The challenge
Need for reliable, highly scalable IT infrastructure
To set itself apart from other MSP solutions in the market, Vector Choice began implementing a high growth strategy to increase its footprint while still delivering the reliable IT services its clients require.
“Vector Choice started with one location in Atlanta, and we increased our service offices through organic growth and acquisitions,” said Will Nobles, Chief Executive Officer for Vector Choice. “Our leadership team brings a unique combination of technical and business acumen that our clients value. We needed an IT infrastructure partner that could grow with us and provide comprehensive IT solutions needed to support not only our company but also our clients. By executing on our growth strategy, Vector Choice meets the needs of a diverse client universe.”
In addition to becoming one of the fastest growing MSPs in the nation, the company emerged over the last three years as a “Managed Security Service Provider” that clients rely upon to go beyond providing a firewall and anti-virus protection, and entrust to implement a full-spectrum security package. Strict adherence to its clients’ security and compliance requirements, particularly in the healthcare and legal sectors, compelled Nobles to seek a trusted, reliable IT infrastructure solution.
“Outsourcing IT and finding the right partner is critical for the security of a business. Just like companies purchase insurance ‘just in case’ something bad happens, Vector Choice is the solution companies choose ‘just in case’ something happens from a security perspective,” explained Nobles. “We proactively monitor clients’ environments with the proper tools in place to keep them healthy and secure. When clients’ internal IT staff are focusing on day-to-day operations, we can work in the background to protect the infrastructure and environments from security threats. Vector Choice, therefore, requires a highly secure IT environment to deliver our services to clients.”
Streaming cybersecurity messages to educate
While implementing this high-growth strategy as CEO of Vector Choice, Nobles has also launched a broader multi-media effort by producing documentaries about cybercrime to educate the public and increase awareness among businesses about the importance of security. Nobles released one documentary on Amazon and is scheduled to release a second film in the beginning of 2021 as part of his commitment to explore the world of cybercrimes and demonstrate how businesses and individuals can protect themselves.
“The goals with these documentaries are to offer relevant content and educate individuals and businesses regarding the importance of cybersecurity” said Nobles. “We strive to provide valuable insight and glean from leading cybersecurity experts across the nation.”
Amidst the immense growth of its business and ongoing educational efforts through documentary films, Vector Choice began searching for an IT infrastructure partner to provide reliable, highly secure and scalable solutions to meet its dynamic needs.
The solution
Hybrid IT infrastructure delivers security, reliability and control to enrich customer solutions
The circuitous path Vector Choice took to find the right IT solution started with running and maintaining its own infrastructure with an outside data center in the Atlanta area, transitioning to a cloud vendor, moving its environment to an on-premises location, and ultimately tapping Flexential as its IT partner to provide a hybrid solution that integrates colocation and cloud services to the organization.
The decision to choose Flexential as its hybrid IT provider was based upon multiple factors including the reliability of the services and data centers; the straightforward, consistent cost structure; the scalability of the robust product offering; and most importantly – the Flexential team.
“Vector Choice was looking for a company that could provide all aspects of product offerings and service needed to support our MSP operations,” said Nobles. “The team at Flexential works with Vector Choice to create tailored solutions for our clients. We benefit and our clients benefit from having the Flexential expertise that functions as an extension of our own team. Vector Choice views Flexential as a partner rather than a vendor. We can count on Flexential to deliver the IT infrastructure to Vector Choice’s clients and couldn’t do many aspects of our business without Flexential.”
To achieve the required reliability to support its customers’ IT initiatives, Vector Choice utilizes Flexential colocations services in its Atlanta – Norcross data center. Offering N+1 power and cooling, the data center delivers the redundancy to deliver 100% uptime.
Other key selling points to the Flexential solution are its security and compliance capabilities. Flexential security experts monitor and respond to threats 24/7 to mitigate vulnerabilities and safeguard operations. Physical access to the facility and data corridors are secured via dual-factor authentication, biometric scanners, 4-zone security access and monitored security cameras and intercom systems.
Flexential also adheres to regulatory requirements and industry standards to help its customers meet their own compliance obligations. Its audit-ready facilities and compliant cloud infrastructure promote the security and availability of Vector Choice’s environment. Flexential’s compliance documentation is available to customers to help ease the auditing process. In fact, Vector Choice promotes these compliance reporting capabilities as a shared benefit for both its organization and its clients.
The company also deploys the Flexential multi-tenant cloud out of the Flexential Atlanta – Norcross data center. This cost-effective, scalable environment offers the agility of the public cloud without sacrificing security and compliance and is tailored to best meet the evolving needs of its clients. It also offers a high level of visibility and control of the environment via a self-service portal and is backed by an SLA guaranteeing 99.9999% availability of cloud compute and 100% availability of cloud network infrastructure.
Vector Choice technicians can access their clients’ environments through the Flexential portal and make changes as needed. Unlike previous IT providers, this access to the portal is a differentiator of Flexential that Vector Choice can use to better serve its clients.
The results
A different approach to client experience achieves 100% retention
Choosing Flexential to provide tailored solutions that empower its IT journey allowed Vector Choice to focus on delivering its fresh approach to customer service in the MSP market. Since becoming a Flexential customer in 2016, Vector Choice has retained 100% of its managed service customers because of improved reliability, uptime and security as well as the company’s ability to focus more on its core business of serving IT clients.
“While we are saving money by partnering with Flexential, more importantly, we are saving clients,” said Nobles. “Because of the 100% uptime and reliability, Vector Choice has kept every one of our managed service clients since transitioning to Flexential’s data center. Vector Choice clients also benefit from the consistent cost structure we are able to provide them resulting from our partnership with Flexential.”
Among the differentiators Vector Choice offers its customers are a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee for its managed services and a highly personalized client experience as evidenced by the promise that customers always speak with a technician when calling the support desk.
“A live tech answers every time a customer calls with a service issue and our team will start to work on a solution right then,” Nobles added. “Our customers do not have to leave a voicemail or message with a receptionist or ticket taker. We are committed to delivering a new level of client experience, and Flexential is a key part of that. I can sleep at night and don’t have to worry about our IT infrastructure because I know it will be always on with Flexential.”
