Partner Ben D. explains it this way: “A lot of professional firms, like ours, have very complex IT requirements. We’re completely reliant on our IT systems for virtually everything – from research to scheduling to work flow management. So when you have a business like ours, with say 70 professionals, even one hour of downtime is extremely expensive. We can’t afford those kinds of risks.”
Just as important, though, was the fact that even though they completely outsourced their IT services, they still needed an IT provider that was able to meet the level of upkeep and service required. “We needed someone who would be willing to take the time to understand our unique service offerings and market position and then learn our industry’s specific software requirements.”
There were other challenges as well. The industry-wide software that this firm uses is constantly being updated to reflect changes in tax laws and rates. It was also important that multiple users with multiple devices have remote access at any given time. And, due to the nature of the services that they offer, They had to keep network security and data recovery in mind as well.
“We needed an all-in package,” says Ben. “We needed someone who could build us a network that was scalable and reliable. But it also had to be serviced, maintained and monitored by the same company.”
“We needed a proactive IT partner, not a reactive one.” ActiveCo was more than up for the challenge.