CTG Tech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I'm the IT specialist at 2M Research, a federal contractor. We do all kinds of research for the government ranging from academic studies to program evaluations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CTG Tech? 

When I first started working with them, we had fewer than 10 employees. We were looking for a partner to scale up with us as we grew. Now we're over 100 full-time employees, and they've been with us the whole way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

On a day-to-day basis, CTG Tech maintains a help desk for all of our employees. They provide monitoring and auditing services for our IT infrastructure. They guide us on a project-by-project basis. Given the unique needs of federal contracts, they might procure hardware or software or write policy documents. In the past, they've built systems from the ground up and maintained them for whatever we needed them to do. They helped us get our satellite office up and running in Washington, D.C. They led anything related to IT such as cabling, server requirements, networks, and vendors. 

What is the team composition?

I have two main points of contact. Their senior staff works with me in an advisory role and on strategy. They provide a pool of technicians on our account. I'm the main point of contact for our employees here, but they do also work with CTG Tech technicians directly.

How did you come to work with CTG Tech? 

I was looking for a vendor that was nearby, and they were close to our first office. We interviewed a few service providers. CTG Tech seemed like they were more willing to be flexible and work with us. Since we’re not always on a contract basis, it's not as steady as other businesses. We also have unique requirements to scale up quickly. I was looking for somebody who would be able to give us solutions as we needed them, and they seemed to be able to do that. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend roughly $70,000 a year for their services, not including licenses or special projects.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working together in July 2015, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wouldn't be able to run our business without them. I'm the sole IT person here. Rival companies of comparable size can invest in larger teams to meet the daily IT challenges. Thanks to CTG Tech, we're able to offload a lot of that burden. It's more cost effective, and it's enabled us to stay afloat and be competitive in this space. 

Our DC office is a great success story. They helped us get it up and running from scratch. They provided consultation and were helpful in all aspects. They advised on the space that we needed, what type of hardware to procure, which vendors to reach out to (and ones to avoid). They went out to the location and performed work on-site as well. 

How did CTG Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is excellent. I'm always in touch with them. They call me whenever they need something. I've never had any problems with them not responding to a ticket or request. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re willing to be creative with us. Given the type of work that we do, we're not a standard business. They don’t try to put us on autopilot. We have an ever-evolving set of requirements and want to try new technologies. They're always willing to do that, which is fairly unique. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

My only recommendation is to have face-to-face communication with our staff more than once a year. A lot of our employees only know them through their email addresses. It would be nice if there were more of a presence so that staff knew who they were talking to.