ZAG Technical Services

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology at a company that produces thin film equipment for industries like hard drives and coding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ZAG Technical Services?

We are a publicly traded company, but we have a small IT staff that has been around for about 30 years. Our IT needs were growing quicker than the IT staff could grow, and that was when ZAG Technical Services came in to help us augment our IT infrastructure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ZAG Technical Services provides IT solutions and services. We use them primarily for project management and infrastructure support. The team also purchases products for us because they can get better vendor pricing than we would. ZAG Technical Services provides IT consulting and tier-two technical support, acting as an extension of our IT department. 

ZAG Technical Services purchases, installs, and maintains hardware and software. If a product breaks down, the team contacts the vendor to provide a solution. ZAG Technical Services is a local company, and their technicians can come to our office if needed to fix particular issues. Recently, they worked on a Cisco product and installed it on-site. 

ZAG Technical Services has also helped us build a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, which is a military requirement for contracts with government agencies. The team helped us adopt the required standards.

How did you come to work with ZAG Technical Services?

I didn't work at my company when they engaged with the team. My predecessor brought ZAG Technical Services on board.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with ZAG Technical Services around 15–17 years ago, roughly since 2007.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ZAG Technical Services always rises to the challenge and does a good job finding solutions. We've worked on several projects, and the implementation is always smooth. ZAG Technical Services offers personalized service and acts as a concierge for our IT needs. The team has referred us to another service provider that offers cybersecurity consulting and meets our expectations, too.

I'm familiar with all tech support teammates since the team stays the same. If ZAG Technical Services outsourced employees, I probably wouldn't work with them since I don't like speaking to different teammates each time I require support. 

How did ZAG Technical Services perform from a project management standpoint?

ZAG Technical Services' response time to technical support is quick, ranging from five minutes to an hour. The team resolves issues within 2–3 hours, which is a continued success for me. Our company has a small IT department, and ZAG Technical Services is responsible for project management, which is an incredible resource. We have daily meetings and also communicate via phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ZAG Technical Services is distinguished by their availability to work on-site if needed. I'm also impressed with the rapport we've built; I feel like they're an extension of my team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of any negative feedback off the top of my head. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Information Technology of Peri & Sons Farms, Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Peri & Sons Farms, Inc. grows and distributes a multitude of produce, with an emphasis in onions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ZAG Technical Services to accomplish?

• Tech refresh of network infratructure
• Day-to-day support of IT operations
• Improved cyber resiliency

SOLUTION

How did you find ZAG Technical Services?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select ZAG Technical Services over others?

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

How many teammates from ZAG Technical Services were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We reached out to ZAG Technical Services when we identified that there were a number of deficiencies in our IT environment. Through ZAG's experts and stewardship, not only has our infrastructure, cybersecurity posture, and overall IT operations improved, but our company has seen a direct improvement via improved uptime and readiness.

Key deliverables include numerous complex and sensitive upgrades to our Citrix environment, planning and deployment of network infrastructure improvements, and numerous cybersecurity implementations (patch deployment plans, regular firmware updates, device monitoring, Cisco Umbrella, etc.) to assist in our cyber resiliency.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a marked reduction in unplanned downtime, unpatched systems have been reduced to near zero, device uptime and monitoring has vastly been improved over our previous monitoring methods, visibility in regard to access management and monitoring has drastically improved. Overall, with ZAG’s help, we’ve gone from around a 98.5% uptime to nearly 99.99% uptime for all critical services.

 They've helped close the gaps in our IT environment as far as skillsets and processes – we could not be happier with our decision to partner with ZAG.

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

Project management was phenomenal; communication was clear, concise, and regular.

Deliverables were on time, and if something did slip, it was communicated as quickly as possible.

What was your primary form of communication with ZAG Technical Services?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

ZAG’s ability to take into account all aspects of our company and make the most meaningful and budget friendly recommendations. ZAG’s experts are extremely candid and will be honest and reliable when assisting in complex decisions – their input has become a cornerstone in our decision-making process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something ZAG Technical Services could have done differently?

Not that I can think of. Our interactions and partnership with ZAG has always been extremely positive, and they have brought an incredible amount of value to our IT Department, and company as a whole. We really do consider ZAG as a partner; they’ve been there for us in some extremely stressful situations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

As a sub-contractor to a DOD prime contractor agency, our firm needed guidance and assistance in meeting the new CMMC/NIST 800-171 compliance requirements for IT security. I was the project manager and our internal team could not handle it due to daily workloads.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ZAG Technical Services?

Our firm needed to find a consultant to help us figure out where we stood and what remaining work needed to be done to meet CMMC/NIST 800-171 compliance requirements. Rather than just going through the template questionnaire or the DOD website, we needed real help, especially before trying to go through any kind of audit.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for a company that could educate us, give us the opportunity to perform as much of the work as possible, but always be available to take over any part of the project that we could not complete in a timely manner. The ultimate goal was to be audit-ready.

SOLUTION

How did you select ZAG Technical Services?

ZAG Technical Services helped us get started quickly, identify initial challenges we had not even thought about, and put together a real timeline and plan of action for completing our pre-audit internal review. We asked for references, spoke to several team members, asked for copies of sample assessment reports, and even got some immediate remediation steps we could act on right away before even engaging them with billable work.

They were very helpful from the start, had glowing client references, and demonstrated a true partnering relationship with no contracts or fine print legalese to commit to, that we ever felt uncomfortable about. The price was higher than every other vendor we interviewed, but the level of experience they had and value of total solution approach was priceless.

They were the only vendor we had full confidence in, before paying them anything. All the other vendors wanted signed commitments and/or initial paid engagements before we could really evaluate their work.

Describe the project in detail.

It started with a discovery meeting that helped us learn everything we needed to think about, who we needed to bring onto the team from within our own company, and visualize a plan of action and timeline together.

The next step was the data collection in the form of network scans, security policies, cultural norms within the organization, identification of third-party suppliers and contractors we relied on and trusted with some of our data and/or network access, etc.

The last step was a comprehensive review of the data combined with company policies, that identified why we did or did not follow certain security best practices.

Example being around protecting all remote access passwords to email, documents, databases, and reports with multi-factor authentication. We had implemented some MFA for some people on some platforms and were "getting around to completing" it for everyone on every platform "eventually".

What was the team composition?

We had a senior project manager, two senior solution architects, several senior systems engineers, and even tapped the experience of the CTO and CEO in our final meeting and presentation with executives. Great teamwork on their end as well as with our stakeholders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a great report that shows where we stand, what we can do ourselves, what they are helping us with, when to expect completion of each phase, and regular meetings and reports to ensure everyone is on the same page. A Compliance Management portal subscription is also key because it allows us to save all documents and decisions and policies in a single secure location.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were great to work with, had awesome team members, and had very clear communication at all times.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their commitment to integrity and accountability. They really recognize that earning our trust on a daily basis was more important than asking us to trust them with a legal contract commitment full of fine print before proving anything themselves.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They are very busy with other projects all over the country and need 2-4 weeks' advance notice to get started, once a new client decides to work with them. If they could hire more people faster, that would make them even better.

At the same time, they are one of the largest and best IT cyber security compliance consulting firms in the country, and they just passed their MSP Alliance Verify Certification, which less than 5% of Managed Service Providers have ever attained.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Consulting Regional VP of IT, working as contractor for Robert Half Technology on behalf of Manufacturing client in Fremont

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ZAG Technical Services?

Needed comprehensive Managed Security Services to upgrade quality of coverage and responsibility from former MSP that was missing many IT Best Practice Standards in their scope of work.

Onboarding process took longer than expected due to client IT infrastructure needing to be upgraded in some areas, such as unsupported Windows Servers, expired warranty network devices, and consumer level cloud services such as Gmail needing to be migrated to Office 365 with MFA and Azure AD Premium for SSO security.

What were your goals for this project?

Upgrade security and responsibility for vendor to manage everything and allow client ops team to focus on business production and new strategic initiatives such as joint partnerships with supply chain vendors and prime contractor opportunities with government agencies.

SOLUTION

How did you select ZAG Technical Services?

Requested bids from 3 vendors, spoke with 3 references from each, asked each to perform minor work to demonstrate communication and project management, and determine quality of work performed and work expected. Found ZAG to be the only company that could meet our needs, even though their cost was the highest.

Never realized there was such a huge difference between most IT consulting firms that call themselves Managed Service Providers(MSP) and the real ones. Also learned that copier dealers and ISPs such as AT&T that offer MSP services really only handle the edge network equipment they can bundle with their services, but cannot be responsible for user computers, legacy servers, other vendor network devices, etc.

ZAG had the best references, they did the best job in their mini-project test, and they provided the most actionable value from the start with initial assessment findings that we remediated right away instead of waiting months for others to get around to doing.

Describe the project in detail.

Installed monitoring platform to manage and protect all computers, servers, and network devices. Replaced legacy anti-virus/malware software with new AI-based anomaly engine security software on all computers and servers. Fixed server backup issues that were causing serious concerns about Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity capabilities in the past.

Identified and replaced unsupported Windows 7 computers and Windows 2008 Servers. Migrated email from single on-prem Exchange Server with multiple 3rd party add-on services such as Archiving, Filtering, SMTP Relay FAX, and more to Microsoft 365 cloud services that included everything built-in. Implemented Azure AD Premium to provide domain sync with on-prem environment as well as SSO security for all other cloud apps such as Netsuite and Salesforce.

Turned off unused or insecure accounts that still remained from previous employees and vendors or consultants. Turned on account lockout policy to prevent brute force attacks on compromised user email accounts. Implemented DNS-filtering for user browsing protection to ensure against phishing attempts, even if users clicked on malicious URLs.

Identified several external internet vulnerabilities from IP scan. Identified several internal vulnerabilities from network scan. Turned on User Support Help Desk Services with training orientation, to provide much higher level response and remediation than previous vendor or internal technical team could ever do.

Established trusted business partner relationship with virtual CIO Tech Strategy Manager that provided immeasurable value in exec meetings and quarterly updates.

What was the team composition?

Virtual CIO Technology Strategy Manager Primary and Secondary Senior Engineer/Architect Service Desk Team Manager Onboarding Project Manager Managed Service Platform engagement specialist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It took longer than we thought because of all the unknowns we had in our own network, but when completed, it was so much better than any previous similar transition ever experienced.

People are happier because they receive faster and higher quality responses. Management is happy because all known risks have been identified and getting remediated, leading to compliance-ready posture with clients and contract opportunities.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good workflow and communication. Their process is clearly honed over the last 20 years, and experience gained across many industries and different client environments. Weekly status update meeting and regular reporting and communications as needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their Integrity and Accountability, as well as their Teamwork with us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Just wish they offered more services such as ERP consulting or website/digital marketing capabilities, since we are still unhappy with current vendors in those areas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Computer Systems Manager of All Star Seed.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Agriculture production and export. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ZAG Technical Services to accomplish?

• Restore our system after intrusion event.
• Increase our cyber security to an acceptable position.

SOLUTION

How did you find ZAG Technical Services?

Referral

Why did you select ZAG Technical Services over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ZAG Technical Services were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

• Restoring all databases and servers to proper working condition after takeover. 
• Eliminating key holes and providing new cyber security and general network security policies across the company. 
• Deployment of new hardware, and software to ensure proper security of our backups and our system in general. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Onsight delivery and cleanup of our server room after the intrusion event to put us on more modern hardware. 
• Clean up and restoration of our company's operation. Immediately after the event, we were at less than 5% operation in our system.
• By the end of two weeks with ZAG, we were at about 80-90% operational capacity with very few losses to speak of. 

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

Their project management is good, much better than our previous third party option. They were timely about meetings, and met most time table delivery dates. 

What was your primary form of communication with ZAG Technical Services?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their willingness to step up to the plate and enter into a battle, so to speak, that they didn't have to. We were in a pretty big bind when ZAG came in. Not only were they willing to work with a competitor, but they were willing to pick up the sword and lead the charge knowing full well it could be a losing battle. They brought out techs to help us as soon as possible, and those techs worked around the clock to try and save and restore what they could. 

We would have been down much longer had we stayed with our original third party team, they didn't have a tech they could send out and were planning to search for another third party tech to act on their behalf with no time table on when they could that.  

Are there any areas for improvement or something ZAG Technical Services could have done differently?

ZAG Technical Services was very friendly and diligent about their work. I do think they operate closer to a law firm, and by that I mean they will charge you for nearly all interactions, but this is the only complaint that I have after almost a year of working with them. I would suggest them to anyone who asked me for a tech team referral, and I do think their quality of work speaks for itself. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the HR & IT Manager of Nicholas Pension Consultants

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Nicholas Pension Consultants specializes in quality 401(k) pension plan administration

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ZAG Technical Services to accomplish?

• Create a more secure environment to protect our client data
• Migrate to AVD
• Zag to take over our support

SOLUTION

How did you find ZAG Technical Services?

Referral

Why did you select ZAG Technical Services over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ZAG Technical Services were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• configuration, deployment, and support of Microsoft 365 products
• Implement Exchange Hybrid Server
• Migration Preparation
• Data migration and cutover. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Professional organized and talented group of people at ZAG. 
• The migration and implementation process went smoothly. 
• Any issues were quickly resolved.  
• Weekly updates helped keep the project on task and meet deadlines. 

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

This was key to keeping us on track to meet our deadline. The management team was diligent with daily and weekly updates. Support was availabale and questions weree answered almost instantly at times. 

What was your primary form of communication with ZAG Technical Services?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I was impressed with their teamwork and technical knowledge. Appreciated that the team took time to undertsand our company culture and systems. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something ZAG Technical Services could have done differently?

Nothing right now. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CFO of The Ginger People

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sales of ginger products

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ZAG Technical Services to accomplish?

• Improve IT systems
• Improve IT security
• Strengthen IT overall

SOLUTION

How did you find ZAG Technical Services?

Online Search

Why did you select ZAG Technical Services over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

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

Zag provides managed IT services, helpdesk, procurement of equipment, basically serving as our outsourced IT manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improved IT security, managed helpdesk provides less downtime and allows us to operate without a on staff IT person.

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

Project management has been outstanding.  Super responsive and helpful and makes very good suggestions and recommendations.

What was your primary form of communication with ZAG Technical Services?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Dedicated point of contact. They were very knowledgeable and able to explain complicated IT issues in terms a non-IT person could understand.  Very personable, great partnership and everyone I have worked with is a really good human.

Are there any areas for improvement or something ZAG Technical Services could have done differently?

So far, we have zero complaints

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Director of Sage Fruit Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sage Fruit grows and sales premium fruit products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ZAG Technical Services to accomplish?

• Provide top level security across all computer systems
• Give my team high level resources to lean on when needed
• Cut cost overall across company for technical services

SOLUTION

How did you find ZAG Technical Services?

Referral

Why did you select ZAG Technical Services over others?

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

How many teammates from ZAG Technical Services were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We hired ZagTech for an ongoing managed service contract to take care of pc and server patching, firewall management and overall system monitoring.  With this subscription they provide additional auditing and a plethora of other services.  We have also used them on some uprade projects and troubleshooting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I had a tight timeline to get all of our systems switched over to thier RMM services.  This included changing endpoint secuirty etc.  ZagTech put additional resources on this to ensure we met our timeline.  We have also used them for some other upgrade projects and they have a short leadtime to access engineers to make movement quick across projects.

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

ZagTech includes the actual technical engineers in the project management.  The non techincal project manager gets the ball rolling quick and they include the techincal folks in that conversation to save time.  I enjoy this process as some companies make it so you have to go through the project manager to access the technical staff.  This wastes time and money.  

ZagTech takes a different approach that saves everyone time, money and frustration. I see more and more companies moving to managed IT resources. Even with in house IT teams, it makes sense to leverage some things outside the organizations.

What was your primary form of communication with ZAG Technical Services?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

ZagTech has a wide range of engineers with good skillsets and they don't try to corner you into a solution.  If you only want to use part of what they offer, they don't try to sell you on something else.  I also find it unique how easy it is to communicate with anyone on thier team from the top down.

Are there any areas for improvement or something ZAG Technical Services could have done differently?

Any minor concerns I have encountered during projects have been addressed immediately.