AllSafe IT

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We exist to evolve the marketing and advertising landscape through creativity, integrity, and humanity. I am the Operations Manager at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AllSafe IT?

AllSafe was hired to provide a 360 degree IT coverage for our company that required proactive and detailed solutions.

SOLUTION

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

A friend spoke highly of AllSafe and provided their contact information to set up a meeting. They were budget friendly and had great people working at the company.

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

We went with an AllSafe package that fit our company needs and price point. Over a year later, the support and resources are always there when you need them. Just like day one.

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

Ive worked with many AllSafe teams that provide support how ever they can. Accounting, Sales, Technical Project Managers, and vCIO's.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have passed multiple audits from different clients with AllSafes help.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Super effective. During onboarding and any implementations, we had status calls and they provided informative information to the company of new changes within our organization. We still have bi-monthly status calls to discuss anything new or if I have any questions or concerns.

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

They are a local company that is very flexible with their on-site IT services. The people that I usually communicate with are super nice and really helpful and are there when you need assistance with anything IT related.

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

I see two sides of a coin with this question because I think every company and individual has room for improvement but if a mistake were to happen it also matters how they handle it and AllSafe does that well with preventative action.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO of a small medical practice. We see complex patients with lots of data and cloud-based solutions

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AllSafe IT?

We moved all of our IT management to them. We also were able to transition from using Dropbox as a primary file share site to integrating SharePoint and using o365 to improve productivity and communication. Our phone system was glitchy and we used GOTOConnect, which required me to learn a new system and manage it. This was taking up far too much time and it was sub-optimal.

SOLUTION

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

In the past year, they have improved their customer service, improved our interactions with both their team and within our team. We switched to MS Teams Phones in February and the team who led that transition was exceptional. We made updates to that same calling plan to create a more efficient call routing system. This saved us about $3500/month and lots of frustration from our patients. Now they can get a staff member every time they call.

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

We moved from GoToConnect to MS Teams Phones and it was excellent. At first, we just did the same thing we did with our prior service. That led to lots of calls and lots of time speaking with people who were not appropriate for our practice. We had to add an external phone service to qualify calls. This was not the best or most financially optimal solution, so we had to re-do the IVR so it was nested. Their team was willing to work with us and update this. Also, they updated us to MSA last month -quick and easy! They had us to a HIPAA review and we are preparing to implement the corrections and policies now with their new packages.

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

Our points of contact are: CIO/CEO who acts as our vCIO (Bones), a Secondary vCIO (Andy), Communications Officer (Racquel), Project Manager (Abe), Technicians (Tom, Shaob, Zain, Ben, Kareem, and others as needed, esp off hours), Finance (Francesca). The feeling from our POV is that we have the entire team available and they come together to meet our needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we expressed concerns, they were fixed or remediated very quickly. Once we all got used to working together, things ran more smoothly. We continue to work on projects that will help us to take advantage of our technology but also allow us to stay protected.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly project calls with the projects team when we were actively working on a project. When we were not, the vCIOs were meeting with me at least monthly. We recently increased that to 2 times/month, which is better for communication

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

They really do feel like a part of our team. I do not feel like we're just one little business in their entire portfolio. When we are working with them, they are eager to learn and to share what they know or to research and outsource what they need assistance with. Under all circumstances, I communicate with a project or team lead at AllSafeIt

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

We had a few hiccups with the original vendor they chose for us to switch to MS Teams. The vendor over-promised and did not have the capabilities we needed. With their assistance, we severed that contract, received a refund and they took over the project in-house. I think the prior vCIO I was working with didn't understand our needs and we may have chosen a different phone solution if they better understood us, but we were already too far down the road and they figured out how to optimize the product for our need by instituting nested routing. It's been a great change!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Crews1972, an airport concession operator. We have restaurants and retail stores in non-traditional spaces, mainly in airports across the country. We have 35 locations with four major airports that consist of 18 different brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AllSafe IT?

We needed a consolidated IT management company to support our IT infrastructure from emails, cloud service, security, and efficiency. Also, we had to layer it onto proper operations in the terminals, where there are different levels of technology, including televisions, security cameras, and POS systems managed by other companies. In summary, we needed an IT company that integrated solutions to help talk between them, our internet service, and so on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AllSafe IT provides managed IT services. They help with the planning and development of our new locations, as well as the overall management of all of our sites. If we bid on a location and look to bid out of state, they support us with the design levels of whatever infrastructure is needed, including internet, camera locations, audio-visual companies, television, music plans, and what ports are required for that.

They work with the design team to make sure that the location is accurately designed. Upon operation, they support the installation of firewalls, computers, WiFi, and the backend, as well as the setup and management of all our email accounts and OneDrive. When a new team member comes in, they ensure they have the proper access to our OneDrive cloud and emails.

The team also manages all the hardware for our managers with computers, helping us to order and provide that equipment. They make sure all the devices have proper security on them. Additionally, they do ongoing management and help us with audits and training. For example, they provide phishing training to make sure that our team members are given proper links for phishing.

We mainly use Microsoft Office, and they work with some third-party software for its management. The hardware includes firewalls, hotspots, and other tech equipment like laptops and computers. They configure and place the orders. Also, the team works onsite and offsite depending on the need and does website management for us.

What is the team composition?

We’re in touch with all of their team members and have a main point of contact.

How did you come to work with AllSafe IT?

Another business person within the airport started to work with them, and I got to meet them. I talked to AllSafe IT about some of the things we were looking to implement, and their pricing was competitive. Also, their knowledge and level of experience in the space were great.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2010, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re great and very responsive. AllSafe IT supports us — if something goes down, they make sure our services get back up. Moreover, we have little to no downtime on our servers and backend, especially now that we’ve gone to the cloud. If our website ever goes down, they’re quick to respond. Overall, they’re solid. If we have a request for an order, they immediately respond to schedule a time.

How did AllSafe IT perform from a project management standpoint?

We deal with all our requests via email to their helpdesk. They process the ticket, assign someone, and schedule it. Also, they provide us monthly and yearly reports of any downtimes we had and how many tickets were called in.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive, adaptable, and more linear. We don’t deal with a large bureaucracy that takes a long time to move. They’re a midsize company, so they move fast and adapt to changing environments.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I’d have them improve; they just have to adapt to things outside of their control. They have to connect the dots with multiple vendors or third-party providers to get a resolution.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on your needs and articulate what you’re looking to do, where you’re at now, and where you’re looking to go from a managed services or hardware standpoint. They’ll adapt to provide you with the service you need.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Operations Coordinator for a Japanese cultural destination in Hollywood that showcases Japanese art, design, gastronomy and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AllSafe IT?

Our company had just opened an office in Los Angeles and needed a vendor that could manage our IT infrastructure. This included setting up our internet, purchasing computers, and managing our digital security.

SOLUTION

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

We searched for local vendors that could fulfill out needs and decided on AllSafe IT because they were located in the same building as us and would be able to provide service at any time.

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

Our offOur office and multiple facilities are located in different locations in the same building, making it quite complicated but AllSafe IT was able to maneuver through the difficulties and set up an infrastructure that worked for us. They installed Sophos hardware in each of the server rooms in an organized manner and set up workstations for all employees. They also frequently audit our IT environment and provide us with IT services in which their technicians help solve our daily IT issues.

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

We work directly with their Managing Partner and Project Manager as well many of their service desk technician.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They had finished the project before we were all scheduled to move in which we appreciated. There are many times when we need immediate assistance on certain IT issues and AllSafe IT has always been able to respond and come up with a solution quickly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have virtual meetings with their Managing Partner and vCIO every two weeks to discuss our main concerns about our IT infrastructure or projects for that month. We also frequently communicate via email.

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

They are very cost-effective and has helped us cut down our cost in many ways. It is also very impressive that they are able to come onsite to help us with our issues at such short notice.

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

Sometimes, they need more time to solve issues on Macbooks so it would be helpful if their engineers were more experienced in iOS products.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the people operations manager at a real estate development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AllSafe IT?

We engaged with them to help us be one step ahead in technology and have technology tools that can better assist us in pushing our business forward and making our processes more efficient. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been able to set us up in the cloud versus a physical server on-site. The team has also helped us have a different software technology that we didn’t have before with a smaller company that we used to deal with. 

AllSafe also made it possible for us to safely share our documents internally using their software, replacing Dropbox in the process. They’ve also been helpful in setting up signature blocks for our company. Everything has been done remotely.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–5 people from the AllSafe IT team. 

How did you come to work with AllSafe IT?

We found them through a search engine. They were one of the three companies that really resonated with us. Their communication skills and the way they presented their services were very clear. We didn’t have to guess too much on the technological terms. 

Additionally, their CEO was just amazing. They were very hands-on from the beginning and their follow-through was really good. Overall, we felt like they cared and really wanted our business — that was how they set themselves apart from the other two companies we were considering. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $140,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2016, and it’s still ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve facilitated a very smooth transition with regards to cloud migration and it only took a few days to do that. It was a really seamless relationship with the team from the backend. When they finally brought us on, they had someone dedicated to us the whole day. That person responded to any issues we might have had via phone and email. The cloud has been successful, but there is much to be done in internal communications among their technicians.

How did AllSafe IT perform from a project management standpoint?

For the people that they have direct contact with, their experience has been great. However, for the people who are not labeled as main contacts, their experience hasn’t been so great. They find themselves a little frustrated with response time or the technician’s level of knowledge assigned to them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service is impressive. They are really good at serving all the end-users even when their response may be taking too long at a time. Everyone in their office is really patient and they really try to please the customer. I really appreciate that despite the frustrations on our side, they’ve been super professional. I don’t have any complaints about their attitude. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The resolution time of their technicians is a lot longer for those they don't consider as main contacts. It will be really amazing if everybody will be given the same attention. Overall, they need to tighten up in order for customers not to repeat themselves from technician to technician, especially with the lower level technicians.  

For example, we have this system called the new user request form which we fill out online. Whenever a new employee joins the company, that system asks a ton of questions to properly set up a new user. However, to this day, it’s been a hit and miss. Usually, I have my new people start filling that up on the first day, but then I always have to go back and correct something. Signature blocks are always a challenge, so I think new programs and software can be done.

Overall, I feel like we go through more hiccups than we should, especially in the communication area. Perhaps, it is also due to their high turnover, and that leads to affecting the communication lines. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have them set up your company profile very tightly from day one. All of the things that your company needs and wants — a really nice tight company profile will go a long way. That can also help you even if they have high turnover and even if you have new people coming in every day. If everything is in tiptop shape, it doesn’t matter if they always come and go. For the most part, the engagement just needs some screws.