When you’re the Safety Director of an organization that provides integrated project solutions in the oil and gas industry like Colt Anderson is, you can’t be the only one keeping an eye on your information technology needs. No, with a robust business like RCS, you need an IT company that’s up to the challenge. Enter Dewayne Chappell and his team at Divergys. Although this partnership is still fairly fresh, RCS has made great strides with its cybersecurity protocols while striking the perfect balance between in-house and outsourced IT services with a Co-Managed solution.
Tech Troubles
Colt joined RCS in 2007, only six months after the company’s creation, and worked his way up from being the low man on the totem pole to where he is today. Fast forward to a few years ago, and the company’s in-house IT person was ready to move on to another position. Before leaving, the employee promised to help find an IT firm to outsource their services to, which led Colt to recommend Divergys. “I had heard about Divergys through my wife, so I mentioned their name. I was pretty disappointed when our previous IT tech didn’t choose them, but I figured he had chosen a good alternative,” Colt explains. Unfortunately for the organization, this alternative option didn’t turn out to be a great fit.
After about two years with this other IT firm, Colt and his team had had enough. “Our organization has over 300 employees and many moving parts. The problem was that this previous firm wasn’t very quick to resolve problems, and they were only on-site once a week,” says Colt. “If we had problems on a Thursday, but they were just here yesterday, we’d have to wait basically a whole other week for them to come look at our problem. Obviously, this was frustrating, so I started to think there had to be a better way to organize our IT.” Colt adds, “I’m pretty good with tech. I’m not professionally trained or anything, but I can handle basic technology fixes.” As a result, Colt reached out to Dewayne and his team at Divergys to see if they could help. “I told them that we missed having the benefits of an on-site IT person but that we needed additional support with things like cybersecurity,” says Colt. “It was at this point that Dewayne and I talked about the logistics of a Co-Managed solution, and I remember thinking immediately, ‘This sounds like exactly what we need.’” And thus, their partnership began.
Down With Divergys
At this time, it’s only been a few short months of their partnership, and already, the benefits of the Co-Managed IT relationship are beginning to permeate throughout the organization. Says Colt, “One of the biggest hurdles we had was actually our staff. At first, they took some time to get used to the changes we were making, especially with things like multi-factor authentication and website browsing. But, funny enough, now I’m getting reports back from the people who were very vocal about hating it that they are actually loving it. I think it’s because Divergys does cybersecurity training that highlights the importance of being diligent and the potential risks, so they’re starting to realize that a cyberattack could impact not only their work but also their personal lives.”
Not to mention, these upgraded cybersecurity protocols began to catch cyber threats to the organization immediately upon implementation. “The previous company we worked with set us up with an antivirus, and that was about it,” Colt recalls. “When Divergys came in, I noticed a big difference right away. For example, as soon as they started implementing their DNS, we discovered that a rogue search engine had overtaken one of our employees’ computers. There’s no telling how long this had been going on or what these cybercriminals could have done had they gotten any sensitive information, but it felt good to know that Divergys had identified and eliminated this threat.”
The Best of Both Worlds
Regarding the overall experience, Colt says “[c]oming from our previous situation with the other IT company, it was like a breath of fresh air partnering with Divergys. Their communication is seamless, they have fast response times, and their customer service is unparalleled. Our Co-Managed relationship has been operating perfectly, with me handling things like printer malfunctions and computer problems in-house and them handling the security side of things. And honestly, it’s like a perfect match.” When people first hear about Co-Managed IT, they often think it means that their IT person is going to lose their job, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. As Colt explains, “you’re not going to get run out of your job. They’re more of a help and a resource than anything, and, in our case, it was a big money saver that also made us more efficient. It was a win-win. The only thing I wish is that we had started working with them sooner.”
Now, Colt can focus on his safety position while helping his colleagues with their in-house IT needs without worrying that the background technology services need covering. He knows that Dewayne and his team are constantly working to bolster their cybersecurity to keep them as protected as possible. Ultimately, by taking the bulk of the cybersecurity services off Colt’s plate, he and his team can get back to doing what they do best—providing integrated solutions for specialized projects throughout the oil and gas industry. So, if you need an experienced and dedicated IT firm to help strengthen your cybersecurity protocols and formulate the perfect Co-Managed IT solution, contact Dewayne Chappell and his team at Divergys today!
