Synditech Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am IT Director for mid size gold mining company Great Panther Mining Limited, and we have 4 regions with mining operations in 2 of these regions. I'm in charge of all IT operations across all regions with an internal team of support members in all regions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Synditech Solutions?

Synditech has been engaged with Great Panther since 2017 , as they replaced a previous partner. We utilize Synditech for all helpdesk support, server support and firewall management in Vancouver, firewalls are now managed in all regions by Synditech. Create more time for focusing on strategic projects and planning

What were your goals for this project?

Primary goal was to allow the Director time to focus on strategic management and key project planning and design of IT systems and have Synditech support the day to day technical aspect of the IT in Vancouver

SOLUTION

How did you select Synditech Solutions?

We had prepared an RFP and allowed all companies to propose their services as per our requirements, and Synditech came late in the proposals but were definitely more inline with what I was looking for as all the other competitors were all marked up standard rates and didnt differentiate much on service and quality, this wasn't the direction we wanted. I invited Synditech as I came across them by chance, and they were exactly the type of small company customer oriented organization I wanted to work with. The feeling of being important aspect of their business was key.

Describe the project in detail.

I wouldn't say the project details were critical we engaged them to take over managed services support, our firewall , servers, and helpdesk. That was the key, we had already changed out our email to 365 before Synditech came on , so hosting of email was no longer needed with the MSP company. We later expanded our project with them to include various projects including server upgrades and OS upgrades, firewall management for all regions.

What was the team composition?

The team was small and driven, with lead account manager, Mike as owner and technical teams for network support and helpdesk.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the 1 year of engaging synditech we saw savings of approx $32,000 per annum. Largely our support was fully migrated to them with little or no interruption and support quality not only improved but saved us time and money.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The manager at the time was fairly effective in the first year , but changes made in the second year we felt improved that account management even more so and now we feel Synidtech is meeting many of newer needs and requirements for projects such as Windows Server 2019 upgrades upgrades, major Checkpoint version upgrades and management and WAN improvements in the infrastructure. Synditech continues to assist in annual SOX audits as well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Knowledge of networks and firewall, team is well diversified and understands and helps our other regions on many occasions without cause that its out of scope , they are always willing to help when we are in an urgent situation. this is what distinguishes them from others

Are there any areas for improvement?

Improve on project plans , proposals , this is now getting better, but a bit more attention on delviery and also improvements to call the desk after hours routing could be improved

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT for a wholesale floral plant distributor. We supply Costco, Safeway, and large retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Synditech Solutions?

I needed help managing our IT needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The main service is they provide is my ASA firewall configuration access. We also have four voice gateways that they manage. For the rest of our on-premise switches and other IT needs, I take care of about 70% of them and Synditech Solutions handles the other 30%.

We have one small external site with two PCs that they helped me set up with Meraki switches through the ASA. They also recommended a data storage solution. They help me with Windows updates, PC updates, and holiday coverage as well.

What is the team composition?

I work with Mike (CEO) directly. He has a team that helps with basic updates.

How did you come to work with Synditech Solutions?

I was having issues with my phone system, and a friend recommended Mike. I appreciated his knowledge, customer service, and ability to execute.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $76,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the fourth quarter of 2016, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I had an outage this week and I was on the phone at 6 am with Mike. Everything was rectified by 8:30 am.

How did Synditech Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email. I take a concerted effort in keeping track of the projects these days because in the past I was just flying by the seat of my pants. That was my issue; Synditech is excellent at staying organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their emergency response time really stands out against other competitors I’ve evaluated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their overall communication could be better. That being said, I need to take some responsibility for that as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to stay on top of managing projects. They’re great with typical support. They’re a growing company and at times they can be very stretched thin and things can fall through the cracks. Make sure you communicate to prevent any issues.