Datalyst LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the chief financial officer at Campanelli. We’re a real estate development organization that is vertically integrated with a construction arm, real estate development arm, a property management arm, and an acquisitions platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Datalyst LLC?

We needed to outsource our IT functions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Datalyst LLC serves as our complete IT department. They maintain our servers, give us reports on our data, and migrate systems. The team is responsible for doing system and software upgrades. They’ve brought in new software at our request, which they’ve uploaded and maintained. They regulate Timberline, Microsoft Office, and Procore.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with no less than 7–8 people on the team over the years. Dan (President & CEO, Datalyst LLC) has always been on the team. They send an IT person to our office every Friday.

How did you come to work with Datalyst LLC?

An individual we worked with recommended Datalyst LLC when he moved and our account was getting too big for his services. We met with Dan, and he migrated us to a new platform. We’ve been working with him for ten years now.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $80,000–$100,000 per year. If we are doing a bigger migration, the bill is higher.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Datalyst LLC in 2005, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We know that they’re doing a decent job because our team is able to function and work on our computers. We don’t have many problems, but if we do, we schedule a meeting with Datalyst LLC and resolve them. They’ve done several software and system upgrades.

How did Datalyst LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management is very good. We recently switched from Microsoft Office on our own server to the cloud; that process took a little bit longer than we thought, but they generally do well. They usually start these updates on the weekends to try to have as little interruption during business hours as possible, and they do a good job of managing that.

An IT Datalyst LLC team member is in our office every Friday for eight hours. If we have a problem Monday–Thursday, we call their support desk and open a claim. They remotely log on to whatever system, computer, or piece of hardware is having an issue and resolve the issue.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very responsive. We're a family-owned, 50-person real estate development company, and we get excellent treatment from Datalyst LLC. They always respond to our inquiries. They're on it when we have issues, and they resolve them in a timely fashion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could better communicate what we’re going to be experiencing during transitions. Sometimes, our expectations for software upgrades are more streamlined than what they’re executing against. They know what issues might come up, and they should communicate what could happen so that we’re prepared.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a pretty straightforward group, so if you’re clear about what your expectations and work guidelines are, you’ll get what you need out of them. If you don’t communicate fully what you’re looking for, then they won’t be able to meet your expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The May Institute provides Living, education and training resources for children and adults with autism.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Datalyst LLC?

Datalyst has been technical support for network and server /computer issues for many years . They have provided builds and support for our Citrix environment.

What were your goals for this project?

The Citrix project main goal was to allow workers to be mobile and work from any location.

SOLUTION

How did you select Datalyst LLC?

They have already been a trusted resource so any projects like this would be a logical and secure task for them.

Describe the project in detail.

Citrix install /migration from start to finish. This included them handling the purchase of the hardware and installation right down to assisting us with clients.

What was the team composition?

After signing off on the project we used 2 internal engineers and Datalyst used the resources they had . They might be better to answer this question.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The overall setup went well.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very good.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The expertise and ability to make sensible changes as the project moved forward. They worked well around our schedule.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If you could clone Dan and his top techs . I know that is an impossible task although knowledgeable quality techs are hard to find.