Parachute Technology

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of finance and operations here at Transgender Law Center. We are a national nonprofit organization that works on civil and human rights for trans people in the U.S. and at the borders of the U.S. The operations are part of my job, which are about internal IT and other office systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parachute Technology?

We were in a growth period in our organization when we went with Parachute Technology. We basically had outgrown our smaller IT company that we were working with. They didn’t have as much as a national reach. They also didn’t have the capacity for security and staffing to support our growth.

That is when we decided to get a big enough IT company with experience and capacity to hold what we needed. We also wanted to also improve our security awareness and consciousness.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to upgrade to industry standards and best practices all across our IT. Parachute Technology also helped with improving our overall security in our Oakland office, which is our headquarters office. They upgraded all of our network infrastructures, including the servers, the routers, and also Wi-Fi access points - all newly installed and more up to industry standards. That improved our security as well.

They also helped us place new laptops for our staff members with additional layers of security, including encryption, which was not consistent before. They provide training for our staff which include security awareness and consciousness. They are also helping us move to multifactor authentication which is very important.

What is the team composition?

We worked most directly with Kim (Account Executive), who has been recently promoted as the director of our account. We are also working with Gil (IT Support Engineer). He is in charge of meeting with us on the ground while Kim oversees that.

How did you come to work with Parachute Technology?

We selected three local technology IT vendors to compare. They came highly rated, but we took it with a grain of salt. We did one interview with each of our candidates and we were impressed with Parachute’s scale and particularly liked what they spoke about in terms of their security practices and their internal quality assurance practices.

It is also really important to us as a transgender rights organization to feel like who we’re working with is respectful of transgender people and can work well with them. The special kind of awareness and learning that people need to go through is important, and we saw that they did a good job of that from the beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $50,000–$60,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started last April 2019 and we are still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We do have quarterly business review meetings and one of the parts of the meeting is to review support tickets and the quality of the responses. They have all generally been good, so that’s one tangible metric.

The more intangible metric, which is important, is that we just feel good and we feel confident in our security and IT for our office systems. I’m not nervous or anxious about it — they just work well. I can trust that if something isn’t working, they will address it, but in general, I don’t have to worry about it which is a huge thing.

How did Parachute Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

They've done really well managing the project and the company has a good structure. For example, the quarterly business reviews are the touchpoints around timelines and projects each year. I'm pretty happy with their project management. They have a support ticketing system that has been working pretty well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are understanding, flexible, and really worked to get to know us and how we work, so it’s not a cookie-cutter situation. For example, when we are completely slammed and swamped, they know how to support us or how to step back and not be our project computers. It is really relational rather than transactional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have more work to do, in my eyes, on the diversity of their staff. Bringing in different kinds of lived experiences is a value that we have.

Also, in general, relational expression is important in our community for trans people. For example, I wouldn't want anyone to have a bad experience that could be harmful talking to the wrong person. It's possible someone gets their gender wrong or says something insensitive, so the diversity of the kind of service you provide is important.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront and don’t hold back. Just tell them what you need and how you need it done. That’s what’s been helpful for us. Don’t be afraid to just say where you are at and let them learn how to help you in the way that you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founding partner of Hinman and Carmichael LLP, an alcoholic beverage and cannabis regulatory firm in San Francisco.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Parachute Technology?

They manage, fix and upgrade our computers when needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Parachute Technology has served as our managed IT services provider. They’ve taken care of both our IT and equipment needs. Our infrastructure was preexisting, but they’ve maintained it to ensure that everything’s working.

What is the team composition?

I work primarily with Elmo (Owner). There are multiple managers and teammates that I communicate with, and they sometimes come onsite to do the work.

How did you come to work with Parachute Technology?

I don’t recall, since it’s been quite a while. I believe they made a presentation pitch to us, and we were confident that they would perform well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a couple of thousand dollars a month with them, so we’ve spent somewhere around $300,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in January 2010 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their success has been indicated by how everything has worked smoothly. Our phone calls are being answered and problems are being fixed. They’re always right on time, whenever there’s a problem. They’re able to take over and solve the problem once we report it.

How did Parachute Technology perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide excellent customer service. Since they’re more responsible for maintaining our equipment and don’t engage with us on a project basis, I’m not sure how much of their capability lies in this particular direction.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve always appreciated how responsive they are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve got some specialty needs that we’re trying to figure out. We don’t know whether they’re the right firm forward yet, but we’ll find out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have them come out to your premises and look at all your equipment. It’ll be nice being able to put a name with a face. They’re good at providing personable support.