PSM Partners

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of McHenry County

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Nonprofit mentoring children and young adults in McHenry County. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire PSM Partners to accomplish?

• Transition from Google to Microsoft
• Upgrading equipment and security
• Educating Staff and increasing IT utilization

SOLUTION

How did you find PSM Partners?

Referral

Why did you select PSM Partners over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from PSM Partners were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

PSM helped us to totally revamp our technology system, tranfer to a new microsoft platform, transfer our main landline phones into teams digital phone system, upgrade all of our hardware including systems and individual laptops and increase our security and technology staff training. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Most of the project sucess was in the implementation of systems and in our day to day technology needs or issues that rapidly decreased after implementation. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

PSM had the most professional project management including regular email updates and check in meetings on status. It was also nice to have a project manager that I could communicate with and they would ensure that it would get relayed to their iternal team. They were not only highly responsive with issues and change orders, but also on pricing questions as well. 

What was your primary form of communication with PSM Partners?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

PSM Partners had great communication, attention to detail, and an ability to relay technology upgrade value in a way that us non-techhnology peoplecould understand. They also helped with staff education so that we as end users could utilize the technology in the best way possible. Lastly, they really took a lot of time to listen and understand what our unique needs and challenges were up front to make sure they designed the right solution for us. 

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

Nothing comes to mind 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CITO of a nonprofit organization. Our mission is empowering and advocating for libraries and library workers to ensure equitable access to information for all.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PSM Partners?

We needed a fractional director of infrastructure due to the retirement of long-tenured staff. We needed someone to continue leading critical infrastructure projects in progress and solve significant technical debt issues.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PSM Partners has identified a suitable fractional infrastructure director with the appropriate bandwidth and experience to oversee a complex operation at ALA. This person has jumped into projects already underway, including vendor accountability management, complex configuration, and people-centered management to lead change in the most effective and efficient ways possible. For example, this person has managed a Windows 11 upgrade for 165+ individual users, moved an entire ALA office location infrastructure from on-prem to cloud, guided an MSP vendor through a comprehensive infrastructure assessment (including IT maturity assessment) for strategy development, and managed a help desk and a 3-person infrastructure and support team.

What is the team composition?

We work with one person from PSM Partners.

How did you come to work with PSM Partners?

We found them through a known connection. We chose them because they were close to our geographic location, their pricing fit our budget, they had a great culture fit, and they had great value for the cost. Moreover, they had great prior experience in an MSP service bid where they came in second place, so we wanted to give them another opportunity. We were impressed with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2025, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

PSM Partners has completed projects, satisfied our user community, and created stability in our infrastructure. We’ve received consistently positive leadership and staff feedback.

How did PSM Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate through virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

PSM Partners’ attention to detail, advanced technical ability, resourcefulness, and clear understanding and demonstration of the soft skills necessary to build and continuously develop trust within and around all teams and units are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.