Pearl Solutions Group

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Boone Center, Inc. (BCI) inspires and supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, challenging personal growth and development through a continuum of innovative employment opportunities. Headquartered at 200 Trade Center Dr. W in St. Peters, Mo., BCI currently employs more than 250 adults with disabilities under its organizational employment program and serves dozens more with employment services, vocational training, and follow-along services under its competitive employment program and Skills Center. I am the Information Analyst and have been with the agency since 2017.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pearl Solutions Group?

BCI decided to engage with Pearl Solutions Group because our prior MSP was unreliable and did not help us form a good road map for continuous improvement initiatives.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed numerous firms and Pearl stood out because they were a small, local business and gave the impression that they would give us the highest level of support possible.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

We have a one-person IT team who works directly with Pearl. Pearl helps with user support, updates, new equipment, and creating a road map for budgeting equipment to keep the business stable. We have quarterly meetings to review all projects, current and future.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We first engaged with Gregg and Floyd during the interview process. From there, we worked with numerous techs including mainly Sean and Mike.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since starting with Pearl Solutions, our communication with our MSP has been great. We have not experienced any down time and our infrastructure is in the best place it's ever been. They helped us implement a fail-over internet service in the event that our primary internet service goes down. They have created redundancy of our servers in case of major catastrophe so we don't lose our files.

They've upgraded our physical servers and firewalls to ensure security on our network. They have supported us on large implementations such as our new VOiP phone system. They are here for on-site support two half-days a week and assist with other projects as needed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was and remains seamless with Pearl. We can call or send in tickets any time of day and feel that we have the highest level of service.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The level of teamwork between us and Pearl and the mutual willingness to help each other grow and succeed. They are very good about asking for feedback. They have also proven to be a great and supportive partner of our organization and our mission.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We have yet to identify any needed areas of improvement.