Computer Solutions East

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.

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 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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the IT Director of a food-based manufacturing, wholesale and distribution company called Sahadi Fine Foods.

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

Microsoft 365/Office 365 - as the Microsoft partner of record.

What were your goals for this project?

To migrate the Microsoft 365 licenses from our direct control and billing over to CSE as the partner. We also wanted to establish an ongoing relationship with CSE for future projects.

How did you select this vendor?

CSE became out VAR for Microsoft Surface devices some time ago. A few key members of their staff paid me an onsite visit to introduce themselves and their company, and to show me all that they had to offer. That visit was the reasoning behind my decision to use CSE going forward for more than just Surface purchases. Their portfolio of offerings fit perfectly with my company's needs, and we are at the beginning of a fruitful relationship.

Describe the project in detail.

We established CSE as our Microsoft partner for our Microsoft 365 tenant. We then successfully migrated the billing for our licenses from our company credit card over to the CSE billing portal.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Luke and Ramon directly to get this done.

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

The licenses were successfully migrated.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We handled almost everything through email and one conference call.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail and their follow ups stood out. You can tell they were eager for our business, but not overly so. Their desire to help me out - both with services and just advice - as well as their personable and friendly staff have all been very impressive to me so far. I feel that we will have a good ongoing relationship for some time to come. It was a time to make change for our company, and CSE fit in nicely with what we envision for our future endeavors.

Are there any areas for improvement?

So far - none.

Please describe your company and your position there.

COO Drinkfinity, a PepsiCo venture

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

Looking for a solution to implement a backup strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

To back up our laptops. We were looking for a solution to backup our users’ data and recover in case of a disaster. We preferred a solution that would require data to be saved locally in our servers for security and policy reasons.

How did you select this vendor?

Online search on Microsoft solution provider website. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/solution-providers/home

Describe the project in detail.

We needed to backup end-users information in our local servers without adding complexity to the users day to day operations. It had to be a seamless solution. The user will be backed up every time they connected to the network. The goal was to have a real-time data protection and retention policy of 60 days in case we needed to roll-back the data.

What was the team composition?

We worked with the Sales Rep, later with the remote engineer to setup the data backup strategy.

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

After some testing and fine-tuning, we started backing up our data to our local server. We are able to review our backups and ensure the data was. We tested the recovery of a couple of users to be sure the solution was working. We used Acronis for the backups.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a project manager assigned to the project. The project manager handled all loose ends.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They deliver and will make sure to translate the technobabble into something you get. Ex: great step by step diagrams

Are there any areas for improvement?

Their website can be faster.

Please describe your company and your position there.

owner marketing consultant

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

Disaster recovery strategy. We were looking for a solution to back up our system and recover in case of disaster. We preferred a solution that would require data to be saved in the cloud and not locally

What were your goals for this project?

cost effective solution easy to manage and reliable

How did you select this vendor?

Word of mouth Computer solutions east was referred to me by another Co

Describe the project in detail.

I presented the problem to Computer Solutions East, and they explained to me in detail the best practices of Business Continuity and Disaster recovery The cost was a factor for us and based on my requirements they advised me to g with Enterprise back up strategy

What was the team composition?

We worked with Sales rep, solutions Architect and later remote engineer to set up the data back up strategy

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

In less then a day we started backing up our data to cloud. We are able to review our backups online and ensure the data is synchronizing in real time we are going through our first disaster recovery this week

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a project manager assigned to the project. The project manager handled all loose ends

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were extremely knowledgeable of technology and its nuances.

Are there any areas for improvement?

nothing I can think of at this moment

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.