OTAVA®

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a nonprofit aimed at ensuring accurate healthcare information is provided to care providers. I’m the VP of infrastructure, service desk, and QA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NewCloud Networks?

Initially, we needed help managing hardware. We’ve since expanded our contract to have them take care of our systems from end-to-end.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They ensure that our infrastructure and the applications running on it are as stable and secure as possible. We’re becoming a 24/7 operation since a lot of the care facilities we work with are open around-the-clock.

NewCloud remotely manages over 100 Windows and Linux servers. The team maintains the operating systems and storage. We also have projects with them to support our security efforts.

Additionally, the team supports our end-users.  We have over 70 employees working remotely and NewCloud has been great about making sure our workforce is connected and that their equipment is working. They work closely with our IT director and IT team to make sure that we have the resources we need.

What is the team composition?

I work most closely with Martin (Director of Network Operations). I also work with Sheila (Manager), Jim (Chief Security Officer), Kris (SVP of Solutions Architecture), and Logan (Technical Account Manager).

How did you come to work with NewCloud Networks?

They were hired before I came on board. They’re based in Colorado, too, which probably weighed in our decision. We like to support the local economy.

How much have you invested with them?

They’re our second highest expenditure every month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our current contract started in October 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re the team working behind the scenes that makes sure we can carry out our mission. If they weren’t doing the work they do, it would be absolutely disastrous. The proof is in the daily systems operations.

They have an incredibly fast response time, too. We were quickly outgrowing ourselves, from an infrastructure perspective. We had to call them in pretty short order to get critical issues resolved. In those moments, they feel like an extension of our IT team. It’s an integrated partnership that keeps everything moving.

How did NewCloud Networks perform from a project management standpoint?

We speak with them regularly about the various work that they’re doing on the servers in a weekly meeting. Martin never fails to get back to me in a timely fashion.

As with any vendor partnership, contract management is an ongoing dialogue to make sure that things on both sides are moving efficiently. The majority of the times we’ve reached out have been during business hours.

There are a lot of things their team handles with their 24-hour support structure. We have a system where we can log in and see what they took care of. We’re still working together to reach a level of maturity where we can catch everything before there’s an outage.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have competitors that are very large where I wouldn’t get the same level of attention from their senior management. I can call NewCloud’s CEO to give them praise, complain about something, or just say hi. Their CEO always answers or gets back to me, which offers us a high degree of comfort. We can tell that they’re as invested in our success and security as we are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I get the sense that they’re growing too, and I’ve had to escalate things that shouldn’t have been escalated. They’re taking on new customers and growing. With growth, it gets tougher to take every call and get everything done right away. It’s not a criticism so much as an observation.

They could proactively anticipate their own growth and have their support team equipped to handle our needs so things don’t need to be escalated.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to have a roadmap, which is tough in such a quick-moving field as IT. At least have an idea of where your infrastructure is at now and where it’s likely going to be in the near future.

Understand what the current expectations are and position both parties to fluidly and organically take care of things as they come up. Bring good architecture to the table, as well. It’ll help them onboard faster as your partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of an organization that sponsors the Child and Adult Care Food Program — it’s offered by the USDA to give reimbursements to home providers, centers, at-risk sites, homeless shelters, and more for serving healthy and nutritious food to children and adults in their care. 

Home care providers who want to participate in the food program, need to have a sponsor — we’re one of those sponsors. We have homes in Colorado and Wyoming that participate in the food program. 

Our organization processes their reimbursement claims every month and once we receive the funding for the reimbursements, we pass it to the homes. We sponsor home and affiliated centers, summer food sites, at-risk sites, and Head Start.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NewCloud Networks?

We need great support for our internet, computers, and phones. When reimbursement claims come in, we have a certain amount of time in which we have to submit those to the oversight state agency. 

If we’re down for some reason, we won’t get to submit the claims, and our providers won’t get them in a timely manner. Our organization needs to be up and running all the time. Most of us are already old, we’re not as savvy as the younger generation, and everyone needs someone at least 35–45 years old on their team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At that time, I didn’t know what I was asking them to do. Back then, people were still backing their data onto a disk, thumb drive, or a tape. We needed to have a better plan because I didn't want our staff to walk around with our data; it was too unmanageable. They started backing our system every night so we didn’t have to use the tapes anymore. 

Several years ago, our data was kidnapped and held for Bitcoin ransom, and that day was also when I signed the contract with NewCloud Networks to help us go on the cloud. In just a couple of hours, they had us back up and running. 

Once we signed the contract, it took a while to get everything set up on their end to transfer all our data. We got our data kidnapped again and within an hour, they restored everything back. 

NewCloud Networks currently work on our phones and IT technology needs. They’re in charge of setting up and remotely configuring our wireless networks. There were a couple of times when they checked in or did some work here, but most of the time, they’re able to do everything remotely.

Bizarre things have happened to our organization that they’ve helped us with – we had flashing black screens on our desktops and NewCloud Networks was able to remote into one of our screens, figure it out, and fix the problem.

Now, whenever I buy new desktops, they’ll come by and pick it up. They will then configure the desktops and drop them off or I’ll pick them up, too.

What is the team composition?

We work with Megan (Customer Service Representative) and she’s amazing. We also contact Steven (Associate) to quickly get the tickets assigned to other team members.

How did you come to work with NewCloud Networks?

When I first came onboard our organization, we've already leased a phone system from NewCloud Networks. I found out that the tech company that we were using wasn't adequate and I started talking to them about taking over our IT needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing engagement began in January 2009.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

NewCloud Networks keeps us up and running — they have my undying gratitude. In a lot of cases, I didn’t know what to ask for but they came in with ideas telling us to do something. They walk us through all the options that would best benefit us.

It’s truly like a plug and play process; we plug it in, it’s good to go, and we don’t have to do anything. They handle the problem and they fix whatever is needed to be fixed.

How did NewCloud Networks perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever we need them, we call them and they will open a ticket. The tickets are assigned to a staff who calls us back. NewCloud Networks has been responsive and they never laugh at our silly questions. 

They don’t hesitate to call whenever they find something that we might benefit from. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, they always have someone on call. Of course, it goes through the answering service, and the services put it out to them. 

I’m always clear whenever I call — I tell them if it’s an emergency or not. For example, the software we use to manage our business and claims comes out with periodic updates that NewCloud Networks loads and runs for us. Until they do that, we can’t access the system and they’ve always gotten it done in a timely manner. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

For me to say they’re good, they have to be because I wouldn’t still be with them if they weren’t. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a time when they brought in someone with a heavy accent – that person was supposed to teach my staff. However, it was very difficult to understand him — they were gracious and they apologized for that. We couldn’t accomplish what we needed to accomplish if we couldn’t understand what we’re supposed to do. NewCloud Networks took care of that immediately under incredibly high expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear and as concise as possible about what your expectations are. However, I wasn’t because I didn’t know what exactly to ask for, but they took great care of me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Denver-based construction company. I’m our IT manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NewCloud Networks?

When we first started working together, we had too many physical servers and a few environmental issues, including the potential for regular power outages. We wanted to inhabit a more virtual space and scale our resources more effectively.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started with a question-and-answer session to find out our challenges and our goals. When we first met them, we were in a period of decline and were reluctant to spend much money on a new server. They showed us how dynamic VMware could be and showed us everything they could provide to let us scale everything to meet our needs. If we ever want to move our full environment somewhere else, we could use the backups they helped us set up to make that happen. We can move fluidly through our environment as it ebbs and flows.

We recently assumed another company and are building into their data center now. Since our power can be unreliable, it reduces our risks. To mitigate all those factors further, we’re starting to move toward NewCloud’s data center.

What is the team composition?

We have two primary points of contact, who have been the same for about a decade.

How did you come to work with NewCloud Networks?

We were evaluating some of our reps when they cold called us. We met with them in person and liked how close they were to us. Their proximity and their price made us select them, and they’ve proven their worth in a number of projects.

How much have you invested with them?

The first project cost around $250,000. For the second project, which included an upgraded array and host, was around $180,000. We currently spend about $8,000 a month on virtual infrastructure, the data center, licensing, and the rest of their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The start of our most recent project was around March 2018. We started implementation around June 2018, and we went fully live at the end of November 2018 for this environment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The company we acquired was foundering and couldn’t get the support it needed. With NewCloud’s solutions, we engineered a solution to all the problems facing their system through an amazing process. Our users have some say in the data center’s structure, which makes a big difference to the experience. They engineered everything from the ground up, and we got exactly what we wanted.

How did NewCloud Networks perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well, and they gave us everything we needed. They supported us through the full lifecycle of the project, and we always felt secure with them. We had someone at the helm around the clock. They held our hand when we needed them, and answered all our questions. We communicate at least once a month, and we’re lucky to have them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility with design let us tailor the system at any point. Whenever we noticed an inadequacy, we could make changes. That made a huge difference in our approach, and let us set up an ideal solution for the problems we faced.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They would benefit from better informing their lower tech tier. Occasionally, a ticket needed to track up the ladder, and things would have moved more smoothly if the junior group had more knowledge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Integrate everyone, from the end user up. That way, you can tailor your design to get more buy-ins. It will help with an environmental understanding and yield a better result.