Our Methodology
- Discovery meeting
- This is usually a phone call. We discuss what your needs are, what your goals are, and how we can help. We provide a rough overview of what we can do for your situation and a general idea of how we should proceed. Our job here is to manage expectations to make sure everyone has a preliminary plan and is on the same page. Finally, we schedule the site review which normally takes 2-4 hours.
- Site Review – A flat fee service we offer to all new clients.
- We arrive at your office and sit down with you to make sure we are still on the same page and to gather any additional information about current issues or future plans. The client will give us credentials to the equipment in the office so that we can get started. Then we transition into the site review where we will examine all servers, networking equipment, some PCs, and some devices. During this time the business is still fully operational, we’re making no changes and simply documenting everything we see. The goal of the review is to gather as much of an understanding about the business and the way it operates in addition to how the equipment is configured. Frequently we will work with end-users to evaluate how they work on a regular basis, document their procedures, software, issues, and frustrations. The servers and networking equipment are gone over with a fine tooth comb from a best practices and standards perspective. Event logs, hardware logs, configuration of applications, available updates, services, and network devices are all looked at. The end result is many pages of technical notes that most of the time mean nothing to the client but it enables your technician to properly assess the current functionality, security, and performance of your overall network. It also allows us to service you better as we will already have most of the information we will need to service your business immediately following the site review. Before we leave, we will sit down with you again to discuss some of the immediate concerns and how everything fits together with the needs and plans of what was previously discussed.
- Technology Plan
- After we have the documentation for everything and a good idea of what the client wants we prepare a basic presentation. Usually a one or two-page document highlighting some of the immediate concerns as well as the needs/wants and plans for the business. We will return to your office and sit down for a formal meeting with the decision makers to go over our findings. At this time, we will work with you to find a plan to address everything in an order and capacity that you are comfortable with. After the meeting is concluded we will get started on preparing proposals and composing a comprehensive plan for all the work to be done. Once everything is in your hands we will adjust proposals and plans until everything is just right and orders are placed.
- Implementation
- Once we have received all new equipment and/or software we will typically preconfigure as much as we can at our office. Most new equipment is allowed to run for at least 72 hours at load to ensure no manufacturer defects. As much of our time with initial installs is spent waiting on software to load or hardware to initialize this saves our clients money as we can start several things at once and move on to something else. This does not delay any projects but allows us to more efficiently utilize our time. By preconfiguring things at our office we can also avoid hefty service bills for waiting on things to happen. After everything is stable and ready to roll, we will schedule the install with you and offer an expectation of overall time and potential downtime.
When we arrive onsite, we will usually have a brief discussion to again make sure everyone is on the same page. Then, we get to work. While the work is ongoing, we will work with you and your business in general to address any issues as they occur while completing the current project. We will typically stage larger projects to minimize downtime and optimize the flow of work to prevent redundant or unnecessary service.
Once everything is complete we will work with you and everyone in your office to ensure things are running as smoothly as you would expect. We do not leave immediately after the work is completed, we will be there until you are completely satisfied and understand everything that has happened.
- Ongoing Support and Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance
- After everything is in place and functional we will continue to support your business. Whether it’s adding new users, making minor changes to a web filter, or starting a new project, we are here for everything you need. There may also be some minor lingering issues that we would address that wasn’t necessarily part of the initial project.
Part of that support is our monitoring and maintenance which allows us to ensure everything is running exactly as it should. This is the time we would implement new backups, antivirus, and update management.
- Annual Site Evaluation and Review
- After it has been a year, and every year going forward we will conduct a completely free semi-site review for your office. This allows us to continue to make recommendations for any things that are not ideal and to keep you informed of your overall business health. Large project planning usually starts here for current clients and can sometimes take six months or more before it actually begins. Our purpose here is not to sell you anything but to make you aware of things that could be better, new features or functionality, and potential issues.
Bridge Network Systems is your IT Partner which means you will always be taken care of by a truly capable team who loves what they do. From our largest clients to our smallest we will go that extra step to make sure that the service you receive is always nothing less than excellent. We don’t trap clients in with lengthy contracts so we must keep every single one as satisfied as possible. The bulk of our new business comes from referrals so we aim to take care of everyone the best way we possibly can.
We are willing to potentially sign non-disclosure agreements for the security of your business’s intellectual property or HIPAA and other federally mandated privacy documents.
