The Background
Corporate Security and Investigations (CSI) is a full service, professional investigative and security firm consisting of a team with proven experience and integrity, rendering professional services to a diverse group of clients, including insurance companies, law firms, corporate entities, educational institutions, private individuals, the health care industry and the general public.
William Hickman is the Chief Operating Officer at CSI. He explains that CSI was faced with the question of whether to continue outsourcing their email hosting or to host their own email. The company had been outsourcing their email hosting, but the system was proving unreliable. The lines of communication were often down, and employees lost a lot time tracking down emails to ensure they had been sent, leading to low productivity. CSI thought they’d have greater control hosting their own emails, so Hickman looked into it.
The Challenge
Hickman learned that in order to host their own email, the company would need to upgrade their servers, an expensive proposition. Ultimately, the company decided that in terms of their core business and franchising, it was not feasible to host it themselves. Hickman knew the company didn’t want to get into the IT business, they preferred to let the specialists do what the specialists do, so they decided to continue outsourcing, but to do so through Nortec.
The Solution
CSI has had a relationship with Nortec for over 5 years. Nortec has handled all their IT needs such as updating software, ensuring their backups are working correctly, checking their servers, and providing on-call services. Eric mentioned that Nortec had the ability and rack space to host email, and Hickman knew it was a great solution for CSI’s email hosting needs.
After an initial consultation in which Nortec and Hickman determined the levels of service the company needed to host its email and the points of contact, Nortec implemented the hosted Exchange service. Nortec provided a very user-friendly training, and CSI has had no complaints in the six months since the implementation.
In addition, Nortec has provided Hickman with several phone numbers and points of contact for more serious issues that may arise. The business is constantly connected to Nortec’s professional team and if needed, Nortec sends technicians to remediate any issues that may arise.
Benefits
Nortec has provided a whole new level of stability to email system; the difference is night and day. Email is critical to the company’s success. Having the lines of communication go down was debilitating, but in the six months since the implementation with Nortec, the system has not been down once and they’ve had none of the decrease in productivity they had experienced before.
Hickman notes that the greatest added value has been a great working relationship with the person who performs the work for CSI. Not only does he handle networking solutions, but he also consults with CSI in a fair, candid, and honest manner. He always provides opinions, gives advice, feedback and guidance in a way that meets CSI’s needs. This is what CSI considers the real value add: that they can rely on and trust Nortec for good guidance. Nortec’s service goes above and beyond the usual level of support and provides the wrap around service that CSI needs.
With the new hosted email exchange, employees can work from anywhere at any time. Employees have full access to all their emails and file and they can collaborate easily with co-workers and customers. Further, CSI is saving thousands of dollars by not having to purchase licenses for Microsoft Exchange Server, backup software, backup tapes, anti-virus software, an expert to setup and maintain it on an ongoing basis.
Ultimately, outsourcing CSI’s email system has created more efficient and secure communication for the company and has led to significant cost savings and increased productivity.
