| Even the Largest of Enterprises Benefit from Groupware’s Technical Expertise |
| Even large enterprises filled with tech-savvy employees can benefit from Groupware Technology’s personal touch and
expertise. One of Groupware’s largest customers is a well-known fl ash-memory data storage vendor with hundreds of
patents, annual revenues of about $2 billion and a world-renowned line of products. Although an enterprise of this size
is home to many technology experts, Groupware’s storage expertise prevented the company from making an IT decision
that didn’t serve their best interests. |
| In the past, this customer relied on Groupware to supply technology, primarily servers, for its engineering department.
While discussing a number of installations and issues with Groupware representatives, IT executives mentioned plans
to purchase a new storage solution. Groupware had not previously supplied this customer with storage solutions, but it
possessed in-depth knowledge of the company’s IT needs and goals. |
| Taking a Step Back |
| “Their management was set on purchasing a particular storage solution for their
engineering department, and were confident they were getting a great deal,” said
Groupware Vice President of Sales, Scott Sutter. Since the company used the
products in other departments, the engineering department assumed it would also
be a good fit for their engineering and design team’s needs. Groupware’s team wasn’t so sure. |
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| Groupware makes it its business to understand the IT and business needs of every client. “We said, `this purchase may
not be the best fit for the applications and needs of your engineering department,’” said Sutter. Groupware suggested
that a team of Groupware storage specialists conduct a comprehensive assessment. These in-depth and detailed
assessments, one of Groupware’s specialties, always take into account the specific business practices and requirements
of each customer. The goal is to leverage existing investments and ensure new purchases deliver ROI. |
| Digging Deep Pays Off for the Customer |
| Despite having committed to the storage purchase, the company executives agreed that an assessment would be a
wise move, but they made no commitment to buy anything recommended by Groupware. “Because they have the
trusted confidence in my technology team, they listened to our advice,” said Sutter. “Ultimately, we were stepping in
as an advisor.” |
| In-depth and detailed storage assessments, one of Groupware’s specialties, consider the business practices and
goals of customers. Contracted to conduct the assessment, Groupware was charged with in-depth analysis of current
systems to determine how to best leverage the customer’s existing engineering backup systems. |
| Groupware’s professional services experts spent four days investigating the enterprise’s storage practices, requirements
and goals. They emerged with a report that showed that the current engineering backup infrastructure,
including the planned purchase, did meet the immediate needs of the user community, but in the event of a disaster
or failure, it could not meet the customer’s disaster recovery plan requirements. |
| A Better Plan – A Better Backup Solution |
| Sutter urges Groupware’s sales and technical personnel to take a consultative approach when visiting clients, especially
when it means preventing the customer from making a decision that doesn’t serve the best interests of their
business. Groupware consultants designed a two-phase backup architecture for the customer that included improvements
in hardware and software that would enhance performance, scale better, and meet the company’s business recovery point and recovery
time objectives in the event of a disaster. |
| The company executives agreed with Groupware’s assessment,
cancelled the prior order and contracted with Groupware to configure,
implement and test the new backup architecture and train the their staff
to manage it. The customer was so pleased with the Groupware solution,
that it purchased more storage from Groupware. Sutter stated, “Our technical expertise, |
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| foresight and the responsiveness
of our sales team has earned us one of our best customers.” |
| Sutter gave the customer credit for being open-minded enough to consider Groupware’s suggestion. “It was a very
competitive environment,” he said. “But they were smart enough to take a step back and not just look at hardware
or price but their longer term needs and goals. What they got was a backup solution that is a better fi t for their
engineering department; a solution which makes its employees more productive, saves their company money and
enables them to produce better products.” |
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