The Partner
The Electrical Training Institute is one of the nation’s premier training centers for the Union Construction Industry. This advanced apprenticeship program is a joint venture of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 481 and the National Electrical Contractors Association. The Institute offers apprentices highly skilled trade experience and career development in the electrical industry. AIS has been working with the Electrical Training Institute since 2011.
The Problem
Previous to their relationship with AIS, the Electrical Training Institute had been working with a different IT company—and suffering for it. The company was ineffective and reactive. Servers were slow and continually crashing. Any solutions the company offered proved to be short-lived before the infrastructure began to fall apart again.
Jim Patterson, the Director of Training, expressed his frustration: “We worked with this reactive company for 5 years, and it drove me crazy. They never anticipated any problems, never thought outside the box or implemented new technology. Essentially, they only offered temporary fixes and Band-Aids; I had had my fill of it.”
Jim received a referral to another IT company and brought them on in an effort to solve the Institute’s neglected infrastructural problems and bring processes up to speed. This second IT company did not have the capabilities to deliver results and ended up leaving the work incomplete.
The Solution
Jim Patterson then engaged AIS as a freelance consultant. In this capacity, AIS was able to solve the problems it took the previous company months to address. Jim was very impressed with AIS’s work and asked to see a calendar and proposal for IT moving forward. AIS mapped out comprehensive 1, 3 and 5 year plans to achieve the Institute’s IT goals. After that proposal, Jim was prepared to engage AIS as the Institute’s exclusive IT partner.
Through AIS’s vCIO services, the Institute was able to shift to a proactive IT approach. The vCIO manages the IT infrastructure on a daily basis, remotely. AIS instituted monthly reports in order to track potential vulnerabilities, review goals and evaluate progress. Rather than waiting for the failing server to crash—as perhaps the previous companies may have done—AIS anticipated the problem and implemented new technology. With this new proactive model, the Institute’s IT infrastructure was able to expedite, rather than impede, growth. As Jim succinctly put it, “They approach IT the way that I approach the electrical industry: they “flip the light on” right now. AIS delivers, delivers, delivers.”
Moving Forward
According to Jim, the benefits of working with AIS go beyond strategic IT services: “AIS offers a strong partnership and incredible customer service. They have so many clients, yet they treat you as if you are the only one. AIS takes the time to break down the IT industry and translate it into a concrete business plan. None of my peers get the same level of service from their IT companies.”
The relationship between AIS and the Electrical Training Institute remains extremely strong. In fact, Jim has made multiple referrals on AIS’s behalf, so much so that AIS is now a Union Certified Company. The Institute enjoys a level of confidence, knowing that they can depend on their IT infrastructure, that everything will work as it should. By the same token, AIS enjoys peace of mind, knowing that we have a satisfied client and lasting partnership.
Tired of putting out fires and dealing with reactive IT? If you want to build a true partnership and implement proactive, strategic IT solutions, it can all start today with a conversation.