OSIbeyond

Introduce your business and what you do there?

I’m an administrator at KSJ & Associates, a government contractor. We work with the DHA (Defense Health Agency), and we’ve just started working with the DOD (Department of Defense).

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We needed gap analysis done to help us align with the CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) requirements that were to be implemented.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond did a gap analysis of our environment. We had weekly calls in which they requested documentation and information about our processes, and they asked us how the environment was set up, who had control of its different aspects, and much more.

Once they finished their analysis, they informed us which aspects met the requirements and which ones needed to be put in place. They also explained how to implement the necessary changes, and they helped us create the plan, giving us a blueprint on how to prepare the documents.

They currently handle some managed IT services, such as email filtering, domain name system (DNS) filtering, and more.

What is the team composition?

Mike (Office Administrator) is my main point of contact, and I occasionally interact with Payam (President & CEO).

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

One of my colleagues found them. We chose them because they were knowledgeable, and we immediately liked their personalities. They also had very competitive pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $5,000 on the gap analysis, and we pay them $200 per month for the IT managed services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Mike made the process simple and smooth; he asked specific questions and was very patient. Additionally, we’re satisfied with the services that OSIbeyond provides. I've noticed a decrease in spam emails since they implemented the spam filter solution.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

OSIbeyond’s project management is on point. They stick to the estimated timelines, and they’re extremely available and responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

OSIbeyond delivers what they promise, and their solutions perform exactly as described. Everything has been amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re easy to work with, so be sure that your entire process will be smooth.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the IT manager at a business consulting company. We provide due diligence, pre-transaction investigations, and litigation support, and strategic advisory for clients who are looking to expand into new markets. This entails providing highly detailed descriptions and background on their prospective partners.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We hired OSIbeyond to support, house, and manage our IT infrastructure as we expand it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond provides ongoing hosting, maintenance, and support services for our domain controller server and email server. They use a help desk ticketing system to provide day-to-day tech support. The team has also been looking after our additional servers, like the accounting software and database, as we've expanded over the years. In total, they are hosting three of our virtual servers in their data center. 

OSIbeyond would usually send out reminders prior to conducting scheduled maintenance. This helps us discern whether any downtime we experience is caused by their activities or an underlying issue. They also help me save on costs and additional infrastructure by steering me away from certain undertakings. 

When we moved offices a few years ago, one of their engineers came in to assist me and another contractor in the configuration of all the wireless access points and in-office networks. Once everything was set up, they reconnected all our systems back to the servers that they were hosting, ensuring that we could maintain the same level of infrastructure as in our previous office.

We’ve changed a little bit in the last year and a half. OSIbeyond still oversees the management of our servers, but we’ve moved our email operations to Microsoft Office. The team still assists us in that regard. We've also begun to look into using their managed security services, but I’ve yet to pitch this to our executives.

What is the team composition?

There are a handful of engineers who respond to our tickets. On most of the scoping calls, there are 1–2 people who discuss the project with us on a regular basis. I believe they're the ones who relay everything to the rest of the team. One of the members has also come in to help us with the office setup.

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

OSIbeyond was already with my company before I came in. I don't know the specifics of how they were selected, but it was my boss who reached out to them after they were recommended by an acquaintance of his. My boss likes to partner with other small companies, so I believe they were hired on the basis of their size.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of six years, we've probably paid them around $250,000–$300,000. Though the cost fluctuates depending on the project, we pay them $50,000–$55,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial contract was signed in June 2015, and we’re still working with them.

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

Working with OSIbeyond has helped us reduce yearly hosting costs by about $10,000. We’ve consolidated our machines and gotten rid of duplicate or redundant services in certain areas. We always touch on budgetary aspects to make sure that we’re keeping costs as low as possible, so that we can continue to operate at the level that we are at now.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. They are very responsive to initial outreach, setting up calls to scope out projects and, when necessary, promptly provide quotes and estimates. Compared to other companies that we've looked at, they’re very competitive in terms of pricing.

Whenever we have new projects come up, I would seek OSIbeyond’s advice to determine whether they could provide that service for us. Otherwise, I would just ask them to recommend agencies who can help us in their stead. 

Most of our communication is done over email. When we encounter issues that need solving, we send emails in conjunction with their ticketing system. We would also typically set up a video call on Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness has been critical for us. They are prompt to help us with issues, usually taking an hour to resolve tickets. We're also able to schedule an initial discussion within 48 hours of me reaching out to their higher-ups. It's huge for us that they don't make us wait up to a week to begin discussing a new project. They always immediately take action. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It's always a good thing if we can reduce the cost a little bit, but I'm aware that they are already very competitive compared to similar agencies. I also advised them a few months ago to broaden their scope of services and they've started to do that. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Reach out and be open to OSIbeyond. They're very accommodating and willing to guide you on what is best for your business.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CSO for a small nonprofit organization located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

I needed a better IT managed services company and a better cybersecurity response.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond provides IT services. They installed a VPN, and currently, they handle all of our software, laptops, and systems. Additionally, their cybersecurity division monitors our programs and systems to prevent malicious activities.

What is the team composition?

There were 10 people from OSIbeyond working for us when we first engaged with them. My main point of contact during the transition was Ryan (CTO & Partner).

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

OSIbeyond’s business development person cold called us and gave us a sales pitch. Ironically, we were looking for an IT company, so we interviewed them and several other companies and chose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the last quarter of 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

The transition from our old IT services provider to OSIbeyond was very smooth, and that was attributable to Ryan. All of their Tier II and Tier III engineers are very technically proficient, and everything has gone great.

With other companies, we had problems every other day, but with OSIbeyond, we’ve had no problems at all. Their team is very good and professional.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been perfect. Not only have they met the deadlines, but they’ve met them early. They use an internal project management tool, and they tied us into it, but I don’t remember the name. We have meetings twice a week, and they always go straight to the point, which is great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

OSIbeyond offers cybersecurity, while other companies don’t. Additionally, they’re a pleasure to deal with, and they’re very customer-service-oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of IT at a medical device company that manufactures continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes patients.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We’re a relatively small company so I was the only full-time IT employee when I started there. Prior to me joining the company, we had contracted with OSIbeyond to be our IT services provider.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Prior to the pandemic, we had a couple of dedicated on-site staff in our main building who provided IT support, but everybody ended up working remotely when COVID-19 hit. Even during this time, we had our OSIbeyond technical resource come to our office as there were certain things that had to be done physically.

The company had hit some rough waters, unfortunately, and was forced to downsize. We ended up letting go of a significant portion of our staff. Most of the company is still remote but we’re starting to ramp back up. 

OSIbeyond does all of our IT infrastructure management, incident management, and anything that we need IT services for. When I first joined the company, I relied heavily on their continuing services to get the work done.

Another area they help with is cybersecurity. There is no one in our company that keeps an eye on it. We’ve contracted with OSIbeyond to build a managed services package for cybersecurity, and it has been rolled out as of the beginning of this year. The system lines up very well with a number of gaps in our system that were identified a couple years ago by another third party consulting firm.

Lately, they’ve been working closely with me in implementing and migrating to the Microsoft Cloud. Their team recommended that we use the Microsoft technology stack, since a large part of our company was already operating on Microsoft tools and technologies. 

At one point, I also worked closely with OSIbeyond to set up our computer network in the new building we had expanded to. Their team gave recommendations on the type of network to be set up, the hardware that needed to be purchased in terms of brand and model number, and the implementation to ensure we had broad and reliable Wi-Fi coverage across the entire floor of that building. 

We’ve reverted back to our original building since the downsizing, but OSIbeyond helped turn the conference rooms of the secondary building into Zoom rooms with built in audio and video capabilities. One of their technical experts helped us design and install the proper equipment. Typically, we’d need to commission an AV specialist to do that work, but we were able to leverage OSIbeyond to do it all for us.

We’re making plans to get back into the office. If and when we do, we’ll certainly bring our OSIbeyond staff with us.

What is the team composition?

Currently, there’s one dedicated technical member who manages all of our IT needs onsite. I also work closely with two of the senior leaders, the CTO and the chief information security officer.

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

The relationship with OSIbeyond was established several years before my arrival.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019. The project where they helped build the computer network in our extension building was done towards late 2019, going into 2020. We continue to work with OSIbeyond but in a lesser capacity than before.

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

Overall, our team and staff are very pleased with the services OSIbeyond provides. When there’s an IT issue, tickets are resolved very quickly and to the satisfaction of all the customers. 

Some of the changes have been challenging and required major effort, and there were some concerns with the new technologies we were moving over to, but OSIbeyond worked with me to make it happen. They also did extremely well in upgrading the conference rooms in our extension building. It was a learning experience for myself and for them.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very proficient in managing the project, the timelines, and their tasks. I have no complaints. 

We use email and instant messaging to communicate. We would also have weekly calls on MS Teams, and occasionally over Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I consider their staff as an extension of my own IT team. The individuals from OSIbeyond are all highly competent in their respective areas of expertise. Whenever I assign a task, it’s as good as done and it’s done very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t see them as a consulting firm since they’re not a one-stop-shop for all things IT. By design, they don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. 

As far as what they could do to improve, they could help lay out the future path of our organization with respect to a long-term IT strategy. This is something I’d have to go to a consulting firm for, but I think they have the capacity and capability to do it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set expectations upfront. Have a discussion so that it’s mutually clear what the expectations are on both sides.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive assistant for an organization that promotes the consumption of seafood as protein for its health benefits.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We needed to work with a stable and reliable IT company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond maintains our technical infrastructure. When we have any computer-related needs or questions, we contact them. They then recommend any equipment we should buy. Their team monitors our security to make sure there aren't any phishing or malware attacks. They maintain our servers too, ensuring our data is protected.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a number of the company’s leaders, including Payam (President & CEO), Michael (CISO & Partner), Ryan (CTO & Partner), and Rob (VP, Technical Services & Partner).

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

I found them by asking around the organization. We stumbled upon OSIbeyond, and they gave us a proposal that we found agreeable.

What is the status of this engagement?

We switched to them in 2013 and just signed another three-year contract with them.

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

We love them and find them to be responsive, capable, and intelligent. All of their team members are competent, including their newer engineers. Our director of membership interacts with OSIbeyond’s technicians and says she loves them. On a scale of 1–10, I would rate them highly. They solve our problems without any downtime.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

If there’s an important issue, we can easily call their support number or email them to generate a ticket. When we create a ticket, their team responds within 30 minutes. They stay on deadline and budget. If an issue sprouts from a project, their team addresses it right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team’s knowledgeable and responsive. When I call, there’s always someone there to answer the line.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at this time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to escalate your issues. You’ll always reach the person who you want to reach. When you call, their team will always call you back.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, a professional membership organization comprised of professional researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders who work to support the development of gene and cell therapies.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We were leaving an incubated management environment and establishing an entirely new self-managed environment. We needed to purchase or lease hardware, including individual machines, for the then 15 full-time employees who would be starting with the organization. 

We needed all of the peripheral equipment that was necessary to work both in an office and remote setting, and we wanted assistance in setting up the network in an office suite that we're subleasing and also work with other vendors that were supplying equipment for the office suite.

Additionally, we needed assistance with setting up the workstations to be able to leverage the Office 365 environment and make sure that all of our files transferred over from the consulting company to our own cloud-based servers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was done in four distinct stages. One of them was the selection of hardware, which was probably the most impactful for our team, but also perhaps maybe the easiest to execute. We all received machines that were formatted and available for our use. 

The next component was migrating over all of our electronic files from a physical server with our former consulting company to the Office 365 environment and setting up our team so that we could leverage all of the Office apps for our day-to-day work and access all of our files. 

The third stage was more complex from OSIbeyond’s standpoint because our business leverages a very powerful database that's hosted by another third-party and secured by yet another third-party. So, OSIbeyond had to work with three different vendors that all touch on this complex database. 

The last component of the engagement was setting up the Office suite so that our individual employees could work from the office setting or remotely as they choose, which was part of our business plan initially but became ever more important because of the pandemic. 

What is the team composition?

I initially worked with Payam (CEO). We were then assigned Ryan (CTO) and a project manager who helped us navigate the four components.

We worked with several other teammates, including one who came to our office space and set everything up and another who has been helping us with our ongoing service requirements. We also worked with a variety of technicians. 

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

I heard about OSIbeyond through other associations that deal with this same database that we deal with. We ultimately went with OSIbeyond because of their experience in dealing with the specific database.

They also had experience in migrating the database from one hosted environment to another, specifically from a management or consulting environment to a standalone management environment. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $50,000 so far year-to-date.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began talking to them in January 2020, and our official engagement began in March 2020. The real work took place in May 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. 

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

We are in the process right now of surveying our own staff and the services that they receive from OSIbeyond is one of the components of that survey. In looking at all four of those components that I talked about before, our leadership has been satisfied.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed very well and have met every deadline they set for themselves. The team communicates with us very clearly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to do the complex work exactly the way they said they would be able to is impressive. Their ability to work with our individual team members and our other vendors to host and manage the database the way that we needed to is great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This isn’t necessarily a critique, but OSIbeyond isn’t located in our geographical vicinity. To have an IT service partner who is on the other side of the country means that any time we have to have hardware dealt with, we need to send the equipment back and forth.

That hasn’t been a problem, which I thought it would. However, if we had more prospective and long-range planning of our service needs, that would help us mitigate any of the downtime that we have when we're waiting for machines or equipment to arrive or when we have to send something back and have a replacement item. 

That long-range planning isn't necessarily a thing that they need to improve, but it's what I'd like to see next in our relationship. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your research and make sure you look at the competitors. When we did that, it became abundantly clear just how good the engagement with OSIbeyond was going to be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of IT for an advertising association.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We needed some IT management and support.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond supported us during our move to a new location, recommending the best technologies and software. They made sure we thought of everything for a successful setup. They guided us through the placement of wireless access points, telephones, fax machines, and printers.

The team also fully integrated us into their systems. Currently, they provide monitoring and support, including monitoring our physical server and managing and monitoring our exchange.

What is the team composition?

There are three people working with us: a network administrator, a helpdesk lead, and a database specialist.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $72,000 so far. We pay about $24,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around October 2017. The integration into their systems was complete around March 2018, but the engagement is ongoing.

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

If servers are ever down for any reason, or any other IT issue arises, OSIbeyond calls to inform us immediately. 

They have helped us save money on laptops and guided us through the best choices, really doing the heavy lifting for us. They provide excellent service that is on point, which allows us to rely on them to keep us going. They do an outstanding job.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a good job of keeping us in the loop through each phase of a project, providing diagrams and any information that helps us understand how different things work and are set up. 

Their president sends out 1–2 emails per year, outlining new technology we may be interested in. They always finish ahead of expected timeframes and under budget. We accumulate hours with them, which are used when we have major projects. This helps us to stay within the budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are knowledgeable and experienced. They’re also honest and stay level-headed throughout projects or IT issues, and they never make us feel like a burden when we require their assistance. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would like it if I could lease equipment instead of buying it. It would also be great if they offered services à la carte rather than just as package deals.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Allow them to analyze your systems. OSIbeyond will then present the services they offer to help improve it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of an association management company that provides headquarter staffing for small membership or trade associations. We specialize in the biomedical sector.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

At the time that we brought them on, we needed to have a more competent structure for dealing with our IT challenges. We needed help migrating to better platforms and needed to use better tools. We were behind the times.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided day to day IT support to my staff, troubleshooting tickets and that type of thing. Their bigger role was strategizing the business IT posture going forward. They would help me identify hardware purchases and new services that would make it easier for us to deliver on our client’s needs. the strategy component was actually quite important, more so than the IT support element.

We were quite behind in terms of our IT platform usage, and they were able to map out for me a transition plan that would upgrade all of our systems and get us all on the same IT platform. Then they helped implement some of the tools we were using at the office. If we weren’t familiar with a particular item of software, I was able to reach out to them and they were able to help configure it or answer questions about it.

Over the last 3–4 years, they've put all of our on-premises services into the cloud. For example, we hosted our own exchange in the office, and they helped us get that into the cloud and Office 365. Then they managed Office 365 for us and sorted our domains. They also helped us take our accounting and phone systems into the cloud.

What is the team composition?

Over the years, we worked with a lot of people depending on when the support ticket went in and what skillset we needed. For instance, we might need a SharePoint specialist for one ticket and a WiFi ticket for another. 

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

I think they probably came to me as a recommendation. They were recommended on a listserv for people in my industry. At the time, I knew I wanted to outsource my IT support and I just reached out to them and asked them if they would be willing to sit down and have a chat. They came in with a strong proposal.

How much have you invested in them?

We are not a big company but we have spent somewhere between $25,000–$30,000 a year on services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2014, and the project is still ongoing.

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

Having them take over IT support from me has been very helpful. They were able to support my staff so they could use modern technology tools, which has been huge for our business.

I wanted to have a virtual office, and I set a three or four-year time frame to make that happen and I couldn’t have done that without them.  They had the ideas, the options, and the solutions to help me get that and they had the expertise to make it happen.

If I got stuck on something, and I was racking my brain, I could usually reach out to them and ask them what they thought, how it would fit into what we are doing, can they make it work for me, and can they do the research. They would just jump right on it and that was very valuable to me as a small business owner.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They are excellent. They are very good at mapping out the needs of a project, giving me timeframes, and then delivering on them. They have a fancy ticketing system that I send emails to, and then someone will pick them up. Who works on the tickets depends on the day, but I know almost all of the staff there and someone will get back to me within 24 hours. They are always on call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Reliability would be the first thing that comes to my mind. I know that they can fix what’s broken, and I know that they can come up with an idea or a solution. I know that they are there for me and can back me up, and I know I can get someone on the phone.

If I was to write to the firm’s owner and said that I need a strategy session because I was stuck on something, he would put time on his calendar to talk to me and would assign some of the senior engineers to the job. Having that always available to me gives a lot of security. They are reliable and they always deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I am not sure I can come up with something at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Fully engage in their quarterly IT strategy discussions. They reach out to me every quarter and set up a time to meet where they just want to have a general discussion about whatever is on my mind, what is happening with the business and where we are going. They want to know if what we did last month is working for us or if we need to make some adjustments.

They offer this to me every quarter, and I don’t always take them up on each one. I will usually do about two of them, but they help develop our relationship and helps them understand the direction I want to go in. As a result, they can do a better job of delivering on my needs. For a new customer, I would tell them to embrace the quarterly strategy sessions because they are essential to future success with OSIbeyond. It helps them understand my business better.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the deputy executive director at Universities Research Association.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

Our IT system was archaic and our company was growing. We needed to be able to connect our employees with a modern IT system.

What was the scope of their involvement?

OSIbeyond updated our IT suite, which meant that they had to come in and give us an analysis of our previous approach in terms of internet connectivity, software security, and machines.

They now provide our desktop machines, servers, switches, software updates, security, firewall, and connection to our phone system. Overall, the team provides and services all of our capabilities. They also helped us to gauge the market to update our internet service provider (ISP) and phone systems.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with close to a dozen of their teammates, including their CEO and IT engineer.

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

We looked around and got recommendations from 3–4 different companies that run nonprofits like ours. OSIbeyond’s name came up a couple of times. We went with them because we liked their smaller, customer-service-oriented approach and the fact that all of their services were included in the price.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $30,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for about a year and a half. The bulk of the migration took place last summer, but we’re still working with them.

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

We didn’t authorize any telework until March 2020, and when we did, we went from no telework to exclusively telework in one day. Within a week, OSIbeyond was able to walk us through their recommendations. 

They helped us engineer the new system right as the pandemic was starting. I’ve worked with a lot of B2B companies, but I’ve never worked with a company that is as responsive and as professional as OSIbeyond, which is remarkable. 

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. They kept us informed the whole way through, and they were very realistic with their timeframes. OSIbeyond performed very well in terms of managing our projects.

For example, I had a problem recently and I messaged them. Within 15 minutes, I had an initial response, and then within half an hour, I had a solution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve dealt with companies that you can’t get a hold of once you sign the contract and give them the money. OSIbeyond just isn’t that way. They’ve been helpful, responsive, professional, and excellent from day one. Their service really sets them apart.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’d be hard-pressed to give them pointers for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to know your own needs, which a lot of people don’t. You need to understand how changing your technology can help you do things differently.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive assistant at a membership-based educational nonprofit. We work in the field of federal medicine.

What challenge were you trying to address with OSIbeyond?

We needed a company that could provide network support for us. We have eight staff members and we don’t have anyone who’s full job is IT.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide help desk services, cybersecurity, network management, and server administration. The team also helps when we need to purchase equipment. Everything is cloud-based, and they helped us go virtual in February 2017. They switched us to Skype for Business for our voiceover IT telephone system, so we didn’t have to worry about people having physical phones, because everything could go right through their laptop. Additionally, they also host our website.

What is the team composition?

We work with two people from their team, in addition to anyone staffed against their helpdesk.

How did you come to work with OSIbeyond?

We interviewed 3–4 different IT companies that could provide these types of services. We went with OSIbeyond because they were local. Overall, they were the best fit for our organization.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $20,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2013, and our work is ongoing.

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

They’ve been instrumental in making sure our website is up and running. We rely on their expertise to ensure we’re staying up to date with security and anything in the rapidly changing IT world. Before they came on, we had our own physical server in our building and were performing nightly backups with an old system. Our executive director at the time wanted to put everything in the cloud, and they were great about making that happen.

How did OSIbeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

I have quarterly calls with my contact about tickets staff have had, that were reported to the help-desk. We look at what the issue was, how it was resolved, and what the staff could’ve done better. We used their project management tools during our phone transition to Skype for Business.

The team is very timely and keeps everything up to date in tracking our help desk tickets. They always follow up to make sure things are working properly. If a help-desk respondent can’t resolve an issue, they always escalate it to someone who can resolve it in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s nice that our team and theirs are both small, so we know each other well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions. We were upfront and told them our staff didn’t have a strong IT background; they knew from the start how we relied on their expertise to make the right decision.