3i International

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The organization is actually two organizations: an orthopedic and knee center and a surgery center. Those are all operated and primarily owned by an orthopedic surgeon. Everything that 3i did for us was to benefit both organizations. One of my roles is the information technology manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with 3i International?

We wanted to make sure everything that our vendor was doing was in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance. There are a lot of security concerns in the medical practice (e.g. electronic medical records, private health information that's on the billing, and the correspondence).

Also, the contract for our printer and multifunction machines in the building was close to expiring. So, I asked 3i International to consult with us about that.

For background, we're running a surgery center with lots of applications and practice management applications. The practice uses a cloud-based EMR. So, there are a lot of databases that we had to ensure were preserved, and we had to be sure the backups were done properly. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They performed a network security audit of our vendors’ operations. They ran diagnostics to see if we had any intrusions, reviewed the current set up, and interviewed the staff to get a sense of what security knowledge they had.

Then, they produced a report with some benchmarks about what's typical versus the weak points in our system. 3i International had found they didn’t have any type of intrusion software in the switches. The score was so low that our doctor made an immediate decision to terminate the contract with the vendor (there was already a background of distrust due to a situation with their invoices). 

During this period, 3i International came in very quickly, learned our system, what needed to be done, and mapped out a plan for that transition. We had to get attorneys involved because the vendor wouldn’t give us secure information about the network.

3i International was able to explain what needed to be done with the attorneys present so we could get the vendor to cooperate. During this time, 3i International also managed our Outlook 360 account because the vendor had control of our emails.

While all this was happening, our phone system was collapsing. So, 3i International also navigated us through a seven-week process to change the phone system. They held our hand through the process. They gave us the forms to fill out an FCC complaint, and the next day it was taken care of. The team recently supported the set up of our new phones. 

Also, all of our printer copier contracts were expiring. 3i International immediately assessed what we needed and did a survey of our staff. Now, we’re converting to eFaxes, and they’re working on that for us. 

What is the team composition?

I was working with 6-7 people including Dean (Director of Services, 3i International), Vitaliy (Tier II Support, 3i International), Marco (Account Manager, 3i International), and Robert (Customer Service, 3i International).

Dean was the key person for the whole network project. I worked with Robert on the phones and another point person on the copiers and other equipment. Mark (CEO & Co-Founder, 3i International) and Chris (COO & Co-Founder, 3i International) also participated. 

How did you come to work with 3i International?

We had purchased computers and laptops from their company before, and we had a good experience with them. I also knew of a company they worked for in the oil and gas industry. So, we had a very solid personal referral. I spoke with Mark because I knew they could perform a network security audit and a HIPAA audit. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $90,000 to $100,000 per year for the three-year contract.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contracts in April 2019, and we’re still working with them now.

How did 3i International perform from a project management standpoint?

At the beginning, they did a very good cost analysis and a comparison of the costs of the services we had. They analyzed where the trouble spots were and how they would resolve those things. They came in and showed us the reports so we could see what we were doing. Then they used those reports to map where we would go.

They realized this was a critical situation, and they were an impeccable partner. In all their interactions, they were willing to be available for us. They were willing to work on the weekends, and they worked around all of our schedules. We had a timeline, and they met those deadlines. 

They are really good communicators. They stay in touch and let us know what’s going on. They’re very detailed. For example, in 45 days, we’ll have a technical review where they give a summary of every project. 

Also, 3i International is excellent at being diplomatic. When we told the vendor there was going to be an audit, there was some friction that alarmed me. They weren’t really cooperative. But, 3i International has great skills for those types of situations. They were able to come in and run the audit. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really understood the critical nature of the situation. They're great people to work with.  Every single person that's been involved, including just the help desk people at the call center, are delightful people to work with.

They have great help desk support. Their help desk ticketing system works really, really well for us. Also, they offered their expertise and support for an entire month before their hiring contracts were signed. That was another wonderful thing.

They also reassured us about some of the complexities of our network. They were some weird things about the way the system was set up, and they had to come up with ideas about how to solve the issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of a single thing. We've never had anything, anywhere near that level of support. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think I would just say you, "You'll probably be amazed at how customer-focused they are."

From their first meetings, their whole focus was on interviewing us and asking about what our needs were.