Managed IT Services & Cybersecurity for Healthcare Nonprofit
- Cloud Consulting & SI Cybersecurity IT Managed Services
- $1,000,000 to $9,999,999
- Nov. 2020 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 4.5
- Cost
- 4.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"They have all been amazingly action-oriented and proactive on our account."
- Healthcare
- Houston, Texas
- 51-200 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
NexusTek provides managed IT services and cybersecurity solutions for a healthcare nonprofit. The team has secured the client's cloud-based services, provided cybersecurity support, and refreshed their equipment.
NexusTek has helped the client resolve all the small issues that were affecting their staff's morale. Regardless of the task, the team has impressed the client with their sincerity and expertise. Moreover, the team has understood the client's mission and market niche, which has been outstanding.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
For 18 years, I've been the CFO of Santa Maria Hostel. We're the largest licensed drug and alcohol treatment facility in Texas, specializing in indigent care for women and women with children.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with NexusTek?
About 4.5 years ago, our ISP became clear that they had not grown along with our growth. As a result, since we are a licensed healthcare provider, they could no longer meet our rather complex needs, which include multiple facilities, multiple locations, and great HIPAA compliance.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
NexusTek provides us with managed IT services and cybersecurity solutions. Initially, we did an equipment refresh because much of the equipment we had ordered through the previous ISP was out of warranty and quite dated. Their team came in and explained what we needed and what could grow with us in the future. It was quite a large process to begin with.
Most importantly, they've secured our cloud-based services to ensure their security, redundancy, and multiple daily backups. Additionally, they've protected us from cybersecurity threats. We've had many issues with our previous ISP, and many of our profiles have been constantly corrupted. As a result, there've been some issues with the profile design within the network, and NexusTek has had to completely redesign it to provide us with the stability we've needed.
We've continued to refresh things as needed on an ongoing basis. They've provided us with wonderful quarterly reports, keeping us updated on what we have in place, what’s coming out of warranty, and what will be required for the next quarter and even the next year. This way, we've created a good operating budget based on their forecast.
We've had physical firewalls at each facility, which has greatly helped with threats. We've also had Barracuda, which has helped us scan our emails. They’ve recommended most of the hardware, such as Meraki firewalls, routers, and Wi-Fi access points, and they've also purchased all of that for us. For smaller equipment, like printers, phones, and scanners, they've recommended the specifications of what is needed, and we can purchase the smaller equipment on our own at the best price.
What is the team composition?
We've had access to their full-service team, which has quickly answered our tickets. But on a regular basis, every Thursday morning, I've had a call with our direct account manager, who has been on the technical side of things. She's always watched our tickets to see if anything has needed to be expedited or notched up for quick action. My contract manager has always been on that Thursday call as well. We've had the vCIO on that call, and usually, one of the VPs of technology has also been on that call. There are usually at least four people on that weekly call, and all of them are at my disposal at any time.
How did you come to work with NexusTek?
When our previous ISP was underperforming, one of our private funders was the Episcopal Health Foundation. Our CEO had visited and conversed with them. We've explained our IT issues, and they've said they were extremely happy with their new MSP, NexusTek. They've funded a project to send NexusTek to us to try to work with our ISP and help them find out what they were missing. At the same time, they've provided us with feedback on what they've felt necessary in our cloud environment and network.
This started the project together, and Santa Maria wouldn't have to pay a penny. It has been all paid for by the Health Foundation. We've met and worked closely with one of the IT guys based in Houston. They've done what they've promised. The project's scope has been to work with our current ISP and us. They've found that much as we had decided, that provider just didn’t have the expertise that was needed to do what we needed them to do. They've worked really hard to try to improve things.
We were so impressed by their work during that project that when we put out the RFP, Nexustech was one of the three finalists we met personally with. They weren't the cheapest or the highest, but we felt very comfortable with the level of expertise we needed going forward. We felt they could meet our growing exponential needs, so we selected them.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend around $24,000 a month. In addition, we also purchase any new equipment, such as laptops and desktops, we have to purchase for new staff or new grants that we get requiring new positions. Occasionally, we also replace any switches or firewalls.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in November 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They've done quarterly reviews with us in person. In the most recent quarterly business review (QBR), Mark has also been involved remotely. I've given the folks from NexusTek an overview of some problematic continuing issues with Santa Maria. They haven't been great obstacles, but they've just been annoying issues. Because Mark has been on the call, as soon as that QBR's over, he immediately got with the NexusTek staff and said he hadn’t liked Santa Maria having to deal with these smaller nuisance issues for months.
This has been really important for me to hear. Even though they've been smaller concerns, they've made our staff feel bad about our network. It has been very important to NexusTek to take action to resolve that immediately. It has ended up being a capacity issue in Azure that has caused a number of small but nuisance issues with almost all of our profiles. Once that has been upgraded within Azure, we've seen an instant resolution to all those small issues. All the staff have immediately noticed a change.
It has been important to me that NexusTek understands how important it is to keep me, our senior executives, and our line staff happy.
How did NexusTek perform from a project management standpoint?
There are a number of small issues or projects that can be handled without actually escalating them to a project for which you have to pay extra. On the things you don’t have to pay extra for, they treat them with as much sincerity and expertise as they do on a project you do have to pay for.
We've used a ticketing system. I've asked to be copied on every ticket that IT ever gets, so I’m always aware of what’s happening. I'm very pleased with how those are handled. It’s a coding system from one to four, with four being the least important and one being the most important. If something comes in that’s rated at two or three, and I believe it needs to be escalated to a one, I immediately contact Crystal and say we need to escalate this now. They do it immediately, and it’s usually resolved within an hour or two.
I have a great relationship with all of them and rely on being able to contact them via text or email at any time.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?
They're trying to get us the best quality for the best reasonable price, and the names of those folks are Mark, the IT Director; Crystal, my contract liaison; David, my contract manager; and Arnie, our vCIO. They are always looking out for my company, trying to give us the best value for every dollar we spend, and it's just amazing how supportive they are of our mission.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They have all been amazingly action-oriented and proactive on our account. They quickly learned what our company does, how we do it, and what’s important to us to succeed. We’re in a very small but highly regulated healthcare sector because we have federal and state grants, and they have HIPAA compliance. Still, most importantly, we have to exist on a very tight budget. It’s a very small specialty niche, and they quickly learned who Santa Maria was, what we do, and the clients we serve. They understand our nonprofit mission. They understand that sometimes our employees may not be the smartest folks because we may not be able to afford to have the smartest folks, but they know that our employees have the heart to serve the clients who come for our services.
They really understood our mission and market niche from the beginning, which many companies don’t do and some never really take the time to do.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I’ve always asked them to adopt a nonprofit pricing structure. All the nonprofits they have as customers have the same pricing as their for-profit customers. Even the IRS and the federal government treat nonprofits differently. I believe NexusTek needs to get to the point where they treat nonprofits differently and give us a discount.
Sometimes, the special things we need instantly must be quoted as projects. When NexusTek quotes the project, and we accept and start moving forward, it tends to be even more expensive. The project management block of time is very expensive. In my opinion, project management is not even needed on most projects. You just really need the technicians.
Because I’m somewhat of a micromanager, I can manage the technicians. I don’t need to pay somebody $320 an hour to manage a process that I can manage. I don’t have to pay anything extra because my company has already paid me a salary. I think that structure needs to be looked at more clearly. There are some projects I’ve not been approved, even though I know I should, because the price is too high. I just can’t pay for it.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I think it takes really good communication. NexusTek doesn’t manage your IT business without good feedback from the client. We’ve managed to do that. Some companies might need to hire a new MSP and think they’ll do everything. They do everything that you ask and allow them to do, but they can’t do it in a silo. You do have to have somebody inside the client company willing to take the time to work with the folks from NexusTek.
RATINGS
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Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
"From a service perspective of the team I worked with, They are top rank."
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Schedule
4.5On time / deadlines
"The most part is very good."
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Cost
4.0Value / within estimates
"They're still on the high sude, but that doesn't put me off from retaining them."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"I would recommend them very highly.
