Oregon Screen Impressions

Established in 1984, Oregon Screen Impressions (OSI) is the largest screen printing and embroidery company in the Pacific Northwest. In keeping with its Northwest roots, the company is dedicated to doing business in an ecological, humanitarian fashion, and the company’s success is due not only to its commitment to excellence, but to its commitment to maintaining a team of talented hardworking employees. The company’s high standards also extend to the infrastructure that supports its business.

So, when OSI became frustrated with its prior IT service firm’s lack of technical knowledge and reluctance to be pro-active in taking steps to prevent problems, even though a representative visited them weekly, they decided to make a change.

“We evaluated the option of hiring an IT employee versus contracting with a different outside firm to service our network with approximately 70 workstations and 4 servers,” said Carrie Hill, OSI’s Human Resources Manager. “The cost of an internal employee with Polar Systems’ experience would have been a lot more than contracting with Polar for the PolarStar service, and we really don’t have the need for a full-time IT person.”

“Polar’s network service is indispensable to us,” continued Hill. “Without the PolarStar service, we wouldn’t be able to keep current with our software and we would have a hard time maintaining functional backup systems.  Whereas our previous firm focused on letting problems happen and then fixing them, Polar Systems people try to project potential problems and work on preventive measures.”

“Recently, we had the need to obtain a particular software program that was required by one of our customers, and Polar Systems’ engineer researched the software we needed, installed it, and made sure that it worked,” said Carrie. “Our Polar Systems engineer makes regular visits to our site to help with things like adding new workstations or upgrading our backup capability, but they’re available to help whenever we have a special need – all that we need to do is call their help desk.”

“We know that we have saved money when we compare labor dollars with the cost of the service,” added Carrie. “The value of working with a group that has the integrity of Polar Systems is huge.”

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YoCream

YoCream International, Inc., with headquarters and a dairy and manufacturing facility in Portland, OR, is a pioneer and leading producer of frozen yogurt. Founded in 1977, YoCream produces, markets, and sells frozen yogurt, ice cream, and frozen custard mixes as well as fruit and dairy smoothies and frozen beverages. The Company has 30 years experience of providing solutions to the away-from-home foodservice market.

When YoCream I S Manager Brad Gaylor was looking for an IT service provider three years ago, he turned to Polar Systems.

As the company’s lone IT specialist, Brad doesn’t have the time to get involved in the nuts and bolts of network hardware and software management. He looks to Polar Systems to provide that help.

“I didn’t have enough work for a qualified IT person,” said Brad. “And I was concerned about one individual having the diversity of experience that I needed to support our department. Polar Systems was recommended to me by another IT company as being the right size organization to meet our needs.”

YoCream signed up with Polar Systems for its PolarStar network services support program, which includes remote monitoring of YoCream’s network on a full time basis, plus problem troubleshooting, connectivity assistance, and software and hardware upgrades as necessary.

“They provide all the support that I need,” says Brad. “I rely on their technical expertise. Whenever I need an upgrade of network hardware they handle it for me.”

“For example, we do electronic invoicing with one of our customers,” continued Brad.  “The service requires that we have a secure communications line.  Polar Systems made a recommendation of a device that would provide this and we contracted with them to purchase and install the solution.”

“A year ago, Polar provided us with backup hardware and software when we needed to upgrade our system, and ever since, the system has been safe, secure, and reliable,” says Brad.

“The remote monitoring that Polar Systems provides with the PolarStar program has been particularly valuable,” noted Brad Gaylor. “A Polar engineer notifies me whenever they see irregularities in our system operation or issues that need attention. 

“For example, we recently ran into a problem where we were reaching capacity on one of our servers,” Gaylor continued. “Polar flagged the problem and recommended a long-term solution, and they are currently helping us put that solution in place.” 
The PolarStar remote monitoring service also helps YoCream by updating the service patches and cleaning up files remotely.  “There is very little that they can’t do remotely,” says Brad.

When an on-site visit is required, someone drops by from Polar to install hardware or make an update as needed.

“I see Polar Systems not as a vendor but as my expert IT partner,” concluded Brad.  “Polar is very good at what they do and are highly responsive to my needs.”

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McGee Financial Case Study

A family-oriented business, McGee Financial Strategies, Inc. has been serving the financial planning and wealth management needs of clients in the Northwest for over 30 years.  Through a comprehensive process they design and implement financial plans based on their clients’ unique goals and values and those of their families and businesses.  The firm is known for taking a holistic approach to planning, considering the needs of the entire family across multiple generations and for building strong, lasting relationships that are based on mutual respect and trust.

As with many relatively small service companies, one of the principals at McGee played the role of company “IT person” for a while, and that was satisfactory as long as the network remained relatively simple.  But things changed as the company’s information needs grew.  “We needed to go from a peer-to-peer network to something more sophisticated,” said Linette Dobbins, McGee Financial’s President, “and we recognized the need for professional help.”

“We asked around and talked to other people who had bad experiences with network consultants,” continued Linette. “And then a friend of one of our employees referred us to Polar Systems.” 

“We didn’t consider hiring an inside IT staffer for two reasons,” said Linette. “First of all, we’re too small. There are just 17 of us.  Secondly, we like outsourcing because having an outside firm manage our system keeps our information secure.  We would rather not have an employee responsible for this.  By outsourcing to someone we can trust, we keep our information confidential.”

Polar Systems’ support role at McGee Financial extends beyond data networking to other critical areas of the enterprise.  Within the last 12 months, Polar installed a Cisco VoIP phone system to replace a conventional system that had been working since 1992.  Considering the importance of a phone network to financial planners and considering that conservative financial people are often wary of technology change, the fact that the conversion went smoothly was a good thing.  Polar made the new system work side-by-side the old system for a period of time in order to make sure there were no problems.  “Our transition went miraculously smoothly,” concluded Linette Dobbins.

During the early years of their relationship, Polar Systems billed McGee by the hour for the service they provided, but recently McGee has signed up for Polar Systems’ PolarStar network service, whereby for a regular monthly fee, Polar handles routine maintenance of McGee’s system and automatically takes care of things such as managing backups, maintaining system security, and making software updates.  As a standard part of the service, Polar Systems remotely monitors McGee’s network to insure that any potential problems are addressed before they threaten the integrity of the system.

“We know we’re getting value from the PolarStar system because the polar guys meet with us regularly to prove it to us,” said Linette. “Coming out to visit us quarterly is part of the service.” 

 “Trust is a critical element in our business,” reiterates Dobbins. “Because our clients demand a financial services provider that they can trust, we in turn demand that our service providers be equally trustworthy.  And Polar Systems has honored our trust.”

“We have had only good experiences with Polar,” Dobbins continued. “They share our core values.  As a result, I have referred them to many other people.”

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Ride Connection gets a “Lift” from Polar Systems

When Portland-based Ride Connection was faced with filling a position vacated by an in-house IT staff member, they turned to Polar Systems to fill the gap.

Incorporated in 1988, Ride Connection arranges transportation for older adults and people with disabilities throughout the Portland metropolitan area by contracting with local transportation providers. The organization’s diverse range of services include providing transportation for low-income job seekers and providing information and training on how to use mass-transit to older adults who may not have used it before. 

Ride Connection’s business is growing and promises to continue to grow at a fast pace as the population of Portland-area baby-boomers reaches the age where they are driving less, so planning for future capacity increases is key in the minds of Ride Connection executives. A significant portion of the organization’s ridership is already being arranged by grown children who are looking for transportation for their elderly parents.

Currently, Ride Connection employs a staff of 31. Their network is supported by three servers and the organization’s phone system is implemented using VoIP. Database management and tracking is an important portion of the IT mix, because the organization’s funding depends on matching individual rider costs with specific funding sources (reimbursement money comes from the Oregon Department of Transportation and TriMet, among other sources). Ride Connection also employs a sophisticated route scheduling and dispatching management software package called RouteMatch to schedule trips.
 
It would have been difficult for Ride Connection to hire an internal IT resource to handle all the network and software maintenance work that is required to support an operation of this level of sophistication. In the past, the organization depended on an internal IT staffer, and when a new challenge came up, that person would often need to do research on the problem before being able to solve it, which would take time.  For example, they invested in some servers, but they were not immediately put into operation because of other in-house priorities and because Ride Connection’s on-staff IT person at the time was not sure how to set up the hardware to fully meet the organization’s needs.

In mid-2007 an alternative to meeting Ride Connection’s IT needs arose when the organization was contacted by Polar Systems, who volunteered to audit the organization’s IT resources. In the process, Polar was able to resolve the server problem that had confounded Ride Connection’s former IT staff member and was able to get the system up and running smoothly within two weeks. After that, Ride Connection signed up for Polar’s ongoing network management service, PolarStar.

Josh Cansler, Ride Connection’s Executive Administrator and HR Manager, has been impressed with the Polar team’s depth of knowledge. “With the PolarStar service, I can call for help anytime,” said Josh.  “If the person at Polar that answers the phone doesn’t have the answer, someone else at the company is sure to know what the answer is. It’s no longer necessary for us to spend hours researching IT issues.”

As part of the PolarStar monthly maintenance service, Polar Systems representatives handle all the software upgrades needed by Ride Connection, which have in recent months included an upgrade of all three servers to Windows server 2003 and Microsoft Exchange, upgrading of all employee workstations to Windows XP (from Windows 2000), and installation of Office 2007 on all workstations. Polar is also available to help with special projects. For example, Ride Connection is currently working with Polar Systems to expand the organization’s VoIP call center service to provide better call management.

The PolarStar service includes a Quarterly Business Review where strategic guidance is provided to help Ride Connection plan for future network needs. Polar also provides a monthly report that is very useful to Ride Connection’s administrators. The report tracks the operating system version and license agreements applying to each computer on the network, as well as spam filter statistics (34,000 spams and 9 viruses were trapped and prevented from affecting Ride Connection’s computers in one recent month). 

Polar’s network support staff is able to do most of their work remotely. They do remote monitoring of Ride Connection’s system using powerful tools that tell them in detail what is going on in order to avoid problems that might otherwise cause damage to the system. For example, Polar’s tools are able to tell if a member of Ride Connection’s office staff fails to replace a recorded backup tape with a clean one for the next backup cycle. Polar is also notified if someone at Ride Connection downloads an executable file from the Internet.

“Polar’s remote monitoring gives us tremendous peace of mind,” said Josh Cansler. “With them monitoring our network behind the scenes, we don’t need to worry about the network crashing.” 

When software patches are needed, Polar does them remotely, unlike the old days when an IT person would need to walk from computer to computer and load the disks manually.

“If I can’t figure out what’s going on with my computer,” says Josh, “Polar can dial in remotely and diagnose and repair the problem, usually without even coming to my office.”

Sometimes, computers will have issues that can’t be resolved remotely. In these cases, Polar sends in a technician to resolve the problems. It is in instances such as these where the quality of an IT staff is really tested by their customers. In the case of Polar’s people, Ride Connection’s staff has had a very pleasant experience since day one.

To quote Josh Cansler: “From my observations, Polar Systems prides itself on hiring individuals with the balance of IT skill and customer service orientation that traditionally do not come hand in hand. It’s those unique individuals that make Polar Systems what it is today. I have always had a positive experience working with the Polar team.”

“Polar Systems removes the IT hassles so we can focus on our mission,” concludes Josh.