Sikich

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT administrator at Cedarwood Development, Inc. We’re a real estate development company comprised of three other companies, all under the brand of Cedarwood Companies. We manage real estate development projects, construction and architecture, and property management. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sikich?

Initially, we contacted Sikich for their accounting and auditing services. They used to have a different name, but then they branched out and founded an IT firm, which eventually became Sikich. We used to have an in-house IT manager, and when they left the company, we decided to outsource our IT management with Sikich. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our relationship with Sikich precedes my time in the company. I’ve only been involved in our IT management project; however, Sikich is also a CPA firm and provides us with accounting and auditing services. 

Additionally, when we first started to work with Sikich as our outside IT vendor, we had a meeting where they introduced me to the engineering team that would be working with us. Sikich provides on-site and off-site managed IT services, including help desk phone services, servers, and firewall management. They also monitor our internet network to ensure it’s working correctly. 

As I’ve become more involved in the company’s IT management, I handle a lot of aspects internally, and Sikich helps me with things outside my capabilities. They also use a ticketing system for troubleshooting, and they use ConnectWise. 

Over the time we’ve worked with Sikich, they’ve bought and installed hardware for us and upgraded our firewalls and servers. They also helped us install our equipment when we moved to a different location and changed old cable installations. 

Additionally, Sikich advises us about our cybersecurity. On one occasion, one of our colleagues clicked on a hacked link that installed malware on our equipment and encrypted our files. Sikich had all our data backed up, which helped us get through this situation.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Dustin (Director), and he has been like an account manager and helped us with quotes and additional services. 

I’ve spoken to several teammates from Sikich through their phone help desk service, although they’re not specifically assigned to our project. We call them when we have an issue, and they assign it to a specialist from their team. 

How did you come to work with Sikich?

I’m unsure how we originally started working with Sikich since they were already engaged with my company when I started working here. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2013, and our partnership is ongoing. We will continue to work with them only as our CPA firm since there’s a new regulation that won’t let us work with them for both services. We need to find a new managed service provider.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I absolutely love working with Sikich. I’ve grown in my role largely because of them; they share information and never have an attitude where they don’t want to tell me something. 

How did Sikich perform from a project management standpoint?

Sikich’s turnaround is amazing. When we contact them with an issue, they schedule it and get back to us in 1–2 days when it’s not urgent. Overall, their response time is excellent. When Sikich knows an issue will take more than four hours to fix, they send us a quote to approve. They don’t make any movement without asking us first. 

Moreover, Sikich is good at providing updates via email, and I have quarterly meetings with Dustin to cover our project’s needs. Sikich’s communication is transparent, and they’ve helped us save money by educating us in IT management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with Sikich’s team. They have our best interests at heart, and I appreciate everything they’ve done for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only improvement I can think of is that, while they were changing to this new work model of phone help desk attention, I felt they were not as responsive. However, they improved eventually, so I think it was just a matter of time and the initial change. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust Sikich and have an honest conversation with them. They have a lot of expertise in IT management and will give the best advice according to your project’s needs. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT director for Cornwell Quality Tools, an automotive tools manufacturing company. I’ve been in the company for 40 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sikich?

When we first started our IT efforts around 20 years ago, we were pretty much a mainframe shop, so we didn’t have the knowledge or skills to get into the Windows environment. Thus, we hired Sikich to help us out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, Sikich helped us set up our network, and we’ve continued working with them ever since. For our most recent project, we needed help with cloud-based hosting for our servers. We didn’t have much internal skill set for Microsoft (MS) Azure and how to manage our servers using the Azure cloud, so we tasked Sikich with doing so.

Since then, Sikich has set up our servers in MS Azure, and they now manage them on an ongoing basis. We have in-house IT employees, development staff, and network administrators. Still, we engage with Sikich for anything that falls outside of our knowledge and skill set, and they take care of it.

What is the team composition?

We work with 6–10 people from Sikich, including Dustin (Director), who is our main point of contact and acts as our virtual CIO.

How did you come to work with Sikich?

We were referred to them by our auditing firm around 20 years ago.

How much have you invested with them?

Throughout our entire relationship, we’ve spent around $6 million–$7 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Sikich since around the summer of 2002.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been working with Sikich for so long now that it’s hard to measure the impact they’ve had. Since working with them, we’ve had a 99% uptime rate.

How did Sikich perform from a project management standpoint?

Sikich has a help desk that uses a ticketing system. Still, most of our engagements happen through a phone call, which works well for us. We simply have phone call discussions to come up with a strategy for the project at hand.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sikich is a top-notch company. Although they’re expensive, their support is critical to our ongoing company operations, so they’re worth it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if Sikich could lower their prices. Other than that, there’s nothing they could improve on. The reason we’ve been working with them is the quality of their service; if they needed improvement, we would already have moved elsewhere.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of data and digital for Blue Point Capital, a private equity firm focused on North American investments. In my role, I’m an operating partner, so I help our portfolio companies with digital transformation and look after our internal IT capabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sikich?

We required managed IT and cybersecurity services, so we hired Sikich.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sikich is our outsourced managed services provider for IT and cybersecurity, so they manage the entirety of our networks and infrastructure. They also help us with our hardware, including individual PCs, servers, switches, and other pieces of enterprise hardware. Moreover, they provide virtual CIO and chief security officer (CSO) services.

Hardware and software purchase and installation is a collaborative effort. Our business is overwhelmingly cloud-based at this point, so the only moments when Sikich helps us buy hardware or software are when we have an incremental improvement. For example, they buy routers or switches to fix things when needed. Additionally, when we hire a new person, they manage the PC purchase and setup based on our requirements; we tell them which equipment and configuration we need, and they do the rest on our behalf.

Still, over the past couple of years, Sikich has helped us purchase a variety of software systems to help better manage remote working. Our workforce does a fair amount of travel, so virtual collaboration tools are required. Thus, Sikich has helped us set up Microsoft Teams, for example.

On the cybersecurity side, Sikich has helped us select and implement KnowBe4® for email phishing testing and education. They’ve also set automated workflows to test our workforce for cybersecurity compliance regularly. These tests include external penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, which are supplemental to our regular cybersecurity management services.

What is the team composition?

Over the course of a year, I have interactions with around a dozen of people from Sikich. Their team includes a director responsible for our account, the network operations center’s director, two IT professionals, a handful of individuals who handle tickets, our virtual CIO and CSO, and a couple of salespeople.

How did you come to work with Sikich?

We were referred to them by someone in our network. Initially, we had two separate service providers. Sikich only came to help us with managed IT services, while a separate company offered managed cybersecurity services. However, we eventually decided to consolidate those services because Sikich offered similar cybersecurity services, but they differentiated from the other company by providing broader IT support. This change helped us consolidate our relationship, billings, and more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Sikich since around 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On the cybersecurity side, our success metric is the number of incidents we have. Since working with Sikich, we’ve had none, so we’ve been very successful in that regard. As for our broader network operations, our success metric is uptime. Our network always works, so we’ve also been successful there.

Thus far, we’ve had few to no complaints about Sikich’s IT services, so no feedback is good feedback. Overall, Sikich does a good job of keeping us online and secure.

How did Sikich perform from a project management standpoint?

Sikich is responsive, communicative, and efficient at responding to our needs, working through tickets, and making the agreed-upon implementations and updates to our infrastructure. We communicate via email and phone, and we have Microsoft Teams video conferences every once in a while.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sikich competency in communication is outstanding. Whenever we send them a note about an issue, they’re on top of it and work to solve it as quickly as possible. Getting a good and efficient service is all we require, and that’s what they provide us with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing Sikich could improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Office Manager for a mid size law firm in the Chicago Loop.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sikich?

Sikich has been our Managed IT Provider since 2013.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed several companies to determine what best fit our needs for our budget.

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

Sikich manages our day to day IT needs as well as any projects we may need. They are here for us 24/7 for remote support and provide network support, device management, proactive maintenance of all system, and anything else we need related to IT.

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

We consistently work with many team members in various roles from Partners, to CIO to engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sikich recently helped us with an office move that was completed successfully and without any major hiccups. They helped tremendously in making the tech side of the move seamless. In addition to that large project, Sikich has consistently brought new ideas for us to improve internal processes, speed, and security.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We can always rely on Sikich to provide us with great service and be there when we need them. They are very responsive, but more than that they are proactive in bringing potential issues to our attention before they become problems.

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

The reliability as well as the responsiveness of ALL team members from the top down to engineers has been outstanding.

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

We appreciate the consistency and great work!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a department manager for an aircraft parts manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sikich?

We needed help with getting the NIST 800-171 certification.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sikich has done an assessment of our cybersecurity to get everything in place so that we can get the NIST 800-171 certification. For this assessment, they’ve provided me with both on-site and off-site services.

To get everything started, I first provided Sikich with our current documentation related to the project, after which they started the security assessment process. Then, they laid out a plan and defined the structure of what needed to be in place to get the certification. Currently, we continue working on implementing those requirements.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a scheduler, an engineer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Sikich?

We originally contacted them through another service provider that we used for getting a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). In order to get the NIST 800-171 certification, the service provider needs to be certified to do that, and Sikich was certified and came highly recommended, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together on this project in December 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although we don’t have the certification yet, we have a score that indicates our level of compliance. Since working with Sikich on implementing changes, our score has improved dramatically.

How did Sikich perform from a project management standpoint?

Sikich has always been on top of project management, and they’ve guided us every step of the way. Moreover, their team has kept everything within the promised timeline, and their communication is great. The scheduler helps us organize regular meetings to follow up on assignments needed to be completed before getting the certification. We use Basecamp to collaborate, as well as Microsoft Teams and email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sikich is knowledgeable, and they’re one of the few entities certified in facilitating the NIST 800-171 certification. Overall, they’ve been great partners.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them and keep up with what you need to do. Although Sikich can help you discuss solutions, a big part of the project has to do with your technology and your needs, so there will be things you’ll have to do on your end. Additionally, have dedicated people from your end working on the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Information Security Officer of The Salon Professional Academy, Dallas

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide career training in the fields of Cosmetology and Esthetics 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sikich to accomplish?

• GLBA Risk Assessment
• Develop Information Security Policies

SOLUTION

How did you find Sikich?

Referral

Why did you select Sikich over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Sikich were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Sikich provided a complete information systems risk assessment and provided us with an Information Security Policy that can be implemented and managed by a small company and keep us in compliance with GLBA Requirments

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A completed risk assessment with specific recommendations that will enhance security and created a policy that we can implement and manage going forward.

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

The project was completed in a timely manner.  The Sikich Team continued to communicate with our Team throughout the projects to receive the information fromus that they needed from us to complete the project.  Their communications were both timely and direct and bring the project to completion in a timely fashion.  They responsed to all of our questions thorughout the project in a timely manner and we are more than satisfied with work provided.

What was your primary form of communication with Sikich?

Virtual Meeting

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

We do not have a I.T. department in our company and they were able to fully explain technical terminology and helped us develop a good understanding of InfoSec. We were also very impressed with the company's responsiveness to our concerns and willingness to guide us through the techncal issues that at first appeared to be overwhelming.

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

I do not have any recommendations for improvement - the work was thorough, timely and the Sikich Team was extremely responsive to our needs and our questions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Controller of LRC Realty

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Property Management of Commercial Real Estate

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sikich to accomplish?

• Provide our organization with more timely IT service
• Provide our organization with a better sense of IT security against threats
• Provide our organization with IT guidance in a proactive fashion

SOLUTION

How did you find Sikich?

We use their tax services

Why did you select Sikich over others?

Once meeting our VCIO, I knew this was where we needed to be based on his feedback and knowledge.

How many teammates from Sikich were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Onboarding and Microsoft services while maintaining the security of our IT structure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Onboarding was thought out and a dedicated qualified individual was handling the project.  My organization had no down time for onboarding which was exceptional.  The new computer for the front conference room was exactly what it needed to be and Sikich took the time to understand the need.  Down time for the new PC was minimal and everything was staff tested before Sikich left.  We couldn't be happier with our choice to obtain Sikich for IT services!

What was your primary form of communication with Sikich?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Not at this time

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Finance of City of Green

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Municipal government

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sikich to accomplish?

• accomplished with minor disruption
• completed within budget
• completed on time

SOLUTION

How did you find Sikich?

Existing vendor

Why did you select Sikich over others?

Experience working with team

How many teammates from Sikich were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Replacement of existing server and consolidation of multiple servers at various locations

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Least anount of disruption for all departments

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

Met needs and on time

What was your primary form of communication with Sikich?

Email or Messaging App

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

Sikich managed constant communication throughout the project.

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

None

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on 01/30/23
Executive, Government Administration OfficePublishing

Green, Ohio

51-200 Employees

Jun 2016 - Ongoing

$10,000,000 +

Verified

Project summary
A government administration office has hired Sikich to provide on- and offsite IT services. They make recommendations based on their expertise to help the client improve and update their software and hardware.

Feedback summary
Sikich's work has increased the client's network speed and stability and has helped them adapt to new technology and applications. Sikich is responsive and communicative, providing regular updates on the project's progress. The client also praises their outstanding reliability.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a government administration office.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Sikich?

Our IT network was expiring in disarray, so we needed to update it. Therefore, we were looking for an IT partner to provide confidence in our network’s security to avoid cyber attacks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sikich provides on- and offsite IT services for us; they monitor our computer networks, applications, and hardware to make recommendations on potential improvements. Based on those suggestions, we then have the final say on whether they install or replace any software or hardware or not. In addition, their team assists all of our departments with updates on the systems we use — we’ve implemented a rotation cycle where we replace our computers with newer ones every four years.

What was the team composition? 

We mainly work with Dean (Client Account Manager) and Dustin (Director), but they have other members that work with us on- and offsite.

How did you come to work with Sikich?

Sikich had worked with someone from our team on a previous project, so we decided to reach out to them for this task.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sikich has been very helpful in increasing our network speed and assisting us in adapting to new technologies and applications.

How did Sikich perform from a project management standpoint?

Sikich's team gives us an upfront cost for every project, which we approve, but if the task is getting longer than expected, they reach out to us and request additional hours to finish the project they're working on. They're also responsive and quick — we only need to send an email or make a phone call to them, and they address our needs immediately. Moreover, they have an efficient ticketing system where they contact the employee that has the technical issue and can also take care of our hardware and software replacement needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sikich is always on top of the schedule, communicative, and reaches out to us to keep us updated on the project's progress through weekly phone calls.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sikich isn't the cheapest option, but I can sleep at night knowing that our IT networks are in good hands. Sikich is a professional team, and we're satisfied with their services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

STSit down and talk to them to iterate what type of services you need — Sikich can provide an array of services to assist you with several projects.

STAR RATING
Overall rating: 4   

Quality: 5   

Cost: 4   

Schedule: 5   

Willing to refer: 5  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Assistant/ Financial Aid Director of San Francisco School of Massage & Bodywork

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Private massage school

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sikich to accomplish?

• To perform a security risk assessment to meet GLBA requirements for Title IV schools

SOLUTION

How did you find Sikich?

Referral

Why did you select Sikich over others?

Already using them for audits

How many teammates from Sikich were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Performed detailed, multi-part risk assessment that involved determinding internal and extrenal areas of risk. Assessment was scored in each cateogry to determine risk levels. Additional services were offered to meet any weaknesses identified in the assessment. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received a detailed risk register including references to all relevant GLBA policies. The register included assessment terms and an explanation of the risk criteria and data set used. It was an extremely helpful way to break down the findings. 

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

Sikich provided excellent time management. They were proactive, flexible about any scheduling issues on our end and extremely responsive. They did an outstanding job of responding to our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Sikich?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Friendly service and accessablity from a team of dedicated and knowledgeable professionals. I was especially impressed about their patience walking us through each step in the process. 

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of a financial services company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

this is a credit union

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Sikich to accomplish?

• order, configure and install network switches

SOLUTION

How did you find Sikich?

• unknown

Why did you select Sikich over others?

• Existing partner

How many teammates from Sikich were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

they purchased, configured and installed 90% of the network switches

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All switches were installed and communicating effectively

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

Once the hardware was recieved, time line to completion was approx 30 days

What was your primary form of communication with Sikich?

• Virtual Meeting

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

We've worked with Sikich originally BCG Systems for approx 24yrs. They have a broad range of knowledge

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

as mentioned, BCG systems was acquired by Sikich. The billing for services can get very expensive even for the slightest question or help needed.