Afidence

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.
I am the Chief Infrastructure Officer of a financial services company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide wealth management services to families

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Record a high-level review of our current IT systems and integrations

SOLUTION

How did you find Afidence?

Referral
Why did you select Afidence over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Conversations over time provided a high level of comfort with the firm

How many teammates from Afidence were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees
Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Our firm built IT systems it uses to serve its clients. IT staff members have the most in-depth knowledge of these systems and integrations, so they serve as “gatekeepers” to any changes or additions. Our firm wished to empower other staff members to use these systems and integrations as well as seek out the potential for unknown blind spots in the IT infrastructure. 

Afidence’s solution was providing a Sr. Systems Engineer to perform a high-level review of the current IT systems and integrations. The deliverables included an IT road map and gap analysis of these systems and integrations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Road map and gap analysis - exactly what we were seeking
Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they were definitely on the ball with project management. We received updates each week, and the communication around the scope of work was crystal clear.
What was your primary form of communication with Afidence?

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

They are masters of their craft. They are very thoughtful about how and if they should partner with a firm. Many firms in this space seem to just look for an excuse to do something - our experience was the opposite. They spent considerable time getting to know our firm and provided value to us through discussion prior to us identifying an engagement. It's an honest and respectable approach.
Are there any areas for improvement or something Afidence could have done differently?

They were great!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Associate Provost and CIO for a private, comprehensive university with 11,000 students and $200 Million in sponsored research

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Afidence?

We were implementing active directory as our core systems management environment and wanted an expert review of our implementation practices to ensure we addressed all the security risks.

SOLUTION

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

Afidence has been a trusted regional consultant with an excellent reputation for competence, expertise, thoughtful and cost-sensitive pricing and high integrity.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Afidence, in collaboration with UD, will conduct a comprehensive assessment of UD’s directory services (including relevant systems and policies), and develop a roadmap of recommendations that will enable the organization to successfully migrate to Active Directory. Areas of focus for this engagement include: Security Improvements, Enterprise Architecture Improvements and Operational Improvements. All work and recommendations will be derived from four key areas of insight: UD Enterprise IT Goals, UD IT Staff Insights, UD Network Reviews and Industry Best Practices for Active Directory Design.

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

Three expert resources. One full time AD expert to lead project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were provided excellent recommendations for implementing a secure AD environment. The recommendations were prioritized in terms of most critical to "nice to have" and each recommendation was broken down in terms of costs and biggest wins. We had an excellent road map that our teams could implement on their own or could seek external expertise to help. There was no pressure to keep spending - but we were very aware of the resources we could draw upon if desired.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Deliverables were always on time -- and the details were well crafted while the high-level summaries were very effective for briefing our leadership

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

Integrity and competence. They do not "run the meter" on our projects. They were always sensitive to our budget and to our timelines. They build trust with both leadership and staff.

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

This was our dream team -- they worked hand-in-hand with our staff, they were highy agile and always extremely responsive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Aviation Manager of a home healthcare company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Post-Acute Home Health and Hospice Care

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• To Upgrade the Client’s Environment

SOLUTION

How did you find Afidence?

Previous engagement

Why did you select Afidence over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Afidence were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

network upgrade which consisted of replacing 9 wireless access points, 1 firewall and 4 UPS units.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On time and on budget. Progress updates were timely and accurate.

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

Pre-determined check in meetings that were accurately timed. Very quick to respond to questions. Overall, very easy and professional to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with Afidence?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were highly organized and accurate in communicating the deliverables.

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

No areas of concern