Computer Solutions East

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am President of AxxessValue Solutions, a Consulting Company dedicated to Pharmaceutical Industry Consulting, specializing in the area of Market Access.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Migrate the Company Email system from an external supplier into Microsoft

SOLUTION

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

We carefully reviewed the profile of different offerors and selected Computer Solutions East for their thoroughness in their proposal and fair price estimate

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

The company took the set of emails from all employees of our company, and migrated the entire domain into Microsoft. That required to ensure backups were generated and transition was made off-hours to ensure there were no disruptions in our operations. They provided us excellent post transfer support solving the small issues that emerged after the migration.

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

Three different ones, from the Project Manager, the administrator and the analyst directly engaged in the migration. They were all very professional and always followed up our discussions with written confirmation of agreed decisions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very impressed by their thoroughness and attention to detail. They always provided documentation for their activities and followed up with direct communications and support to users to overcome the small issues that emerged after the migration. I was particularly impressed with the analyst engaged as she was available to us, literally 24 hours 7 days a week during the entire process. Communication with them was very fluid.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. The company provided direct support to members of our company dealing with small changes and issues that were normally expected in the migration process. Every person that had to deal directly with them were absolutely delighted for the clarity of their communications and attention to details.

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

Thoroughness in written communications, and outstanding support from analyst involved in the migration

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

None that we could think. We were very satisfied with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a retail store located in Greensboro, North Carolina, specializing in the following sales areas: fireplaces, grills, outdoor furniture, home décor, apparel, jewelry, Christmas décor, and gifts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Computer Solutions East secured our new Office 365 licenses, configured our current domain with Office 365, set up our accounts, and migrated all email data for our team.

SOLUTION

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

We selected Computer Solutions East because our Sales Lead, Manoj, was very prompt in all correspondence, communications and pricing were clear and transparent, the service proposed was complete beginning-to-end (i.e. there were no missing elements we needed to secure another company to complete or figure out ourselves), and as we can also attest, CSE is highly rated.

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

Secure Office 365 licenses for our team members Domain configuration with Office 365 Set up of email accounts and aliases Mailbox migration from previous server Provided documentation for set-up on additional workstations and mobile devices

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

• Angelica Pardilla - Project Lead
• Roddie Baranda - Project Manager
• Manoj Madhukar - Sales Representative

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Computer Solutions East made our transition to Office 365 and Exchange emails seamless and efficient. They set up all of our accounts and successfully migrated all of our email data quickly and smoothly. Our project lead, Angelica was extremely knowledgeable, prompt, and professional. She was always accessible to answer all of our questions, and she took extra care to test elements such as our scanner to prevent downtime.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Highly effective workflow due to great accessibility to the CSE team and Project Lead. Angelica and the team were always proactive in scheduling as well as available to answer all our questions and troubleshoot when needed.

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

Our team and Project Lead, Angelica, were highly accessible and professional. The vast knowledge of Microsoft was apparent, and customer care is clearly their priority.

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

No improvements needed, our project was successful beginning to end.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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".

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the office manager at a philanthropy consulting firm headquartered in North NJ. Our company serves the nonprofit community across the US and abroad.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We've been undergoing internal staff changes and needed to update our emails and communication, including with providing new employees access to former employees' emails and information.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted our new employees to be able to access information with ease and be able to communicate with us without any issues.

SOLUTION

How did you select Computer Solutions East?

Our company has worked with them before and never had any issues.

Describe the project in detail.

We needed to set up a few company emails, remove a few people, email forwarding, and migrate emails.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a sales specialist, who was our main point of contact, an IT project manager along with a system administrator to assist with the migration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project was simpler than others, but so far we haven't had any issues.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was easy. I was the office point person, so I was involved in all the steps. I spoke to everyone involved and didn't have any issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How fast they responded to my requests, and how fast the project was completed. I was very impressed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was very satisfied with their work every step of the way. They were fast and efficient.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

They provide all of our licensing and connections for Microsoft.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run IT services for a government contractor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I reach out to them with technical challenges.

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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).

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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. 

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.

BACKGROUND

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.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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. 

SOLUTION

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.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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.