Solving IT Strain: Building a Foundation for Growth Through Collaborative Managed Services
A leading market research firm, specializing in providing strategic insights to businesses, faced significant challenges with its previous Managed Service Provider (MSP).
The provider's lack of proactive support and exclusive reliance on existing documentation led to operational challenges. This hindered the internal IT team's ability to focus on strategic projects crucial for business growth.
Partnering with Burwood Group, the firm transitioned to a more responsive and collaborative managed services model. This partnership not only resolved persistent end-user support issues but also freed up the internal IT team to drive innovation, enabling the firm to better serve its clients and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
The Problem: Operational Drag and Stifled Innovation
The firm's small internal IT team was struggling to keep up with user demands due to the previous MSP's passive approach. Issues lingered unresolved if a documented solution didn't exist, forcing the internal team to handle tickets that should have been managed by the MSP.
This constant operational drag consumed valuable time and resources, preventing the IT team from focusing on essential project work and strategic initiatives designed to enhance their core market research business. The lack of reliable, expert support also meant the internal team couldn't confidently lean on their MSP partner for guidance on best practices or technical challenges.
Key Challenges:
Inadequate MSP Support: The previous provider lacked proactive troubleshooting and often pushed back on issues without existing runbooks.
Internal IT Overload: The small internal team was bogged down with end-user support tasks, diverting them from strategic projects.
Operational Bottlenecks: Technology issues directly impacted the firm's ability to conduct its core market research business effectively.
The Solution: A Proactive and Collaborative Managed Services Partnership
Burwood Group implemented a comprehensive Managed Services solution encompassing both end-user support (Service Desk) and infrastructure management. This was a departure from the previous MSP, who focused primarily on end-user support.
Key Elements of the Solution:
Dedicated Service Desk: A dedicated team took ownership of end-user tickets, providing responsive and thorough support.
Proactive Troubleshooting & Knowledge Building: Unlike the prior MSP, Burwood committed to troubleshooting issues regardless of existing documentation, actively creating knowledge base (KB) articles to document processes and solutions for future efficiency.
Infrastructure Management: Burwood took on crucial infrastructure tasks, including firewall management and server patching on a regular cadence with detailed reporting, freeing up the internal team.
Collaborative Partnership: Burwood acted as an extension of the client's IT team, offering expertise, best practice guidance (e.g., for Office 365 security), and support for project work, going beyond the basic scope to ensure client success.
Structured Onboarding: The partnership began with on-site meetings to understand processes, establish needs, and set the foundation for a successful relationship.
Business Results:Restored Focus, Enhanced Efficiency, and Trusted Expertise
The transition to Burwood Group's Managed Services yielded significant positive impacts for the client:
Dramatically Reduced Internal IT Burden: Since going live, Burwood's Service Desk has resolved the vast majority (94%) of tickets. This represents a massive offloading of work.
Freed Up Strategic Capacity: By handling the bulk of end-user support and taking on infrastructure tasks like patching (saving an estimated 6-8 hours per month on patching alone), Burwood enabled the client's internal IT team to refocus on strategic projects and innovation.
Access to Trusted Expertise: The client gained a reliable partner to consult on technical challenges and best practices, saving them time and resources previously spent on external research or vendor consultations.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Consistent patching, proactive troubleshooting, and robust knowledge base creation led to smoother IT operations and quicker resolution times.
What’s Next?
Burwood Group is now working on a follow up project to promote the proof of value data platform to production, after which the organization’s goal of global self-service data access will be realized.
Burwood continues to be a key strategic partner for the organization’s data platform and strategy. Burwood’s consultants provide strategic input around iterations on existing data domains and data products. Burwood consultants also assist with scoping new business requirements to design new data domains and data products for promotion onto the data mesh platform. Additionally, Burwood’s Managed Service will provide Tier 1 monitoring and support to the data mesh platform.
Take control of your infrastructure.
From infrastructure monitoring to a complete outsourced solution, Burwood Group can create an operational support model that works for your business. Contact our team today to get started.
Burwood Expertise:
Managed Service Infrastructure
Managed Service Desk
Client Information:
A leading full-service market research and strategy firm known for its consultative approach, advanced analytics, and commitment to helping global brands innovate and grow.
About Burwood Group
Burwood Group, Inc. is an IT consulting and integration firm. For over 25 years we’ve enabled our clients to design, use, and manage technology to transform their business and improve outcomes. Our technical depth resides in voice, network, wireless, data center, storage, and security infrastructure technologies. Today, we merge this foundational knowledge with renewed expertise in cloud, DevOps, automation, collaboration, and more. Whether you are developing strategy, deploying technology, or creating an operational model, Burwood is a dedicated partner.
To learn more, visit burwood.com
