Open Approach and RCIS Join Forces

Written by Scott Bernoudy on September 7, 2018. Posted in Blog

It has been a full eight months since Open Approach and Rail City Information Systems (RCIS) began operating as one Managed Services Provider and I have to say, our combined company is better than I ever thought it could be. (Read more about the announcement on VTDigger.)

In retrospect, I see that I was prepared for the additional skills, knowledge and business intelligence that would expand our team and the greater level of service we would be able to provide. I was prepared for the hard-working, conscientious individuals who would be joining us. I was even prepared for the flurry of activity as we combined systems and procedures into one.

But…I wasn’t prepared for (although very encouraged by) the rapid switch that many existing RCIS clients would make from their current “Break-Fix” IT management to our Managed Services Provider (MSP) approach. In my mind, this is a testament to the quality of work and dedication to customers that drove RCIS along for the last 20 years. Trust is hard to earn, takes work to keep, and it’s clear that Scott Burleson and the team at RCIS were deeply trusted and relied upon by their customers. Now, as Open Approach customers, I know how incredibly important it is to work to keep that trust and reliability.

Typically, Break-Fix providers are not incentivized to help you build a healthy network. Think about it – if you have a healthy network, you have no reason to call for a repair. If nobody calls, the revenue stream dries up. The folks at RCIS were different, though, in that they attempted at every turn to go beyond “Break-Fix” when they could. To keep business revenue up, they had to add lots of clients and manage the unpredictability of it, the chaos of it, as best they could. Knowing this was unsustainable in the long run, RCIS tried to shift to a proactive management model, but with the continued and overwhelming workload required to support their clients the shift was impossible.

By merging our two companies, we were able to widen our level of expertise and RCIS was able to transition to the business model of Managed Services. Now combined we are working together to help leverage technology solutions to help businesses grow.

In a later post, I’ll talk about the industry’s understanding of Managed Services, and how we at Open Approach take it to the next level for our clients. If you’d like to learn more about how we will work to earn your trust, what we do, and how we will help your business grow, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to hear from you.

BENNINGTON POTTERS

Bennington Potters designs, produces, and markets beautiful, heirloom ceramics. Founded by David Gil in 1948, employed potters continue to follow David’s legacy, embracing his technical creativity, commitment and tenacity, acting as the driving forces to build the remarkable company that thrives to this day. Today they operate out of Bennington Potters Yard in southern Vermont, where they give guided tours 7 days a week, as well as a retail-only store in downtown Burlington!

SOLUTION

Working with a jumbled web of computers, files, and encountering painful drops in network connectivity, Sheela Harden, owner of Bennington Potters, knew productivity was suffering. They needed a change, but more importantly, they needed guidance. Looking for someone to work with them on their day-to-day challenges, Bennington Potters reached out to Open Approach in 2006. From switching and firewall upgrades, to server and computer replacements, Open Approach was able to bring stability and efficiency back to the pottery.

“Working with Open Approach is fluid and conversational, and their work feels that way too; everything works, projects are simple and streamlined, and
issues are resolved quickly and effortlessly.”

— Melissa Colon, Marketing Manager at Bennington Potters

HUBBARDTON FORGE

From its humble beginnings in 1974 operating out of a 19th-century barn, Hubbardton Forge has grown to become the oldest and largest commercial forge in the United States, generating more than $35 million in annual sales. Located in Castleton, Vermont, the company produces thousands of high-end, hand-forged lighting products – “Art that Lights up” – marketed through residential lighting and home furnishings retailers as well as contract distributors. In its highly competitive industry, Hubbardton Forge has distinguished itself as the preeminent design shop with a product line that is anything but common.

SOLUTION

Hubbardton Forge was one of Open Approach’s first clients, and the two companies have figuratively grown up together. As the demands on the Hubbardton Forge network grew, Open Approach worked hard to not only meet these demands, but to help shape the future computing environment to match their corporate vision. Like all visionary companies, Hubbardton Forge works toward opportunity and avoids reacting in fear toward challenges. Open Approach embraces this philosophy, and the result has been a network that is flexible, functional, economical and equal to the demands of this growing company.

“Open Approach has a way of projecting ‘calm’ in the midst of an IT ‘storm,’ and I never have to worry about their professionalism when they interact directly with our users.”

-Dale Carr, MIS Manager at Hubbardton Forge

VERMONT LAND TRUST

Working to protect the productive, recreational, and scenic land that gives Vermont its rural character, Vermont Land Trust (VLT), a member-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a land conservation organization operating five regional offices throughout the state. Established in 1977, Vermont Land Trust has permanently conserved more than 1,900 parcels of land covering more than 550,000 acres, or about nine percent of the private, undeveloped land in the state. They provide technical and legal assistance to individuals, communities, and local land trusts to help them achieve their conservation objectives.

SOLUTION

VLT and Open Approach began working together after VLT experienced network connectivity issues at one of its remote locations. Later, VLT engaged Open Approach for full systems support, which has included migrating to a highly available cluster of servers, introducing necessary redundancy into a previously aging infrastructure. Along the way, VLT was able to retire its deteriorating tape library for backups, as well as move to Microsoft’s Office 365.

“From the first interaction with Open Approach, communication has been very clear, friendly, and thoroughly professional. They really listen and respond to my concerns and ideas in designing solutions that work for us.”

— Teija Huttunen-Green, Director of Operations & Technology at Vermont Land Trust

MERIDIAN TRUST FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Meridian Trust Federal Credit Union is a multi-branch organization that has been catering to its customers’ financial needs since its inception in 1954. Originally founded by a dedicated group of state employees, Meridian’s goal was to establish a not-for-profit, financial cooperative that would be built on the philosophy of people helping people. That ideology has held through to today, as Meridian has grown both internally and physically throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with the fifth and most recent location opening in 2004 in East Cheyenne, Wyoming.

SOLUTION

Part of Meridian’s growth yielded some growing pains, one of which was the loss of their network administrator in early 2013. Unhappy with another nationally known technology company, they utilized Open Approach in parallel while waiting for the contract to run out. “After only a few months of working together, we soon realized that going with OA was the best thing we ever did. We were treated like partners,” noted Huda Hussain, Director of Business Analysis.

Since joining the team, Open Approach has worked with Meridian on a complete network overhaul, including server virtualization, backup implementation, Active Directory restructuring, and network infrastructure optimization. They deployed a robust network monitoring system, a Citrix XenApp environment for more than 50 users, and an aggressive web filter, which increased productivity, security, and efficiency — all while being located more than 2,000 miles away.

“Despite the distance, Open Approach is in in contact with us all the time. We are kept in the loop of events, issues, etc. They are like our very own virtual IT staff.”

— Huda Hussain, Director of Business Analysis at Meridian Trust

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY EQUIPMENT

Champlain Valley Equipment (CVE) is a Vermont-based company that represents Kubota, New Holland, Polaris, STIHL, Yamaha, and others to provide world-class parts, sales, service and after-sales support to customers for agricultural, light construction, and residential needs. Incorporated in 1970, Champlain Valley Equipment continues to evolve rapidly, and has undergone significant expansion of its product sales and geographic reach.

SOLUTION

“Growing to meet your needs” is Champlain Valley Equipment’s motto, and growing they have been, now with five different branches spanning the entire state of Vermont. To simplify the expansion, CVE wanted to quickly unify all of their separate stores under one network, and called upon Open Approach to do so. By building an interconnected network of firewalls, switching, and servers, Open Approach took five disjointed stores and brought all users into a single domain with minimal interruption or changes to their desktop environments. Open Approach addressed CVE’s increased reliance on email as they migrated to Office 365, and in response to the growing mobility of their users, they deployed a unified wireless solution between all stores, allowing users to seamlessly move between networks with minimal effort.

“Growth and change are the constants here. We are always looking to expand to meet the needs of our customers. That puts a lot of pressure on our systems. Open Approach has really helped us to take on as much as we have. It’s been a great partnership.”

— Jennifer LaRock, Office Manager at Champlain Valley Equipment

NORTHERN TIER CENTER FOR HEALTH

Northern Tier Center for Health (NoTCH) is a primary-care practice serving multiple locations throughout Vermont’s Franklin and Grand Isle counties. A federally-funded nonprofit corporation, Northern Tier’s team of compassionate and devoted health care professionals and support staff offer a full spectrum of health care services, including family medicine, obstetrics, internal medicine, behavioral health, pharmacy, lab, and general dentistry.

SOLUTION

Open Approach began working with NoTCH mid-2015, filling the void when a critical internal IT employee left unexpectedly. Work commenced quickly with a sizable project to restructure NoTCH’s backup environment, simplifying and automating backups for their entire server infrastructure, including offsite replication of vital data. Next up was a deep evaluation of network security and firewall configurations, resulting in a significant simplification and hardening of the rule set, which in turn reduced complexity and increased manageability. Along with this came enhanced flexibility for users to roam freely across their multi-site network — and resulted in more than $20,000 in annual savings.

“We needed a resource with the appropriate skillset who could come up to speed quickly, cost less money and have greater availability. The Open Approach philosophy matches ours to a tee.”

— Andrew Hoadley, IT Manager at NoTCH

MOMENTUM MANUFACTURING GROUP

Leveraging nearly 40 years of expertise, Momentum Manufacturing Group is the result of an effort to build a comprehensive set of end-to-end metalwork and manufacturing services. From prototype review and value engineering, small batch or mass production of a part or integrated sub-assembly of parts, all the way through to complete assembly of a finished good ready to ship or sell, Momentum brings simplicity and efficiency to metal manufacturing challenges and has the skills and experience to get it done right.

Today these four business units are now unified and operate under the umbrella of Momentum Manufacturing Group: NSA Industries LLC, Vitex Extrusion LLC, Metal Tronics LLC, and KC Precision Machining LLC.

SOLUTION

Open Approach has worked with NSA, now Momentum Manufacturing Group, since 2008 to support the systems infrastructure required to maintain the reputation that they’ve built. Early on, a high availability virtual environment replaced their collection of outdated physical servers. This paved the way to support a variety of business demands, such as remote access, a robust phone system, standardized workstations, and multi-site networking for all users across the entire organization. As Momentum grows, OA’s latest work has been to facilitate the integration of acquired companies by extending the computer environment into new locations.

“Open Approach has become part of the [Momentum] team. Our concerns become their concerns and are worked through together.”

— Jeff Keyworth, Process Engineer at Momentum Manufacturing Group

MARINE ENGINE

Marine Engine is an online retailer in Brandon, Vermont, that provides boat motor repair information and parts to both boat owners and mechanics across the country. Marine Engine has had a large online presence for over 17 years, selling everything from boat motor parts to engine repair manuals, accessories, and supplies. They also maintain an active discussion forum that provides a wealth of knowledge for boat owners everywhere.

SOLUTION

Open Approach teamed up with Marine Engine nearly a decade ago when their IT needs began to overwhelm the quickly growing business. Due to the important nature of Marine Engine’s online presence, Open Approach established redundant internet circuits from different providers with automatic failover to serve those high-availability needs. They were able to perform an email migration from in-house Exchange to the more dependable and robust Office 365, and built up a modern virtual infrastructure as the company backbone. Today Marine Engine is sailing smoothly, and OA continues to monitor, maintain, and be readily available should any needs arise.

“We recognized the need for network support beyond what we could do on an ad-hoc basis, and we wanted a solid business to cover that realm for us. OA is always available for discussion surrounding issues or whatever comes up, and there’s nothing out of bounds.”

— Andrew Menkart, owner of Marine Engine