F12.net

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a long term care and assisted living facility

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire F12.net?

To take over managed IT services, complete an IT health check, and improve network security and corporate processes

SOLUTION

How did you select F12.net and what were the deciding factors?

I had worked with F12 with my previous organization, however they also put forth the strongest bid when I went to market for three pre-qualified bidders

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

They made sure they understood the scope of work, the looked where gaps currently existed, looked at leading practices, understood our budget limits and parameters. They did introductions to their key team members along with understanding the goals we had as an organization

How many resources from the F12.net team worked with you, and what were their positions?

6-10 resources were working on the onboarding project with interfaces with our team. From the Business Innovation manger, to the Account Manager, Project Manager, Project Technician, help desk support to accounting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest success is that very few front line staff even knew we changed because it was relatively seamless. Senior Managers from our team had new awareness to the risks associated with poor IT security and processed that had been the norm, and the possibilities that exist when work with an IT partner

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Work flows were very detailed, kept us informed of plans, and were flexible to work around our needs and time constraints

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

The team's quick response time, level of depth and resources, and expertise available are notable in the workflow.

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

Perhaps more time spent on site to better understand the comm room, hardware etc. However, knowing that COVID is still interfering, it was understandable

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of infrastructure & products for Covenant House Vancouver. We are a non-profit serving youth.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F12.net?

We were doing major facility extensions involving technical upgrades and needed support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are our managed service provider, providing all IT support for our organization. They’ve upgraded our entire organization, switching us to cloud-based storage. We now use Skype Business instead of analog phones, too. They’ve implemented Office365 and switched our employees to Microsoft Surfaces for more mobility. Their team has also helped implement Robin, a meeting room booking service. 

They’re currently working on expanding the IT and electrical components of our building. 

What is the team composition?

There’s an account manager, an acting CIO, a project team, and techs on-site, as needed. We work with multiple techs at any given time.

How did you come to work with F12.net?

My predecessor found them through word of mouth. They were the managed service provider at my previous place of employment, as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $300,000 – $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in January 2018 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a completely different work culture thanks to them. Our mobility is increased and we can now work remotely, update our systems, and do much more. 

How did F12.net perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re incredible. Communication is excellent and work is always delivered on time. In the rare case they miss a deadline, they deal with the associated costs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on their team is great to work with, no exceptions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a point person in your company to coordinate the engagement, ensuring a smoother process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the owners of Con-Elco, a utility construction company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with F12.net?

Our IT service provider went out of business, and we needed someone to take over those services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

F12 manages our servers and IT needs. They first took stock of the programs and hardware we had to identify the most important services first. They migrated our onsite servers to a cloud environment per our request, and we’re now reducing total servers and capacity when we can. After that, they deployed our workstations and provided onsite training for our employees. 

A lot of this work required an onsite presence, but now, they’re largely remote. The team helped us upgrade to Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, and they installed a remote access system. They’ve taken over management of our satellite offices as well, deploying workstations there under their oversight.

The only software we had in the cloud already before F12 joined the team was our accounting set-up. However, our service provider for that ran into trouble, and F12 was able to onboard us to their own server in an hour. We were in a tight spot because of that, so I appreciate how quickly they got that done.

What is the team composition?

From the onset, we worked with five different people, including a project manager. It changed during the process, but the people tended to stay the same.

How did you come to work with F12.net?

F12 took over the client list for our previous IT service provider and reached out to us to pitch their services. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in December 2018. We’re still working with them on different projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

F12 does a great job. In the beginning, we had some transition issues because I don’t believe we were the type of business their model was created to support. They lacked processes to handle certain situations that we faced, and we saw a lot of turnover in our account management. However, they worked with us, and now we have a strong partnership. I’ve definitely noticed process improvements as a result of us working with F12.

How did F12.net perform from a project management standpoint?

Since the transition ended, they’ve done a good job. I have a close and open dialogue with our point of contact and the team underneath them. We’re constantly making sure that our processes are working properly on both sides. We communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Whenever I have an issue, F12 listens to me, helps me come up with a solution, and executes it quickly. That was not the case with my previous service provider.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The rollout of F12’s services could have been better. We would have liked more communication around their expectations and progress in the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Any time a company asks me for a referral, I ask what they’d need F12 for. F12 works well for us because they’re our entire IT department. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them to work alongside an existing in-house IT team.