Wendego IT Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Duchateau is a manufacturer of high-end architectural finishes, including flooring and wall panels. In addition to my duties as Marketing Communications Manager, I also oversee our relationship with Wendego, our Managed IT service provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Wendego oversees all aspects of our information technology infrastructure, for both our HQ location, our remote warehouse location, and for our individual sales representatives located across the U.S.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a vendor who could be a true partner with us, listen to our needs, and propose on-going solutions that met those needs. We also wanted the management of our network and our end-users to be as seamless as possible.

SOLUTION

How did you select Wendego I.T. Solutions?

After poor experience with a previous vendor, we did research, and found that Wendego was highly respected, and that although their pricing was reasonable, they provided increased levels of service than we had experienced with other vendors.

Describe the project in detail.

Wendego completed a full inventory of our hardware, software, and network design. They then proposed a menu of needed improvements. They also gave us direction on the best way to proceed, enabling us to gradually implement improvements to our IT infrastructure, keeping costs steady.

What was the team composition?

Wendego worked with our Office Manager initially, who oversaw this project. It then transitioned to me, and I work with both Wendego and our employee base to ensure that all of their technical needs are being met.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our uptime has increased, and our implementation of Microsoft Office and Office 365 has been streamlined, so remote management is easy and painless. Our network infrastructure is rock solid, and Wendego has been with us every step of the way, ensuring that we implement what we need.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In addition to a industry-standard ticketing system, the team at Wendego also checks in with me regularly, and also provides high-level executive summaries and reports.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I have worked with many IT vendors in my career, and most of them want to provide canned solutions. Wendego is different - they really take the time to get to the core of our needs and issues, and develop solutions that fit our goals, our budget, and our company culture.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have been extremely satisfied with Wendego. The key to our relationship has been the setting of goals before we began any changes to our systems. Thanks to this process, we both were able to work towards the same outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m in charge of IT and CFO of a company that sells LED lights. We’re the biggest third-party seller on Amazon. We're a multi-location company located in San Diego, Mexico, and Indiana.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Our multi-location structure makes it more difficult to run our data operations. The previous company that managed our IT services oversaw the complete breakdown of our IT, which lost a lot of our information.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team provides IT services. When we have a machine or our telephones aren’t working properly, they’ll help us. Their team provides support remotely but are also on-site once a week. They use a ticketing system, so we update a ticket in the system when there are challenges. Wendego I.T. Solutions did an overview of our security procedures and suggested what we should have in place. They advise us on our infrastructure and purchases as well as help us to purchase the correct hardware.

What is the team composition?

The entire team is at our service, but the owner is still our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

We got in touch with them through an employee who had worked with Wendengo I.T. Solutions previously. When we were having our own challenges, our employee recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $3,000–$4,000 a month. We’ve been charged a fixed price, so there haven’t been surprising price increases. When we were half the size we were today, we had another IT company that charged us twice as much.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had preliminary meetings with their team in April or May but weren’t quick to jump on the bus because some decisions aren't taken quickly in our organization. We started working with them in December 2015 and the collaboration’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Even though I thought the new security system was expensive, we don't have any downtime, so it's not that expensive. They’re great, helpful advisors. Wendego I.T. Solutions has been great not just in running our platform but also advising our purchases. We're happy to work with them.

How did Wendego I.T. Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I only have the highest praise for them. From a cost-effective point, they haven’t nickeled and dimed us. They’ve stuck to the same price and there haven’t been any surprises. Their team has been amazing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The prices are fixed and Wendego I.T. Solutions has stuck to their word. They don’t compromise on quality. I can insist on buying cheaper hardware because I don’t see the benefit but they always have their way. The result is that we haven’t had computers breaking down, which is the point of investing in security.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go ahead and work with them as quickly as possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO at Direct Communications Solutions. We’re an IT company that specializes in IoT solutions. We help clients to deploy primarily wireless cellular devices in the field. Most recently, we purchased GPS tracking devices and assist other businesses to deploy them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Primarily, we wanted a local organization to support our immediate needs. We also have two remote offices but didn’t want to take on the burden of hiring our own IT staff because we’re a lean organization. To dedicate the resources needed for different areas of technology, it wouldn’t have been cost-effective to invest in our own IT specialists. We thought it would be more efficient and effective to hire an organization to take on the burden to facilitate my business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wendego I.T. Solutions has taken on various responsibilities including recommendations and setting-up new PCs as well as purchasing, managing, and licensing Office 365. Their team manages those activities for new staff members and once the employee’s up and running, Wendego I.T. Solutions drop their agent onto the personal computer or server. They also monitor all of our antivirus needs such as inbound and outbound threats.

As well, their team services our local domain server, which is Windows-based. They assist us with all of our cloud-based solutions including customizations and direct our server-side setup in AWS. We’ve got about 19 different Cloud servers for different applications running for either ourselves or our customers because we provide software solutions. We lean on them for SSL certificates too.

They set up all of our employee email accounts and assist with all of our Dropbox accounts. Locally, they do all the local backup as well as act as an agent for me to then take all of my data and store it on the cloud. We have three layers of redundancy within our infrastructure, but the majority of their work’s done onsite.

What is the team composition?

Three people have worked on our account. As of lately, we communicate with one person on an ongoing basis.

How did you come to work with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

We found Wendego I.T. Solutions by happenstance. We were growing as an organization. And bought out our Florida office, which managed our IT. We looked for a local provider and googled IT support specialists. Their team was in the building complex next to us, so they came over and we gave them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay them around $4,000–$5,000 per month to support our 35 employees. We’re high in the number of PC’s that we have and that’s how they assess true costs: what number of PCs do we have to manage and how capable is the staff?

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2015 and they’re still our partner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re top notch and understand—as a small-to-medium-sized business—how critical it is to be up. Their team has made the right decisions for my business. When clients aren’t serviced to their liking, Wendego I.T. Solutions will change staff.

We’ve had 2–3 other companies bid to do their work, but those vendors can’t touch Wendego I.T. Solutions’ responsiveness. Given the depth of involvement, national companies’ prices are easily doubled. The price almost triples to get that type of responsiveness.

How did Wendego I.T. Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I submit everything into a ticketing system and then get a response back with a ticket number and their immediate feedback. The ticket then gets assigned to one of their departments. I’ve never had a problem bleed into multiple days when my staff members were held up.

Their response time is phenomenal. They jump right in whenever we have an issue. Their team adapts to my needs by gauging my level of outage. They’ve dropped everything and worked remotely while sitting at another client’s location to address my immediate need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve stuck with them because they’ve never given us a reason to leave them. We’ve never considered shopping for a new provider.

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the first two years, we would sit down with them and go over all of my organization such as the number of PCs, which ones are about to expire or have problems. If I asked that of Wendego I.T. Solutions, they would be able to do that. As a customer, I’d like to see that annual report given to me whether or not I asked for it. In all fairness, I haven’t kept him to task because I have more important things to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Push as much as you can to give them full control of the project. Take their advice when it comes to the next generation of items. For example, I fought them on a filter for our email but then one of our employees got spammed to buy expensive gift cards. If I would’ve trusted Wendego I.T. Solutions, our employee wouldn’t have had to go through that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the HR of a chemicals & biotechnology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Advance scientific discoveries with our comprehensive suite of preclinical services, including iPSC solutions, Genome Editing, In Vitro Assays, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Wendego I.T. Solutions to accomplish?

• IT management

SOLUTION

How did you find Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Online Search

Why did you select Wendego I.T. Solutions over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Wendego I.T. Solutions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• All IT Managment
• Daily IT issues
• Business & Employee IT needs
• Cybersecurity

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Exceeded expectations
• Delivered on target or ahead

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

Very well managed and great response times

What was your primary form of communication with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

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

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

Most impressive is their response time and available via email/chat/phone 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Wendego I.T. Solutions could have done differently?

No, keep up the great work!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Recruitment Manager of a healthcare company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Healthcare staffing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Wendego I.T. Solutions to accomplish?

• IT support

SOLUTION

How did you find Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select Wendego I.T. Solutions over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Wendego I.T. Solutions were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

IT support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The main result is having working equipment 

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

NA

What was your primary form of communication with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Virtual Meeting

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

Kam

Are there any areas for improvement or something Wendego I.T. Solutions could have done differently?

NA

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Southern Caregiver Resource Center

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide services to caregivers who care for the aged in their homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Wendego I.T. Solutions to accomplish?

• Set up state of the art IT systems
• Maintain state of the art IT systems
• Provide on the spot constant support to our employees while using the systems.

SOLUTION

How did you find Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select Wendego I.T. Solutions over others?

Other

How many teammates from Wendego I.T. Solutions were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Set up state of the art IT systems for our growing Agency

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Aysar rocks. The service has been excellent

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

They are very professional in their project management. All projects have been handled in a timely fashion.

What was your primary form of communication with Wendego I.T. Solutions?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were able to have one staff person who is an expert, knows our systems and always deals with our issues.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Wendego I.T. Solutions could have done differently?

They need better spam filter software.