Computer Solutions East

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run IT services for a government contractor.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

I reach out to them with technical challenges.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of the time I talk to them, it’s so that I can obtain Microsoft 365 licenses. I know they help provide some of my other teammates with licensing assistance as well.

What is the team composition?

There’s a team of about five people who I reach out to.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

The contract has been going on before I got here. They were picked long ago by the president of my company’s son.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing. The partnership has existed since at least 2015 but probably even earlier.

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

The services they provide me are always excellent. They have quick responses and I’ve never had an issue.

How did Computer Solutions Eastperform from a project management standpoint?

We email back and forth, and they always respond with what I need the same day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by their turnaround time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would use them, they’re a great company to partner with.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run the in house IT for the company. We distribute plumbing supplies and fixtures to stores and showrooms across the country. We're based on the east coast in a facility with around 100 employees.

For what projects/services did your company hire Computer Solutions East?

To provide end-to-end help in bringing all our teams to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. In addition to customizing CRM to fit our business, Computer Solutions East built an integration with Infor ERP to bring Sales and Financial information to CRM.

Our Sales and Customer Service teams are able to work with our customers and provide valuable support that ranges from Lead to Ticket management.

What were your goals for this project?

A cost-effective solution, easy to manage, and reliable in a Microsoft platform. It was important for us to make sure that this solution would work well with all other Microsoft products such as Outlook, Excel (for ease of reporting).

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with Computer Solutions East for the past 12 years on Managed Services. They are a Gold Microsoft partner and we rely on their services to manage our data-center, Office 365 and Azure cloud.

Describe the project in detail.

We were looking for a flexible product that would require minimal development on the front end. Something that would fit our own processes and our business. Our sales team was constantly asking questions about Customer's orders or product inventory. Our CSR team was adding support notes to Customer's orders in a note field.

Additionally, we didn't want to have it inhouse, but a cloud solution. Dynamics allowed us to have a centralized hub of information and record keeping so that we can understand where our teams spend their time, provide forecasting revenue to the sales team and ensure that our CSR team is following up on Customers' escalations.

Computer Solutions East listened to our problems and developed a strategy to meet our budget needs. Additionally, they brought in experts that were able to decode Infor's API and build an integration from Infor ERP to Dynamics without compromising our data security.

What was the team composition?

CSE: Solution Architect, Project Manager, Developer.

Durst Corp: COO, IT Project Managers, CSR Managers, Sales Manager.

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

We have the whole company using Dynamics for the past couple of years. Computer Solutions East manages the day-to-day support of CRM.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a project manager (PM)assigned to the project. Computer Solutions East was extremely engaged and managed all the communication, including speaking to Infor about the API.

Their knowledge of Dynamics, senior Dynamics and .NET developers helped overcome barriers on integrating with Infor. The PM was extremely engaged during the project and worked directly with our COO.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are engaged and work hard to make us successful.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this moment.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of operations at ChoiceWORX, which is a fairly new software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

At that point, we had a growing team that needed to all be on the same platform so that we could present ourselves as a unified company. 

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Computer Solutions East provides ongoing IT services for our company. One of the larger projects was migrating our previous email to a new email on ChoiceWORX and integrating our calendar into Office 365. They did all of the initial account setup and helped guide us through the process.

Currently, we continue to use Office 365 and all the products and services that come with it—email, calendar, SharePoint, OneDrive, and more.

What is the team composition? 

Ramon (Inside Sales, Computer Solutions East) is my main point of contact, but I go to Deep for day-to-day support. There’s also a financial lead who handles our invoices.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

The owner of ChoiceWORX did extensive research on platforms and whittled our choices down to Office 365. From there, Microsoft recommended that we work with Computer Solutions East.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent between $10,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since August 2017.

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

Getting all of us on Office 365 worked out really well. Our team frequently uses all of the different products, and we haven’t had any major issues with our requests. 

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well. For the email and calendar migration, Ramon set everything up, and I worked directly with another person to execute it. The whole process was so smooth because of their planning.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Computer Solutions East team is beyond responsive, and they’re so cordial in their emails. It’s not just that they’re fulfilling our requests, but they take the time to add nice notes like “I hope you’re having a great day.” It’s their friendly exchanges that make them stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re terrific. Ramon came out to meet us to see how they could better address our needs, and I didn’t have any suggestions. They’re customer-focused, aren’t overly aggressive, and are just nice partners to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Work through their point of contact to communicate your needs, and everything will be extremely easy.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of legal affairs and HR for Okeanos. We’re a company that developed a technology that made single-use plastic products using stone.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

I was looking for a team to provide technical support. Because I’m not a technical person, I was struggling with purchasing licenses and other issues. I was originally using Microsoft and submitting tickets for my issues, but it was taking too long so I wanted a dedicated partner. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

I contact them and they basically resolve whichever problems I ask them to help with. They serve almost as a helpdesk, so I can call in and they resolve my issue. Every week, I call them for support in purchasing licenses or other related tasks. If a license isn’t appearing in the right user, they work with me to fix it. They’ve also helped me keep contact information for users. 

What is the team composition?

I have one main person that I always contact.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

After realizing that I wanted more support, I went to the admin center within Microsoft and saw Computer Solutions East in the list of partners so I picked them. 

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $700 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in May 2019 and the relationship is still ongoing.

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

Our team is pretty happy, especially since they don’t contact Computer Solutions East themselves and can go through me. Typically, they solve all of the issues very quickly so our team is satisfied. 

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

I email my contact directly, but if the issue is too technical or is an accounting issue, he puts me in contact with the appropriate person. Everything is handled really quickly and they also do a screen-share with me to solve the issues. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The speed in which they respond has been really amazing. My experience with them has been great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their website has had some issues. For example, I sometimes have to contact someone when I can’t purchase a license and they solve the problem on their site. It happens often, so they probably could improve the website.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would 100% recommend them. If you aren’t a technical person, they’ll provide a solution for you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of a general contracting company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

We hired their team to help support our computer needs on an as-needed basis.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their services range from setting up computers, establishing new employees’ profiles, and ensuring the technology is working properly. Everything is done remotely, unless something catastrophic happens and we need them to come to the office.

What is the team composition?

I communicate with a few people from their team. 

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

I found them through Microsoft. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent under $5,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2017 and our engagement is ongoing. 

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

They’ve been an excellent organization to provide this support for us. 

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

All of our communication is online. They’re very cooperative and prompt. Depending on the need, they’ll get back to us right away or within a few minutes. They’re very amenable and respond in a flash. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their deep knowledge of computers combined with their promptness is what makes them impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing they could improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They know what they’re doing and if you have a question, they’ll answer it directly. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of a behavioral health treatment center.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

They provide me with systems for my business like our CRM, and they support me with our exchange accounts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of their role is to advise me on using tools like our email solution and SharePoint. They serve as our consultant and vendor for all things Microsoft.

What is the team composition?

I've worked with 2–3 members of their team in the past, depending on what we were working on at the time.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

Someone who was working for me in the past found their team and suggested that they would be a good fit, so we decided to try out the partnership and see how it went.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent a few hundred dollars with them over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about two years, starting in September 2018, and the project is ongoing.

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

I'm very happy with the level of support that they provide. They support a lot of our operations as a company, and it gives me a lot of peace of mind to have their backup.

Any time I have a problem, they respond immediately and are always very good about explaining whatever I need to know in a way that I can understand without an existing tech background.

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very available by email and will also occasionally come into our office for in-person meetings to talk about different products that might be helpful for the company.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everything is going very well, which is hard to find in a partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don't think they need to improve on anything in particular.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't be afraid to reach out to them with any questions or concerns. It can be easy to wait too long to fix a problem because it doesn't feel big enough to warrant their attention.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a financial investment fund.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

We needed to replace our IT services provider.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Computer Solutions East migrated all of our files from our former IT provider. It was a stressful task; our former provider made it difficult for Computer Solutions East to do their job. However, once they got it done, they set us up with email and enterprise-level Microsoft Office 365 licenses. 

They also advised us on various software options; when I was considering a cloud storage solution, they advised me away from Dropbox and set up Microsoft OneDrive, which saves us money. They now provide remote troubleshooting as needed. Any time that one of our laptops goes down, they’ll clean it up remotely.

What is the team composition?

We work with two people.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

We visited our local Microsoft store and asked for recommended IT vendors. They gave us three names, and after we received proposals from each, we selected Computer Solutions East.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2018, and the migration took place in November of the same year. Computer Solutions East remains our IT service provider. 

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

We’re happy with their work. We now rely on them for all our IT. There haven’t been any problems since we moved over.

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

They were responsive during the email and file migration. Even when our former provider was causing problems, they remained patient yet ready to go the whole time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

At one point before we started working together, Computer Solutions East asked us if we’d consider moving our systems onto Microsoft Azure. However, once they saw our needs, they told us Azure would be overkill. That’s just one example of the many times they’ve saved us from overspending on software we don’t need. I appreciate their transparency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d love to have access to remote IT help from Computer Solutions East as early as the start of my workday. However, I don’t think it’s an industry standard to do that without charging extra. Plus, the few times where I’ve needed them earlier than they could do, I had other options that let me work around the problem.

Any advice for potential customers?

Go speak to other vendors, but if you reach out to Computer Solutions East, I think you’re going to receive a very fair offer and good service from them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Operations for Compucycle. We providie safe, secure, and responsible End-Of-Life IT electronics recycling practices, destroying our clients’ confidential data, protecting the environment, and ensuring clients ’ IT electronic equipment is managed responsibly and professionally throughout the entire process.

For what projects/services did your company hire Computer Solutions East?

Our company had outgrown the previous MSP we were using. CSE started helping CompuCycle by rebuilding our website. Their work ethic and communication were excellent, so I felt comfortable branching out to their other services, primarily managing our network infrastructure.

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

CSE was recommended to us by another customer who were also very satisfied by their performance. I used them on several smaller projects until I felt comfortable. The key reason I made the jump were:

1. Communication - proper expectations were set for project scope, cost, and timeliness.
2. Performance - goals and deadlines were met at, or ahead, of target. All projects were on budget.
3. Positivity - All requests I made were addressed. The team was comfortable taking on challenges. They were accommodating to my schedule and didn't once make me feel that I was burdening them.

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

There are ongoing projects, but that's a good thing. Details are not necessary, but the action items they've undertaken are:

1.  MSP - handle all infrastructure
2. SEO/SMO - Optimize online presence
3. App/Web Development - create and optimize several outdated applications, reports, and our website.

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

There are a lot of components to CSE, however, I've mainly interacted with:

• Support - when I put in an inquiry/ticket
• Managing Partner - when talking about general direction and best practices needed to be implemented.
• Senior Marketing Director - for all marketing/development and project management related inquiries.
• Billing Lead - for any/all billing related inquires

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

All projects happen with a defined scope and their success and progress is shared at an interval of your choosing. All completed successfully: Website build Exchange 2016 to O365 migration Documentation Backup/Redundancy overview Microsoft Security Baseline

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything till now has been a success because both parties have equally dedicated resources to every project. Scope creep is also managed actively by both parties. Almost all collaboration is done via Microsoft Teams and through email. Office 365 has been an amazing tool to help us collaborate. Getting on O365 was the first task we implemented and it went through flawlessly.

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

The communication is superb, and everyone we've dealt with has a positive disposition.

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

This is more on me than on CSE, but I think getting a better understanding of how the billing works is key - specifically for Microsoft licensing. Microsoft's cost structure can become overwhelming quickly: small decisions have bigger impacts. The problem is you can implement things in cheap way, or a correct way.

The correct way is substantially more expensive; however, you'll end up having to do the more expensive licenses later in any event. I wish someone would have told me "don't waste your time trying to save money on licenses on the onset. It's a waste of time. You want security baseline, you'll end up having to pay at least x amount per license".

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Colorado.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

We had old laptops and software. We also used a standalone POP (Post Office Protocol) email account. When our business changed about 10 years ago, our employees moved to remote work. We needed to upgrade our technology and sync accounts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We set up an Exchange Server through the Office 365 Essentials. We ended up with about 46 licenses, and Computer Solutions migrated around 18–20 of them. Their team migrated all of our employees' emails from our old server to the new Exchange Server, which gave our remote employees access to Microsoft applications.

What is the team composition?

I communicated with a sales representative and a product teammate.

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

I initially engaged another nonprofit that provides software at greatly reduced rates. I called Microsoft about Office 365 and engaged with their reseller program. They sent my information to 3­–4 different resellers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in March 2020, and it wrapped up in June 2020.

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

Their work streamlined our operations. For instance, employees' calendars and emails initially didn't sync between their phones and laptops. That was a problem, especially for key staff. Computer Solutions helped us to make big changes.

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicated via e-mail, which was excellent. We had a few issues and solved them. Their team was on top of everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They immediately answered my emails and phone calls. Computer Solutions was responsive and made the engagement smooth.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since we had POP accounts, we had PST (Personal Storage Table) files that had to be transferred to different laptops and integrated into Outlook with an Exchange Server. We had a few glitches that were solved quickly. If there was any room for improvement, they could’ve made that process easier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’ll quickly answer your questions. I spoke to a couple of other resellers, and one took 1–2 days to respond. Computer Solutions usually responded the same day. We’re on different coasts but I knew if I had a question in the afternoon, I’d have an answer the next morning.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of Tallman Segerson Builders. I have a lot of different positions at my job. We’re a custom high-end construction company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Computer Solutions East?

They provide all of our licensing and connections for Microsoft.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle all the ins and outs of our Microsoft 365 license as well as any additional services we may need. Their team addresses and resolves any issues that arise and provides ongoing support.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 5–6 individuals including Vinny (Inside Sales Specialist) and Ramon (Inside Sales).

How did you come to work with Computer Solutions East?

They were recommended by Microsoft.

How much have you invested with them?

We invest between $15,000–$20,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in January 2014.

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

They’re very responsive. For example, we just upgraded our licenses on Christmas Eve and I was able to call them late that evening and they took care of it right then. It’s clear that they go above and beyond for us. Not only are they extremely professional, but they’re also very responsive and accommodating.

How did Computer Solutions East perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is great. We communicate through email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism and responsiveness set them apart. Usually, we wait a few hours or a business day to hear back from vendors. However, they only take 15 minutes to get back to us. They’re always available.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d highly recommend working with them.