on our technicians’ expertise and do whatever they ask them to do. That means our technician is doing all of the thinking around what could possibly be wrong with the system without seeing it.

Digital Edge Ventures takes it one step further because they’re hands-on. They’re usually very familiar with an issue as soon as they get into the system, and they’ll diagnose it for us to help our technicians out. That’s important because we need to get our systems up as fast as possible when they go down. 

On top of that, they do this without us asking. We just have them check our system out, and they resolve it for us. They’re excellent at what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they’ve crossed all of their T’s and dotted all of their I’s. Digital Edge Ventures consists of an intelligent, organized group that has made it what it is today. Their team has really built their company up to where it should be to meet everyone’s expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s pretty cut and dry. The only decision that a new customer needs to make is whether to go with Digital Edge Ventures or not. If I were in that position again, I would make it no problem. 

They’ll set you up with the portal logins, and you’re able to see your tickets in that portal. They’re prompt at responding, too, and will answer the phones if you need to call. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of the organization, primarily in charge of day-to-day operations. We provide web and app development. We’re based in New York.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

We’ve used Digital Edge to help us with security-related work.
We were looking for someone who could do a penetration test on an e-commerce mobile app, which we were building for a large retailer in the United States. We wanted to ensure that everything was encrypted and secured, including the APIs and the keys. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They performed a penetration test for one of the applications. Since then, we’ve started using them regularly on multiple projects.

For example, they perform ethical hacking (or White / Black Box Testing) by trying to hit the app from multiple bases to make sure it’s secure. They ensure it doesn’t have data leaks and that it’s not possible to place orders without being a customer. 

Specifically, they asked us to share a build of the app, and they tried different ways to penetrate it through its architecture or different APIs. They share detailed reports with us on any loopholes they find. That way, we can make fixes before the app goes live. Along with apps, they also test websites and other software. 

The project process involved understanding our goals and the platform’s architecture. Then, providing the cost and introducing us to a project manager. The project manager provided weekly updates. 

For the first project, they gave us weekly updates on what was happening before they shared the final result. Then, we took another couple of days to fix the issues and we stayed in touch with the project manager. They retested the app after the fixes (within the same budget), and we gave the final approval.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with 2 to 3 people from their team, including a salesperson or business analyst who gathered our requirements. They also provided us with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

They provided a good value-to-cost ratio, along with the data output they shared. 

We requested a sample report before contracting them to learn what data points they’d cover, how many touchpoints we’d have, and what the turnaround time was. 

We shared sample reports from 5 to 6 candidates with our end client (who was working with another vendor and wanted to switch), and they gave us the approval for Digital Edge.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, I believe the total cost of their services is under $50,000. However, I’m not sure of the exact number, since we’ve had projects as small as $500 and large projects between $17,000 and $18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had our first one-off project with Digital Edge in January of 2019 or February 2019, but we’ve given them more work since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

This is not our core competency, but the apps that were tested by Digital Edge are live and working fine. The reports they shared made sense, and I’m assuming what they did was correct.

We shared the report of the app penetration test with the client, and they liked it. We were trying to match it with other competitors of theirs, for the price point and the quality, and Digital Edge bridged that gap.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

I wasn’t overwhelmed by their performance, but it was okay. We had 3 to 4-week projects, and I believe that adding some project management tools would’ve improved what they had to offer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We haven’t used other vendors of this nature, so it would be difficult for me to compare them with anyone else. We found other providers during the initial screening, but they were charging more than our budget afforded.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were really happy with the end result. However, project management is definitely an improvement point. There have been times when, if we didn’t follow up, there was no response from their end.

If they had a project management tool in place, it would’ve improved the collaboration overall. It’s simply that we wanted to know where our project stood, and we had to ask.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the implementation manager at FundCount LLC. We develop integrated accounting investment solutions software for fund managers and family offices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

We were short in resources for technical support to our clients because we do have a lot of clients who not only seek analytical assistance but also have specific technical requirements and questions related to problems on their end. Also, we needed to provide our clients with a hosting solution because not all of our customers are able to support the infrastructure in-house to maintain the server where FundCount’s installed properly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Edge Ventures provides our clients with technical support through e-mails and phone calls. Their team addresses urgent technical assistance needs by phone, as we requested. Also, we’ve asked them to review the technical support files to identify any possible issues with the client so that our support team can further advise them.

For our hosted clients, their team provides a wide range of services. They assist our team with the installation and administration of the software as well as applications related to FundCount directly such as MySQL. Their team backs up our database and hosting environments. If necessary, they do upgrades too.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

I was not a part of the team that did the initial research into a service provider.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a $500 subscription for their technical support. We charge our clients for their hosted solution at a premium.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired Digital Edge Ventures around March 2018 and are still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Both for their support and their implementation services, Digital Edge Ventures has done well. Their team has reacted to our requests fast. We haven’t had any major issues, problems, or misunderstandings.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been responsive. We’ve had some ad hoc requests. For example, there was a trial period of a more powerful machine for our clients. They organized this initiative fast and responsively. If there were issues related to misunderstandings, they’ve been analyzing the reasons for them and incorporating solutions into their guidelines, ensuring it doesn’t happen again.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Digital Edge Ventures has been easy to work with. I’m satisfied with their service. We haven’t had any issues or unhappy clients. I hope that our partnership continues into the future. It has been mutually beneficial.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Off the top of my head, no. If there are any challenges, we sent feedback to them directly and they’ve taken action.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them to companies that don’t have IT infrastructure in-house especially because they can address all technical requirements and different setups.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO and CCO of an investment advisor company based in New York. We have 10–20 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Edge Ventures?

We wanted a cybersecurity and cloud services expert that could help us with compliance and security matters. We used to have an in-house tech team, but we downsized, and two of our employees left. We preferred to find an external expert to train our people and help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially went to Digital Edge Ventures for consultancy. We went through an onsite survey with them, and both sides did due diligence. We reviewed everything remotely on our side, including SOC reports and the disaster recovery plan. Before they left, our IT compliance team provided all of the details and necessary information to Digital Edge Ventures.

We then expanded their role to server hosting. We did away with our in-house servers, and we started logging in from our computers to the servers hosted by them. Our employees can work from home, the office, or anywhere they want, using any device.

Digital Edge Ventures also backs up all our data for disaster recovery. We have to make sure all of that is compliant. We deal with large financial organizations, and all of our servers have to be compatible with theirs. I’m sure that all of this required development, but I’m not sure exactly what Digital Edge Ventures did. 

We have WiFi in the office, and they must’ve installed that. They also set up computers in the homes of two employees. Digital Edge Ventures set our employees's laptops up so that they can access their work desktops from anywhere. Our employees need to be able to access their business emails from their mobile phones in a secure way. They must follow protocol before they can access their office emails, and this was also set up by Digital Edge Ventures.

We moved offices in August 2019, and Digital Edge Ventures took care of that move for us. We paid them separately for that project.

How did you come to work with Digital Edge Ventures?

They came recommended to us by a business reference.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a fixed monthly fee of $7,000–$8,000. We depend on them for our whole infrastructure, so, as far as I’m concerned, their work is priceless. We couldn’t really survive in business without Digital Edge Ventures, in the sense that they’re hosting all our computers. All our data is going through them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Digital Edge Ventures in August 2018, and the collaborating is ongoing. We had an upgrade project in August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I don’t keep track of metrics, but our employees are happy. Whenever someone needs something, they just send an email to the support team at Digital Edge Ventures. They’ll take care of it. If it’s urgent, it’ll get done immediately; if not, it takes 3–4 hours. It’s a routine process, and we don’t really have to think about it.

We’ve cut down on some expenses by not having our own servers, which consume a lot of power and require hardware and software updates. All those expenses got cut, and we just have a monthly fee with Digital Edge Ventures. That’s a big advantage.

How did Digital Edge Ventures perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done very well. Two of their people are here whenever we need them. They use a project management software that sends us email reports with the status of various things. Their team handles project reports. We don’t have Slack, but it’s something we plan to use.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Digital Edge Ventures’s services are good and prompt. The less we have to think about technology, cybersecurity, and disaster recovery, the better it is for us, because we can concentrate on our business. Digital Edge Ventures handles everything technology-related.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything negative to mention. They come to our office as-needed, and if I need something, I send them a text message. They have a main service line, but I know their team personally, so I can text them and get an immediate reaction.