For years, an international industrial supplier only had basic IT support. It was all they thought they needed. They soon began to grow frustrated with their provider and the break-fix cycle of IT repairs. When systems went down, their distribution warehouses were paralyzed. Their IT infrastructure was more critical than they thought.
Aggravated at their internal IT team, they brought in IT consultants to play a more active role in their business information systems. The technology consultants were tasked with providing the supplier with a more reliable and higher-performing business IT infrastructure.
Over the next two years, the IT consultants enacted a company-wide initiative to replace all existing information systems and to drive greater efficiency in every aspect of the industrial supplier’s business – from sales to operations to administration.
When completed, the improvements to the company’s business information systems optimized company-wide workflow and customer interactions. Today, the supplier trusts their IT consultants with every aspect of their business IT infrastructure, from handheld devices in their distribution centers to the virtual servers that connect multiple offices across the U.S. and Europe.
Here are three additional examples of how the IT consultants drove business growth for the supplier:
The IT consultants provided more than just managed IT services. Rather, their main point of contact with the supplier served as a virtual CIO. This lead consultant provided ideas and strategic direction that the supplier would have never considered and introduced a wider range of ideas to better serve their customers.
Because they explored and discussed more ideas with their virtual CIO, the company was able to develop their IT infrastructure well beyond their previous expertise. The technology consultants weren’t simply relied upon just to reboot a server or plug in a new device; rather, they were a source of strategic IT development and implementation.
The industrial supplier’s previous IT support company was afraid to explore new ideas. When the supplier approached them with a software or technology modification, they made changes that made their applications rigid and uneasy to use. They only offered basic support, not solution-oriented planning.
After bringing the IT consultants on board, the supplier soon discovered that IT consultants provided more than just IT support – they introduced full-fledged technology solutions. For example, the technology consultants developed a customized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to support the company’s inventory management, order management and accounting operations.
In addition to serving as the supplier’s virtual CIO and providing long-term technology solutions, the IT consultants offered the day-to-day IT support the supplier needed – but with better service than the average managed IT services firm. They provided support and maintenance for the supplier’s entire business IT infrastructure, including mobile devices, server infrastructure and software integrations. Additionally, the supplier noted that they never called for support on the same issue twice: Once a support issue arose, it was fixed and never came up again.
The IT team’s dedication and reliability is also something the supplier appreciated greatly. For example, one night the supplier had a break-in at a distribution center six hours away from their headquarters on a Sunday evening. The vandals had poured bleach on a server, cut cables and tore connections out of the walls. The IT consulting team was notified immediately Monday morning, arrived later that afternoon, and by the start of business hours on Tuesday, everything was up and running again.
It didn’t take long before the supplier realized the vast difference from retaining a mere managed IT services company and employing true IT consultants. Not only did the supplier benefit from having a virtual CIO, solutions-oriented technology and superior IT support, but the supplier saw an increase in their bottom line because technology consultants don’t just keep your business running – they keep it growing.
To experience how IT consultants help you realize these same results for your business, talk to a Lazorpoint expert today.