247 Networks Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Pacifica Partners Capital Management Inc. manages investment portfolios for clients across North America. In total, we run about $250 million worth of investments. I work there as a portfolio manager and the chief compliance officer. My responsibilities involve ensuring that we follow proper internet security, data protection, and privacy rights.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 247 Networks?

As investment managers, we heavily rely on technology to do our jobs. We wanted a partner to make sure that our IT infrastructure met our needs, the emphasis being on implementing updated security procedures.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

247 Networks provides ongoing support for our IT problems. From a security standpoint, they did a security audit of our network last year to go through our system and check out the setup. 

Some of the tasks were accomplished remotely by going through our routers. But, the team also wanted to do an on-site visit to see how individual users logged into the network, how they accessed files from home, and more.

Following the audit, they provided a list of recommendations on where we could improve and have since continued to help us follow best practices.

What is the team composition? 

George (Chief Excellence Officer) was our main contact. He was accompanied by another colleague. A third person worked on our account remotely.

How did you come to work with 247 Networks?

Being a small business owner, one of my biggest concerns was trying to make the most out of our IT budget. We’d worked with other providers that had made ridiculous recommendations that didn’t fit into the scope of work nor the size of our business. 

That’s why we approached 247 Networks. We made sure that we had a clear ask of what we wanted to do and how much we money we could potentially allocate. The goal was to really stretch our dollar to the fullest so that we could satisfy our business needs securely.

How much have you invested with them?

The security audit and consulting fees cost about $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The audit itself lasted between August–September 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s clear that 247 Networks’ strength lies in their ability to understand how our company works. They’re good at listening to us to determine which recommendations take the highest priority and which items would be beneficial but not crucial. That allows us to figure out what makes sense with our budget.

How did 247 Networks perform from a project management standpoint?

The team kept us up to date with informal discussions throughout the audit, producing a formal written report at the end. Afterward, we got on a call to go through their findings and used their recommendations as a checklist for what we needed to complete and what could wait for a later date.

It was a pretty structured process. I’m not sure which tools they used to manage themselves, but their team was quite organized and professional. I wasn’t concerned about missing anything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re easy to reach out to. Whenever I have an IT problem, I feel comfortable reaching out to them even if I’m not sure there’s a solution. Instead of dismissing me, they work to bounce ideas until we figure out an available solution. It just goes to show how they’re willing to collaborate without imposing particular products or modules on us that don’t fit our business. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it’d be a stretch to say anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you believe you require and articulate that clearly to them. That’s a crucial step in setting the guideposts for your discussions. At the same time, don’t close yourself off from their ideas because you think they’re trying to sell you something. 

What’s been most beneficial for us has been our ongoing discussions. Based on my initial terms, they’ll often come back and show us alternative solutions that suit us better than our first idea.