When MendenFreiman LLP decided to change technology service providers, the company had a specific set of requirements. Their prior firm had failed to provide the necessary level of round-the-clock service and support—an issue that could cost the firm dearly in terms of lost productivity and client goodwill. When MendenFreiman Director of Operations Allan D. Freiman met with DynaSis in 2007, he knew he had found a provider that could meet the firm's high expectations. Five years later, the partnership continues to grow and thrive.

"If we are down for an hour—we don’t have access to our data —it literally costs us thousands of dollars an hour in lost productivity," says Freiman. "When we took a tour of DynaSis's facilities and met some of the staff, we saw an opportunity to maintain significantly more uptime with DynaSis than with other vendors."

Keeping the Legal Eagles Flying

Unlike firms that maintain a strict workday schedule, says Freiman, MendenFreiman's business frequently requires its staff to work nights and on weekends. To maximize attorney productivity and reduce the stress of working long hours, the company considers it paramount for staff to have remote access to the firm's databases.

"Our office hours may stop at 5:30, but we may have people working into the night," says Freiman. "We manage all relevant documents and emails so our staff can go to one place and retrieve everything we’ve done for a particular client. If we don’t have access to that data, then we’re not going to be able to meet deadlines and our clients are going to look elsewhere."

To support MendenFreiman's on-site servers, DynaSis initially implemented its 24/7/365 remote monitoring and support solution. This service also included a secure, remote-access portal through which authorized staff could access firm files from any Internet-connected location.

Since that time, DynaSis has been maintaining the company's servers in the background, applying fixes and performing other tasks that ensure maximum uptime for MendenFreiman. If a problem arises, DynaSis's Help Desk Support team stands at the ready. "DynaSis monitors our servers 24 hours a day," says Freiman. "I am very happy with the service. I like that I can get online and open up a support ticket and get status update notifications continuously."

Moving to the Cloud

After five years with Novteach remotely managing MendenFreiman's on-site servers, Freiman reports the company is moving to adopt DynaSis's fully cloud-based solution, ITility by DynaSis, and a test environment is already in the works. "This past summer, we had some server issues and our disaster recovery solution, because of our volume of data,  had a 24-hour window to up time. That prompted us to look at totally fail-safe solutions," says Freiman.

"With ITility by DynaSis, the DynaSis data center will provide a disaster recovery system that is better than what we could afford on our own," he says. "The goal is to do away with our servers and rely on DynaSis to manage our IT needs even more than we do now."

A  Solid Foundation

Freiman says his firm is comfortable making the shift to a cloud-based environment because of the excellent support and service DynaSis has provided from the outset. "DynaSis has been very accommodating to our users, even when they are working at night or on weekends," says Freiman. "They are always very customer driven and have continued to show exceptional customer service even under extreme circumstances."

In summation, Freiman notes, "We pay DynaSis a monthly fee for their service, and we look at that as an insurance premium. DynaSis has given us the confidence to make client commitments and know that we can keep them. The more we keep those commitments, the stronger our client relationships will be, and the more business they will bring us through referrals. The ability to be up and running is worth every penny."

After a week when most of Atlanta was out of work and stuck at home due to a massive snow event —which will go down in history as "Snowmageddon 2010," —you’d think CSM Research President Frank Saunders would be anxious to get back to work. Thanks to the remote access DynaSis's ITility service provided during the storm, Saunders felt blissfully at ease.

“Actually, I hated to come back,” says Sanders. “Being able to use ITility by DynaSis was a great thing because we were able to complete all of our work from home. Except for not having access to the Post-it notes on our desks, it was just like being in the office.”

Saunders and his 50 Atlanta employees are now loyal fans of ITility by DynaSis, the hosted platform they use for secure access to their Microsoft Office and proprietary applications as well as Microsoft Exchange.

Business as Usual.

ITility by DynaSis has enabled CSM Research to take advantage of workshifting, an increasingly popular productivity builder for companies large and small. With workshifting, employees can work when and where they choose, because corporate data and applications are hosted in the cloud and accessible over any Internet connection. DynaSis's ITility by DynaSis offers precisely that solution, making it a perfect fit for firms that want to adopt workshifting.

“We have folks with young kids, and when they have a sick child they can stay home and work; when they need to be home from 12-4 to meet the repairman, we can accommodate that, too," continues Saunders. "ITility by DynaSis is great for allowing our people to work whenever and wherever they need to.”

During Snowmageddon 2010, when CSM Research and the rest of Atlanta were housebound for a week, ITility by DynaSis and workshifting helped Saunders' team not miss a beat. They were emailing and calling each other and conducting business as usual. That was important for CSM Research, a leading customized integrated surveys and focused data collection provider with a national client base.

Seamless Workplace Continuity

"Most of our clients are located around the country and not in Atlanta," says Saunders." They didn’t know we were down or that Atlanta was snowed in. We continued work without interruption. Our clients didn't have to wonder if they might need another firm because we go down in bad weather."

Of course, his employees missed the interpersonal engagement aspects of physically being in the office, which he says helps them "manage a diverse set of clients with a lot of balls in air." Nevertheless, his team quickly made up the week of collaboration time they missed, and unless his clients happened to follow Atlanta weather, they never knew anything was amiss.

"One of our clients is large entertainment industry firm, and they wanted to know if we could facilitate surveys over a smartphone," says Saunders. "They sent an inquiry while we were all working from home, and our team was able to do research, collaborate and respond quickly to the client, even though no one was in the office."

Saunders says one IT employee—who doesn't like having a duplicate workstation at home—came into the office. He sent ongoing reports to his remote coworkers about how bad the ice was. "There is nothing worse than ruining your day by sliding down a hill in the ice, running into a tree and doing thousands of dollars worth of damage to your car," says Saunders. With DynaSis, ITility by DynaSis and workshifting on the scene, the only thing CMS Research employees were hitting was their weekly production goals.

After several years with DynaSis on-premise support, Brayson Homes found itself in a time of transition. The server management on-site was becoming more costly with the growing complexity of the network. They looked to the experts at DynaSis to elevate their current IT systems to the next level. Brayson Homes transitioned to a cloud-based, on-demand solution called ITility by DynaSis in early 2010.

When Briot Network Administrator Tommy Orr needed a third-party opinion on network strategy, he immediately thought of DynaSis. Orr had been impressed by DynaSis when he attended an event the firm hosted, and he was quick to contact them when he needed help. As Orr discussed the network with DynaSis's expert engineers, he realized ITility by DynaSis would be a great fit for Briot. With 14 out of 25 employees working in the field, and the CFO traveling between the Atlanta and Canada offices, ITility by DynaSis support for workshifting and remote access sold Orr.

As a cloud-based, hosted solution, ITility by DynaSis delivers Briot's data and applications over the Web from the DynaSis hosting servers to Briot workstations or any other Internet-connected computer. Employees access the network seamlessly, using a dedicated, secure online user interface. This not only enables Briot employees to access work from any of their offices, or from home or other locations, but it also gives Briot's road warriors a flexible, convenient and fully provisioned work experience no matter where they travel. "ITility by DynaSis has changed our business by making it easier to connect remotely, which has been key to servicing our clients," says Orr.

Beyond workshifting flexibility, ITility by DynaSis also incorporates 24/7/365 monitoring and maintenance of the equipment and automated backups of Briot's cloud server. This has enabled Orr to eliminate his network maintenance schedule. "I no longer have to buy or maintain server room equipment, so it takes a lot of worry out of my job," says Orr. "Plus, I am free to work on improving the performance of our products and invest my time in other high-level tasks."

When asked how he feels about the level of DynaSis's expertise, Orr replied, "I am very pleased with DynaSis. There is always someone available to answer my questions, and if they cannot answer right away, they work to find the answer until the problem is solved. They address my tickets within 2-3 minutes and always check with me to make sure everything is working before they close out an issue."

Briot has been working with DynaSis since 2009, and Orr says they have always stayed on top of any needs or concerns that arose. "ITility by DynaSis gives me the freedom to work on other business tasks, and it saves us money," says Orr. "I would absolutely recommend DynaSis and ITility by DynaSis to other clients going forward. In fact, I already have."

When Electric Cities of Georgia broke away from its parent company, they were faced with building an entire IT solution from scratch.“Our startup dollars were limited and we felt ITility by DynaSis was the best solution for us so we didn’t have a huge capital expense up front. The infrastructure was purchased and is maintained by DynaSis. This guarantees us the best technology available for a fixed monthly cost. Considering we operate on a strict budget, the monthly fee is perfect for our situation,” said Ellen Richardson VP of Business Development.

C.H. Martin Company a family medical practice has been providing orthotics and prosthetics
in the Atlanta area since 1912. With an ever growing practice and multiple office locations, their IT needs were growing more complex and it was time to make a change. See how C.H. Martin used ITility by DynaSis to help solve their problem.

EXHAUSTO's phone system filled the company’s basic telephone needs, but DynaSis's engineers knew there were options better suited to serving EXHAUSTO’s widespread distribution network and the travel schedule of its principals. They introduced ShoreTel’s voice over IP solution.

“I wanted a company that could not only build the network, but service it as well,” said Managing Principal Jim Bennison. Instead of a traditional network, DynaSis suggested a Software as a Service solution called ITility by DynaSis. With ITility by DynaSis, all applications and software are run from the DynaSis data center and accessed over the Internet with a secure point to point T1 connection. The solution drastically reduces downtime and improves network availability.

Allan Freiman, Director of Operations, recalls a recent experience with DynaSis that warranted recognition. “I never understood the extent to which DynaSis was monitoring our network until I received a call from the network operations center." Frieman explains his great customer service experience with DynaSis Digital Veins.

“With DynaSis Digital Veins plan, they show up when they say they will, they fix what they say they will. When I have a question, I get an honest answer. A lot of companies say they will provide this level of system support. DynaSis really does it and they make it look easy.”

- Luke Kassler