XL.net

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the engineering manager at a drinking water disinfectant provider for the healthcare industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

We wanted an increased response time while ensuring cost reduction as well. We were also interested in some of the methodologies they brought to the table regarding IT management and long-term improvement of IT infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide a full-fledged IT support structure. They handle everything from machine repair, email configurations, troubleshooting, server maintenance, and Wi-Fi configuration. The team has also been analyzing our Wi-Fi network to make sure that the infrastructure is set up appropriately. In terms of email, they’ve assessed our email structures to make sure we’re operating as efficiently as possible.

What is the team composition?

I work with 10–12 people from their team, including a project manager and a dedicated IT systems analyst.

How did you come to work with XL.net?

Our COO brought them to us via an HR firm we use for external contracting. They made a recommendation to further investigate working with XL. We had several phone conversations with their COO and determined they were a great fit. They had the speed of responsiveness and the IT leadership we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000–$70,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

XL has done a great job of taking action items and executing them. They mentioned during onboarding that they target 80% of help desk tickets to be resolved on the same day; I’ve personally seen that executed well. In fact, I haven’t seen any tickets linger into the next day.

I’ve spent some time discussing their involvement internally with other colleagues, too. The feedback is very positive on speed of response, professionalism, and knowledge.

How did S XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

They do very well. They have a high degree of communication and clearly illuminate project limitations, timelines, and the ability to execute. When they first came on, I had a lot of projects in mind, and they’ve helped me prioritize and find solutions for them. They do a significant amount of tracking in spreadsheets to track issues, action items, and future plans. We communicate via Zoom, email, and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really function in a CTO kind of role, instead of in a help desk capacity. The team truly provides guidance for future IT infrastructure.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Switching over from our previous system to XL was a lot more work than anticipated. I’m not sure if that’s their fault or mine in underestimating the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to drive the CTO aspect of them. That’s where you’ll get the most value. There are a host of help desk companies out there, but XL’s true value comes with the guidance they provide in the long term on achieving your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO and head of IT for the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. We’re a nonprofit membership association.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

They’re our IT consulting and managed services provider.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

XL.net spent a lot of time learning our infrastructure and understanding everything in our server room. They learned about our environment. Before COVID-19, they’d come on-site once a month. We’ve reconfigured lots of things and have had pre-discussions about cloud consulting. We’re in a hybrid environment for Microsoft Office, but a full-on cloud migration isn’t in the cards for us right now.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked briefly with Adam (CEO); we’ve had a few conversations. I primarily work with Nick (Technology Officer) and Kevin (Project Engineer) as well as about six helpdesk individuals.

How did you come to work with XL.net?

They were already in place when I joined the organization.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $275,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started around November 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have an alignment document that outlines goals for the organization; we keep track of that and measure how we’re doing against that document. We’re also planning for a KPI that’ll look at our efficiency ratio as an organization.

XL.net does a great job for us. It’s clear they’re very focused on us, and I love that. Their team understands and is able to flexibly move with us as we ebb and flow. They’re helpful when it comes to those kinds of things. Their team worked with me and helped us get to where we want to be in terms of reducing our technology footprint.

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicate through phone calls and our former monthly in-office visits. Currently, we use different tools for virtual calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our infrastructure is complicated, demanding, and historically has lots of issues. I’m always impressed that I can call Nick and he talks to me about the issue as if he’s working with me every day in the office. They understand our business and ask about our business model. Nick has all the traits I’d want in an internal CIO.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re working on the consistency of their helpdesk. Not everyone knows as much as the next person. Depending on the individual I get, I may have a little bit of a longer route to get to the finish line as opposed to someone else. However, they don’t have a lot of turnover so we’ve worked with the same group of people. Over time, those who have less knowledge catch up eventually.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your business and understand your IT infrastructure. You have to be engaged and you have to own it. Your service provider will do a better job because of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the General Counsel of Realogic Analytics, LLC. We’re a real estate consulting firm that works with owners, operators, lenders, investment funds, and developers in the commercial real estate space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

We needed help with our internal IT services. We had a previous IT provider but needed a firm that was more experienced and responsive. Our team needed XL.net to meet deadlines quicker and respond to issues whenever they arose. Additionally, we needed help on longer-term strategic plans to upgrade our infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We pay them a monthly fee to provide us a bunch of services each month. That has included support for major and minor issues from monitors not working to inaccessibility to network drives. They’re our go-to to handle our day-to-day IT issues.

They also administer many of our processes. For example, setting up new Dropbox accounts or software accounts. If the solution is new to us, they help roll it out to our team — purchasing software and hardware, installing, testing, and training.

What is the team composition?

We work with two main account managers as well as members of their helpdesk support team.

How did you come to work with XL.net?

My boss had been in previous contact with Adam (CEO) through cold calling. We interviewed 3–4 other firms, and everyone was good. However, we ultimately selected XL.net because we were impressed with what they had to say and it was clear they understood our needs. We knew they’d be a good fit for a firm our size.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The XL.net team is doing a tremendous job at responding to our issues right away. They give us updates on where they’re at and how they’re resolving the issue. They do a good job of letting me know where they’re at and providing cost estimates. It took a bit of time for them to learn how our systems work.

XL.net tracks helpdesk tickets and there have been a lot fewer tickets over the last few months as they’ve straightened out our systems. We don’t have constant, repetitive issues anymore. Their team has taken a proactive approach to not just temporarily fix problems. They take the time to resolve and straighten issues out so there are fewer issues going forward.

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a great job with project management. When we have specific projects, they create a proposal, schedule a start date and kickoff meeting, and then dedicate their time to getting the project completed. Their team follows up to make sure everything’s working on our side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really knowledgeable. Their team has a lot of experience with different clients so they know how to provide best practices based on their expertise. Their range of knowledge about different issues is excellent. We haven’t stumped them yet. There have been a few instances where I thought an issue would be hard to fix, but they’ve always come up with a solution. Our team has been really pleased with their efforts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We’ve been pleased with everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get in touch with them and hear what they have to say. They’ve been a vital member of our internal team. A lot of our IT and systems were archaic, and their team has worked hard to get us to modernize it. We’ve been amazed at what they’ve done in just one year. They’ve gained the trust of a lot of our employees because of their responsiveness and hard work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager at a hostel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

We hired them to help with our IT needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We originally formed a partnership with XL.net. We hired them to run our IT troubleshooting needs for our network. We’re like a hotel, so we have a lot of information and technological systems, so they maintain the integrity and upkeep of those systems. 

From the get-go, we had a monthly site visit with them and that helped with the hands-on troubleshooting that we needed. Right now, we dimmed it down to exclusively remote work, which has been successful. 

What is the team composition?

Their service is similar to a call center, there’s usually one person who tries to help me initially or direct my call. From there, it can be a mixed bag who we speak with. They are 24/7, so we’ll get whoever is working at the time. 

How did you come to work with XL.net?

I was working here when we formed the partnership, but I wasn’t always the general manager, so I’m not sure how my manager found them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve pretty consistently spent around $1,200 per month, so it comes out to around $15,000 annually. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I’m not sure when our partnership began, but I believe it was around 2014. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we’ve worked together for 5–6 years already, I’ve been able to see the company grow. They have definitely improved. Initially, they just had a few strong personnel, but now I can say that everyone there is strong, helpful, and supportive. I’ve been able to watch Adam (CEO) grow into this IT company that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone in the market.

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

Usually, my tasks with them are in less of a capacity than one that would need project management. Whenever I’ve tapped them for advice, they’ve always responded very soundly.

Whether I’ve needed an upgrade or downgrade of our WiFi, needed to implement a new system, or change from a hard server to a cloud-based system, they’ve been pretty seamless. It’s gotten to the point where if they send me a quote, I trust them. 

I’d say we use phone and email equally. We’re comfortable jumping on the phone or giving them an email, whatever is more relevant for the situation.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are a couple of things I can touch on that I find most impressive about them. The first is how they went from a few individuals who were strong in giving support, to pretty much the entire company. If I get on the phone with someone I’m not normally in touch with for support, they’re usually great. I saw their company grow in that regard. 

Additionally, they’re extremely responsive. They show that they care. If our internet goes out, I don’t have to wait or follow-up with them multiple times, I know they’re going to try their best to get us out of a situation like that. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I could have one critique, it would be to have quarterly or bi-annual onsite visits. They went from one a month to zero. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This is a vendor I would wholeheartedly recommend and it would be pretty much seamless. I don’t think I’d need to give them any disclaimers, warnings, or anything like that. They’d be adopting a partnership with trust, which is why I’d recommend them in the first place.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the web development manager of a publishing company. Originally, we were a publishing company and now we publish e-commerce articles. Another piece of what we do is collect data on the top 2,000 companies based on their web sales. People can buy access to that data via a frontend database that allows them to query any of that data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

Before XL.net, we had a one-person shop that took care of us before technology was efficient enough to be handled remotely. That person didn’t grow with us as we grew as a company. We were looking for someone new to take care of our computers, server, and general IT environment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle all of our managed IT services including hardware, software, and antivirus efforts. We’re moving over to Microsoft 365. Their team handles all of our installation issues and general problems.

What is the team composition?

We have one main person who handles on-site matters; before the pandemic, he came once a month. Apart from that, we also work with all of their support staff. We have a project manager as well.

How did you come to work with XL.net?

My CEO had met with them, and she got a good vibe so we started the engagement. I know our company spoke to a couple of different vendors and checked references but we ultimately went with XL.net.

How much have you invested with them?

We invest just under $5,000 a month; we’re on a retainer.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in August 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a huge improvement in our business and the way we’re able to resolve issues quickly and move on. XL.net is extremely responsive. I talk to them very regularly; their communication is outstanding.

They call to walk me through and explains things. We communicate through email and phone calls. Their team is flexible because we have a lot of editors and writers who are trying to meet deadlines at night. They work around our work schedules to fix the issues we run into with our computers.  

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is smooth. They have certain people who run the bigger, more specific projects. There’s a person who specializes in pretty much any issue we may run into.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have consistency — excellent communication and excellent employees. We haven’t run into the issues that we ran into before when we didn’t have them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they do a fabulous job for us and what we need.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d highly recommend XL.net.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of sales for a corporate travel management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

Our business was changing rapidly and we needed support with our technology systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a little bit of everything. They helped us set up an IT budget, come up with a five-year plan, and select the right technology solutions for our industry. Their team also did cloud-consulting. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of 4–5 people including Adam (CEO), Nick (Operations Associate), and Gerald (Operations Associate). 

How did you come to work with XL.net?

I selected them because we liked their message and that they were able to customize their services to what we needed. They weren’t too pushy. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $5,000 so far. Our budget changed after March 2020 because we had to scale back our operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them on this project in 2019, and our work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re much more organized and our productivity is up. I don’t know all of the technical details, but they’ve worked well with us to get to our goals. 

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account representative, Gerald, is one of the most organized people I’ve ever worked with. He always follows up promptly after a meeting to share our action items and next steps. We’re always well-informed about what is going on with our projects. They deliver on time and on budget. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service is the most impressive. The team is always happy and easy to work with. It’s a well-run organization. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just give them a try. I don’t give recommendations very often, but I really believe in them. They’re accommodating and can adjust their services according to your budget and company size. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide industrial packing and crating, as well as warehousing, trucking, and logistics services. I’m the co-principal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with XL.net?

We’re a small business, so we don’t have the resources for a full IT staff. We had a hodgepodge of consultants for different things. We went to XL.net primarily for their security products and services. They’ve since become our fulltime remote IT office.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We primarily went to XL.net for security, but now they’re keeping everything running on our side, including servers.

We were initially housing our own Microsoft Exchange server in-house. After our quarterly and annual IT reviews in 2019, XL.net made the recommendation of moving to Office365. The timing was good, because there was a massive failure at our office. A construction crew cut a fiberoptic cable, and we were out of email for a day and a half. The decision was a combination of renewal cost for Exchange and the thought of eliminating the worry of a construction guy cutting the cable to our building.

We’ve recently finished the migration. They installed our data on everyone’s machines, and got us up and running.

We’ve also made an upgrade to our external firewall connection. We have an office in South Carolina and a number of outside sales reps that connect to the infrastructure remotely. XL.net made a complete upgrade to our security, routers, and firewall, and they set up a VPN for employees. Everyone’s moved to a two-factor authentication process to tighten everything up.

We also purchased our server from XL.net a few years ago.

What is the team composition?

In terms of support staff, we work with whomever is on-call at the time. If we have an immediate need, I assume it’ll be assigned to the first available person. We deal with different people for different projects.

Kevin (Project Engineer) handled the Office365 project. He was my point of contact and took care of everything. I could go to him immediately if there was an issue, without talking to anyone else. Kevin is top notch and knows his stuff.

The firewall and security project was managed by David (System Analyst).

How did you come to work with XL.net?

I’ve been their customer for a long time. It’s been so long that I can’t remember how I found them. It might’ve been through a marketing email or a web search.

I do remember that one of the main reasons for selecting them was that XL.net had a flat fee for their services. Almost everyone else worked hourly. The flat fee concept meant that XL.net would want us to have as few problems as possible. The more problems we had, the more time they’d spend fixing them, without making any more money. Their goal was the same as ours, and it gave me the ability to better budget my money and time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve paid them over $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with XL.net in June 2010, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our system went down suddenly three years ago. In the dead of winter. XL.net sent someone to check everything out, and he found that the backplane connector had failed. He contacted someone from Dell, who offered to overnight us a new one. They sent the part the next day, and XL.net sent their tech guy out to do the installation. While they were taking our server apart, we got hit with a blizzard, and their tech guy got trapped here overnight. He worked all night, till about one or two in the morning, when we took him to a hotel to get some sleep. We picked him up the next morning and brought him back to get our server up. Our server was back up and running by the time they were plowing the snow the next day, and businesses were starting to reopen. I don’t know how many companies would’ve done that.

The bottom line is that we’re able to be productive because our IT systems work. IT is a significant portion of our work, and we can’t serve customers if systems are down. While I don’t have hard metrics, I can count on one hand the times things took longer than what I felt was reasonable. I’m not an IT guy, so maybe those times were reasonable as well. They consistently provide quick solutions when we experience a problem. XL.net has been there for me time and time again over the last 10 years.

How did XL.net perform from a project management standpoint?

They started a new service two years ago, where they would send someone out to work from my office for the whole day, for no other reason than to just have someone there in case anyone had a question, there was an issue, or we needed help on something. He’d work on other things if we didn’t have something for him, but he was basically there for the day. If we had a small project, we could always save it for the next time they were sending someone over. That was something they added for no extra charge.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A lot of companies will have one or two star people, but XL.net has a whole team of exceptional employees.

We can tell that they really care and bend over backwards to keep us satisfied. XL.net is a customer-centric organization. From the person answering the phone to the rest of the team, everyone is focused on satisfying the customer. There are a lot of people in the service industry that act like they’re doing us a favor by picking up the phone. That’s not the case with XL.net. Everyone will jump through hoops to make us happy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re smart and IT-centric, so they’ll talk a bit above our heads sometimes. They’ll say things that they assume we understand, but we won’t have a clue.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should trust them. With a lot of vendors out there, we’re always second-guessing everything, because we’re used to being taken advantage of, especially with hourly services. XL.net’s model isn’t like that.

For example, when they made the recommendation to move us to Office365, everyone was against it in the beginning, because we’d always had our Exchange server hosted 50 feet from everyone, where we could see it. To all of a sudden have this thing hidden somewhere out in North Dakota was unnerving. We were also worried about losing data and having downtime, and that people weren’t going to get it. In the end, we trusted XL.net, and everything worked out better than we could’ve expected. The switchover happened on a Sunday, and everyone was up and running on Monday, without any problems.

New companies starting to work with them might have hesitations, but they really know what they’re doing, and the recommendations they make are worth considering. Believe it or not, XL.net has the client’s best interests in mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Partner of Elster & McGrady LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide legal services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire XL.net to accomplish?

• SOC 2 compliance
• Managed IT services
• 24/hour help desk

SOLUTION

How did you find XL.net?

Referral

Why did you select XL.net over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Experts in the field

How many teammates from XL.net were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Assessed data security requirements for firm clients and assisted in preparing data security and related policies. Ongoing managed IT services and 24/7 help desk support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Data security and related policies; new hire support; enabling software environment; employee training.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Confirmation emails that projects are being assigned to appropriate engineers; timely communication on individual projects; regular monthly meetings.

What was your primary form of communication with XL.net?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

XL.net has been able to handle every request we've made, from new hire support to assistance with our unique software environment, to data security advice.

Are there any areas for improvement or something XL.net could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the managing member of patterson law firm, llc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide legal services for business and individuals, including helping businesses and individuals avoid litigation beforehand and, when in litigation, aggressively pursue their rights.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire XL.net to accomplish?

Replace existing IT vendor

SOLUTION

How did you find XL.net?

Referral

Why did you select XL.net over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Transition out of existing IT vendor to provide IT managed services for our firm.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Seamless transition and implementation of new managed IT services provider.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Everything was well-planned, well-executed, and done on time, with responsiveness exceeding our expectations and far better than the competition.

What was your primary form of communication with XL.net?

Virtual Meeting

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

Responsiveness and quality of IT personnel. Issues were addressed promptly by extremely knowledgeable individuals.

Are there any areas for improvement or something XL.net could have done differently?

No.