Jump Start Technology

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former director of real estate of a public school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jump Start Technology?

We needed help with IT services for our organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jump Start Technology was our IT provider and consultant for our school’s network; we worked together on 14 new campuses. They scoped the hardware and managed our internet providers. Their team also installed the system and tweaked our new campuses’ connections, firewalls, and security settings. Jump Start Technology also helped us order all of the laptops and installed them with the baseline software that the students needed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Ron (CEO), Dan (Director Of Infrastructure Services), and Nick (IT Manager). In addition to them, we also got involved with their interns and their engineering team. Overall, we engaged with around 20 members of their organization.

How did you come to work with Jump Start Technology?

They were referred to us by our CFO, who worked with Ron in previous projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1 million with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2011–May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a tremendously successful partnership with them; when I joined the organization, we had five schools, and after engaging with Jump Start Technology, we had 19. It was an intense and complicated job for them, but they were instrumental in the project.

How did Jump Start Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at project management; they always communicated with us whenever we had changes in budget and schedules, but at the same time, they always stayed within the established parameters we agreed upon. In terms of tools, we used Asana and Microsoft Project. Their team is also tech-savvy, so they could adapt to any project management software we requested them to use.

In terms of communication channels, we used phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They were a super energetic and responsive team. Jump Start Technology’s team was always trying to get us out of sticky situations; even if it weren’t their fault, they’d come in and work to solve the problem.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on. 

Any advice for potential customers?

They offer a broad range of services, so I’d recommend learning the capacity of their work so you can scope out your options and choose what’s meaningful for your project.