CASE STUDY: Equation Staffing’s Cloud Adoption Journey

CASE STUDY: Equation Staffing’s Cloud Adoption Journey

Equation Staffing Solutions is a Calgary based staffing agency providing permanent staff, temporary staff, contract staff, payroll services, HR services, recruitment process outsourcing and software skill evaluations to businesses in Calgary, Edmonton and throughout western Canada – across all industries. They operate by the adage “Hire great people and stay out of their way.” This article outlines the Equation Staffing’s cloud adoption journey.

We spoke with Ken Vinge, President of Equation Staffing for this case study. He has three decades of staffing experience in Alberta and founded Equation in 2017.

CHALLENGE: A low-maintenance, high functioning IT environment with remote workforce capabilities

Equation Staffing understood that IT needed to be a tool for improving their competitive advantage through efficiency. Equation wanted their technology to be reliable, up-to-date and accessible anywhere. As staffing experts, they wanted to focus their energy on their core business: recruitment. Vinge wondered, “How can we be the most efficient at our jobs without thinking about IT daily?”

Equation Staffing needed to decide what kind of technology environment would work best for them. While employed at a previous staffing firm, Vinge had explored buying servers and other infrastructure to store large amounts of data. He had also explored shifting to a cloud environment. It was during this research that he met Ryan Richardet, SysGen’s President, and where he saw the benefits of cloud adoption.

Vinge approached SysGen after founding Equation Staffing in 2017 with a request: a comprehensive, efficient IT solution for the modern work environment.

SOLUTION: Cloud adoption, accessible anywhere, with a seamless user experience

After understanding how Vinge wanted his technology environment to operate, SysGen drafted a plan and recommended that Equation Staffing move to the SysGen Cloud Atmosphere, as well as use web-based applications such as Microsoft Office 365. Vinge agreed, with cloud adoption satisfying Vinge’s requests including:

Cost

Utility style pricing ensures that data storage space is paid for as needed. There are no delays in expanding capacity, or waste in unused capability. As Vinge’s company continues to grow, it is easy to onboard new employees and purchase more storage. Or, in a recession, downsize the amount of storage required. With Atmosphere, you only pay for what you use. Additionally, when not paying for large servers, this capital can be used to invest in other parts of the business.

Quality Infrastructure

Atmosphere uses the highest quality infrastructure available. The Equation has access to premium-grade enterprise-level facilities, at a cost small and medium businesses can afford. Hardware is stored in a Tier 3 data center, the safest, most secure facility available. Plus, the data is kept on a Lenovo server, the #1 most reliable appliance for 3 years running. Nutanix is the hyper-convergence infrastructure used for virtualized computing that has won numerous performance awards.

Reliability

With high-quality infrastructure and a secure data facility, as well as an additional data backup in a remote location should anything in the facility happen, data is accessible no matter the situation. Additionally, using cloud-based products such as Word through Office 365 guarantees that the software is always up to date and that all security holes are patched. Because the Equation experience was set-up entirely in the cloud, updates occur across all machines simultaneously so that when an employee logs in, 55 updates aren’t required. An employee can guarantee that their desktop will start reliably.

Working Remotely

By basing Equation’s technology environment in the cloud, users can achieve the same desktop experience anywhere, whether they’re at the office or elsewhere in the world. For example, Vinge traveled to Scotland on vacation and was able to have the same work experience there as he did in Calgary.

Scalability

With everything managed and controlled in the cloud, the scaling Equation is simple. Outside of the core staff, Equation may train client employees for educational purposes, requiring twelve additional users on the network. With the cloud, it’s easy to connect to the network and access all necessary files with a laptop. Additionally, if Equation hired six new employees tomorrow, the onboarding process would be simple. Equation would purchase six new thin client laptops, create usernames and load the new computers onto the network. An additional server wouldn’t need to be purchased, or hours of labor to set-up each laptop with the required software and files.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality was a critical consideration for Equation. They have a significant amount of confidential client information that cannot be exposed, as it would impact Equation’s reputation. Cybersecurity components were built into the cloud experience that Equation implemented, including two-factor authentication, firewalls and phishing prevention. These safeguards ensure that information saved and worked on from the cloud is kept safe and in Canada.

OUTCOME: Equation can focus on what they do best – Staffing Solutions

For Ken Vinge, cloud adoption “has been fantastic. If you’re scoring the experience out of a ten, it would be very close to a ten.”

With the SysGen Atmosphere, Equation doesn’t have to spend hours a week waiting for computer updates or trying to log in to a remote desktop. Employee uptime is better, longer and more consistent. Staff and management can spend more time on the business of staffing and not on the business of understanding the IT environment.

“There’s a certain level of capability, dependability, trust, and reliability that you attach to a managed service, like SysGen Atmosphere,” says Vinge. “When I look at that relationship, it gets the highest marks. SysGen is proactive. They keep the technology environment up and running and your data safe. And that’s what you expect from a partner. Being able to outsource has assured us that we’ve chosen the right partner from a business perspective.”

CLICK HERE to learn more about SysGen’s cloud service offering, Atmosphere. Find SysGen’s IT support and managed IT services in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Vernon, and Kelowna. Learn more about SysGen’s cloud offering, cybersecurity services, and digital advisory team by clicking here.