Defense Contractor Saves Time and Money with Managed Services

Challenge

HCI Integrated Solutions, established in 1995, is a defense contractor headquartered in Fairfax, VA, whose focus is on delivering technology solutions and quality staffing. With three locations across the United States, it is vital HCI keeps an up-to-date and efficient IT infrastructure. Before working with Meridian, HCI had been experiencing high turnover rates of IT personnel, and multiple issues resulting from IT services being handled by unqualified staff. A wide range of outdated technology within their office and various inefficient processes were costing HCI time and money. HCI turned to Meridian to take over their systems and improve them from “barely functioning to being able to operate at a level comparable to their competitors.”

Solution

Virtualizing the Environment

After reviewing the environment, the number of physical servers utilized by HCI was reduced from 8 to 2 as a result of virtualizing the environment. Meridian was able to move the information stored on each separate server to just one, with a second server being implemented as a security backup. Having two servers instead of eight means a more cost effective system and uses less power. After virtualizing HCI’s environment, Meridian performed a network refresh by replacing the outdated models of computers being used. These outdated models were operating on a Microsoft XP that was end of life, so replacing the older models with state of the art computer systems delivered another layer of increased productivity and security.

Updating the System

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution being used had not been updated for awhile, ultimately causing HCI a number of problems. In order to improve the process, Meridian performed the necessary updates which successfully eradicated the glitches. Meridian became the liaison between HCI and their CRM, which improved efficiency by providing a single point of contact for all IT concerns.

Upgrading ISP and Email

The internet service provider HCI was using in their existing contract was running at 1.5 MBPS. Through upgrading their Internet, Meridian was able to increase the MBPS from 1.5 to 30. With a new contract, Meridian’s managed services successfully delivered to HCI a faster internet speed at a significantly lower price.

With offices in Virginia and Michigan, dropped connections between offices were constantly a problem. The new contract provided by Meridian was able to fix this glitch and successfully improved communications and processes between their various offices. Finally, a hosted email plan and the use of company smart phones were creating more expenses for HCI than necessary. After further investigation, Meridian discovered a multitude of phone lines being paid for but not utilized. The company’s smart phone expenses were part of a separate plan, and by including smartphones within the email contract the total cost was reduced by a fourth. Although the plan to include the mobile devices was more expensive at first, it was worth it as HCI saved more money in the long run.

Meridian Solutions Package

• Network & Connectivity Repair
• Technical Troubleshooting
• Version Updates & Patches

Meridian Hardware Maintenance

• Priority Response Times
• Uptime Guarantees
• Preventive Maintenance
• Afterhours & On-call Service Available

Results

With Meridian’s Managed Services plan, HCI’s:

• Data is more secure with an improved disaster recovery plan.
• Employees experience more efficiency with updated computers.
• Connections between the Fairfax office and Michigan office are not dropped as frequently.
• Internet speed is much faster along with a new ISP contract at a lower cost.
• Company smart phones are incorporated into their email plan saving the company money.
• Offsite data backup provides improved security and better practice for disaster recovery.