Keystone Technology Consultants

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT director and the director of engineering at Rubber City Radio Group in Akron, Ohio. We are a small radio station group in northeast Ohio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keystone Technology Consultants?

We had a consultant that was our previous IT director, and she wasn’t interested in continuing her contract. Therefore, we had to find someone else to take care of our network, server patching, maintenance, and all the tasks that come with that. I needed a service provider that was an expert in servers and networking, which isn’t my strong point.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keystone is our managed IT service provider. They provide network security and IT consulting services for us. We have one physical server, five virtual servers, an onsite backup, and an offsite backup, and they handle testing and backup for all of them. The team also helps with our firewall, group policy, and active directory implementation. 

They’ve also made changes to our network. For example, they helped us upgrade our fiber internet to a municipality ISP, going from 15 megabits per second to 500 megabits per second. Any time a big project comes up on the IT side, I run it by them, and their team of experts points me in the right direction. Additionally, Keystone works with our web development team to keep our domain safe. Although they mostly provide offsite support, they come onsite as needed. 

What is the team composition?

We work with three teammates from Keystone, including Jordan and Brice (Senior Engineers). Initially, we worked with an account manager during the onboarding process, and once that was over, we started working with our current account manager.

How did you come to work with Keystone Technology Consultants?

I found them through a Google search, and we chose Keystone because they turned out to be seven miles from our main office.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $5,600 a month with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Keystone’s support has been stellar. Thanks to their work on the active directory, I can maintain it and add new users myself; they’ve been instrumental in achieving that. Moreover, they made the network changes as painless as possible, partly because they worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, so our users weren’t affected. I don’t see us ending our partnership with Keystone any time soon. 

How did Keystone Technology Consultants perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is quick and seamless. They’ve made things easy on us; as long as we provide certain pieces of information, the process is painless. During the onboarding, we communicated via email and Zoom. Now, they provide a ticketing system we use to communicate with them.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by Keystone’s patience; they’re always kind when answering questions. Since we’re a radio station group, we’re an unusual setup compared to their other clients, and they’ve taken the time to understand our environment, especially in the beginning. They’ve been willing to sit down and digest our specific needs, and they’ve met all of them, so they listen. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our only complaint is that, since they have such a large staff that can help us, sometimes their tier one and two teammates don’t know enough about our environment, so we have to explain how things work. Once we continuously work with the same people, the issue works itself out. However, whenever we work with someone who’s never helped us, I have to go through the whole spiel again. Still, I appreciate that their team wants to understand our environment before they answer our questions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

President of Agmet, LLC

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Keystone Technology Consultants?

Revamp everything IT at Agmet

SOLUTION

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

Based on a risk assessment of our current environment and the belief they could help us. Also, I liked that they were a local company.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

• Planning / Discovery
• Interview call, technical deep dive
• Gather documentation
• Confirm scope
• Order equipment Server Infrastructure
• Install host and backup equipment
• Configure Backup and Disaster Recovery system
• Configure patching for servers
• Upgrade server operating systems
• Decommission legacy hardware Active Directory
• Review and cleanup of accounts, security lockdown
• Implement Group Policy standards Network Infrastructure
• Review and standardize credentials
• Review network infrastructure & make recommendations User Systems
• Deploy Client Data Safety tools
• Configure patching for PCs
• Create and review of onboarding/termination forms and processes Microsoft 365
• Review tenant and features
• Implement Defender for Office 365
• Review MFA deployment and address issues Housekeeping
• Review / change DNS host
• Create LAN / WAN diagrams
• Create Continuity Binder

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

At least 10 different people

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can sleep at night knowing all of our vulnerabilities have been addressed. Also, I know any problems that arise will be handled on a real-time basis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We didn't need to do much of anything on our end. They pretty much handled everything.

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

Their knowledge and responsiveness were impressive.

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

Nothing I can think of

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO of a mental health service provider specializing in addiction recovery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keystone Technology Consultants?

We needed someone who could basically act as our own IT department.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keystone provides us with on-site and off-site managed IT services, including server maintenance, hardware installations, user management, and more. They also help us maintain our IT inventory and ensure that our user accounts are set up correctly. Whenever we need new hardware, we order it through them, and they help us set it up on our server environment. Moreover, they host our servers in the cloud.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with engineers of different levels from Keystone, depending on the complexity of each task.

How did you come to work with Keystone Technology Consultants?

When we were looking for IT support, we reached out to a couple of cloud-based IT companies. Out of those companies, we selected Keystone. However, I don’t know exactly where we found them because I wasn’t part of the company at the time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $100,000 per year, including hardware purchases and software subscriptions.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2016, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Keystone has been great at supporting us and keeping our servers up and running. Before working with them, we had on-site servers, but now we have servers based on the cloud, so all our information is backed up regularly. Therefore, we now feel that our data is safe, which is great.

How did Keystone Technology Consultants perform from a project management standpoint?

Keystone responds in a timely manner to our requests, and they always disclose special project costs upfront. We usually communicate via phone calls and virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Keystone’s customer service is very good, and they’re very responsive to our needs. Overall, we’re very happy with what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re satisfied with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Meet with them and see if their services match your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the financial director of ICAN Housing Inc; we’re a nonprofit organization focused on real estate and housing for homeless people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keystone Technology Consultants?

We wanted to upgrade our server and platform. We recently went to Office 365, but nobody knew how to use it. In addition, we needed to update our system’s security and encryption.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keystone Technology Consultants has been providing on- and off-site IT consulting and managed services for our overall IT needs for hardware and software. To jumpstart the process, they started by giving us reports with an insight into where we were standing. From our end, we gave them a list of the software and services we were using so they could familiarize themselves with it and do their pertinent due diligence.

Their work has included hooking us up with a vendor for our software and hardware purchasing needs, considering our 501(c)(3) designation. Moreover, Keystone Technology Consultants’ team also takes care of creating documents regarding our IT security to hand off to our auditors.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Rachel (Staff Engineer), Jake (Project Manager), and their client services manager.

How did you come to work with Keystone Technology Consultants?

We sent out a request for quotes to different agencies, but our leadership team chose Keystone Technology Consultants, whom I previously worked with on previous projects, due to their pricing.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

So far, we’ve spent around $10,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were the ones handling the issues every time something went wrong with a computer, so thanks to their work, Keystone Technology Consultants have been able to offload working time from my coworkers and me. 

How did Keystone Technology Consultants perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve delivered everything within timelines and budget. Additionally, they’re responsive to our needs. Throughout the partnership, we’ve communicated through Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and phone calls for any inquiries or questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to take more of our workload compared to other providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — I’m very satisfied with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and clear with them so they can understand what you want.