Acom Integrated Solutions Is There When Enrichment Services Program Needs Fast IT Assistance
Enrichment Services Program is a community action agency, with 400 staff members working out of 30+ locations throughout Georgia. They work to support their community and eliminate poverty through a robust range of programming, involved with education, services, and partnerships.
As such an active and large organization, Enrichment Services Program needs to be able to rely on a seamless, responsive IT environment to support their record management, communication, and other daily tasks for their hundreds of employees.
When they need speedy assistance with an IT-based problem, they know they can rely on Acom Integrated Solutions to be there.
Enrichment Services Program Wasn’t The Priority For Their Previous IT Support Company
JP Roberson, Director of Operations, is responsible for a range of components of Enrichment Services Program’s daily activities, from transportation and IT to facilities and risk management. Prior to working with Acom, JP was struggling to get IT support when he needed it. He didn’t feel that Enrichment Services Program was a priority for their IT company at the time.
The company that we had, their IT support came internally, they were supporting us, but they were also supporting themselves. So when it came time to determine what’s the priority, of course, they were going to prioritize their organization.
JP Roberson, Director of Operations
Enrichment Services Program
When you’re overseeing more than thirty locations, any delay in the support process can be devastating for organizational productivity. Often, an IT issue at one of Enrichment Services Program’s rural locations wouldn’t get the speed of response needed, as the IT support company was dealing with internal issues.
“We had some issues with getting support for some of our rural areas, so it just wasn’t a good fit anymore, we had outgrown that company,” says JP.
JP knew they needed to find an IT company that would put Enrichment Services Program first, and wouldn’t prioritize internal IT support issues over their clients’. And so, he began an RFP process with Georgia IT companies, including Acom.
Acom Delivers The Speed Of Response That Enrichment Services Program Was Looking For
“We were looking for someone who could meet our demands,” says JP. “Acom presented their proposal. One of the deciding factors was their ability to service an organization such as ours, and of our size.”
Speed of response is one of the most significant qualities of Acom’s service for JP and the staff at Enrichment Services Program. JP knows that whenever he has an issue, he won’t have to wait to have it addressed.
“We were also looking for some unique responsiveness,” says JP. “We were looking for 12-24 hour reaction time, and they were able to provide that. Acom seemed to the best fit for what we’re looking for.”
When the IT support process is optimized and seamless, clients like Enrichment Services Program enjoy a less stressful, more productive workplace. They know that if and when an issue does occur, all they have to do is call to get help – no long delays, no tedious explanations.
Acom Made Sure Enrichment Services Program Was Properly Protected Against Future Ransomware Attacks
Another issue JP and Enrichment Services Program had encountered with the previous IT company was their unaddressed cybersecurity vulnerabilities, which led to a ransomware infection. After they discovered what had happened, it became clear that their IT support provider hadn’t been properly protecting their systems, nor would they be capable of doing much to limit the damage and cost of dealing with the attack.
“It was pretty painful,” says JP. “It was one of the reasons that we chose to move in a different direction. It never should have happened, because we should have had the tools and the infrastructure to prevent it. But once it happened, we were down for a week.”
A week of downtime for an organization of Enrichment Services Program’s size is no small matter. Just consider the loss in productivity — 400 employees, for at least a standard week’s worth of working hours, we’re unable to do their jobs.
“We need those devices to be able to input our data, we’re not doing anything manually, everything’s data,” says JP. “Everyone in the organization either had a physical device or has access to some form of desktop.”
Even as a rough estimate, that amounts to 16,000 hours of downtime, across a vast range of hourly wages and ongoing salaries, easily costing Enrichment Services Program thousands of dollars in lost productivity.
“The entire organization did not have the ability to do any work while we were shut down,” says JP. “If you take the number of employees we have, times a wide variety of salaries, times a week, that can be pretty significant.”
And even after that week of downtime, the problems weren’t over for Enrichment Services Program. There were lasting effects from the ransomware for many months after the fact.
“We still had lingering issues for several months afterward,” says JP. “That never should have happened. We were told that we had the infrastructure in place, but we didn’t.”
Once they signed on to manage Enrichment Services Program’s IT, the Acom team made a wide range of improvements to their systems and provided ongoing management, testing, and training services to help mitigate the risk of another ransomware attack.
“They are our technical support advisors, so we pretty much go with what they recommend,” says JP. “They’ve recommended some state-of-the-art protection and, so far, we haven’t had any issues. They have definitely given us some sense of peace in this arena.”
Acom Is Enrichment Services Program’s Trusted IT Expert
Today, Enrichment Services Program trusts Acom as its trusted team of IT advisors. When they need help, they know they can get it. They have peace of mind that they’re not an easy target for another cybercrime attack. They’re confident in their IT support.
“I am absolutely pleased with their service,” says JP.
