Adaptive Solutions, Inc.

For the past 10 years, Adaptive used a variety of technologies and found that this system had become too disconnected and lacked the capabilities they needed. The ability to collaborate and be more connected internally were two areas that Adaptive was looking to improve. After learning about Office 365, Microsoft recommended HCLTech as the partner that Adaptive should work with on their set up and transition. “Office 365 has a really compelling value proposition,” says Chris Ferrara, Managing Partner at Adaptive. “Within 20 minutes of looking at Microsoft’s Office 365 website we knew it would be a good investment for us.”

Overall, Adaptive needed a solution that would:

• Streamline business processes
• Provide a centralized location to easily share and review files internally
• Improve employees’ ability to work remotely and stay connected within the organization
• Facilitate quick, live communications between team members from around the country
• Offer the ability to hold remote, online meetings and share screens
• Simplify administration and maintenance

Adaptive needed a solution that would help them collaborate better and stay connected with their consultants located around the world. The ability to share information across the organization would allow their consultants to interact and consult with one another on customer projects. Office 365 features like online conferencing, chat through Lync, and screen sharing were key to their solution.

“While we were using disconnected technology that worked, there was a general lack of capabilities and we wanted to be more connected and be able to collaborate more,” says Ferrara. “Office 365 lets us collaborate more effectively and allows us to provide better value to our customers. Our consultants can now connect with each other, share ideas, and answer any questions.”

The improvements in team collaboration helps Adaptive handle larger client projects effortlessly. “Office 365 has changed the way we interact and helps us support our business processes more effectively. We can handle larger client projects with better collaboration,” Ferrara says.

The ability to efficiently share, edit, and review documents in real time helps keep projects and teams in sync and this was very important to Adaptive. With the Office 365 solution, it is now easier to manage their brand and standardize documents across the company through the creation of standardized templates with InfoPath.

From start to finish, Adaptive’s switch to Office 365 was a smooth and streamlined process, with minimal disruption to the organization’s operations. HCLTech provided the set-up of Adaptive’s Microsoft Office 365 account, performed a full email migration, changed existing DNS records to Office 365, and provided education to the Adaptive team to ensure successful user adoption.

For Adaptive, Office 365 has helped their organization stay connected with consultants located around the United States. “As a consulting firm, it is in our nature to be disconnected. Because we are spread out around the country, one can begin to feel alienated from the greater company,” says Ferrara. “The switch to Office 365 has been instrumental in bringing our team much closer together. Now we can easily connect virtually through Lync.”

Adaptive has experienced many other internal benefits from Office 365, such as a bolstered company culture. “Office 365 has helped strengthen our company culture. We use SharePoint and have intranet sites to share ideas, post pictures, communicate effectively, and promote our company values,” Ferrara says.

When Adaptive hires employees located around the country or overseas, they can easily continue their training remotely through screen shares. “This is really a competitive advantage for us in the market. From a hiring standpoint, new employees and prospects see Adaptive as highly organized as compared to other firms our size.”

Another major benefit for Adaptive is the simple administration and automated maintenance. “One of the greatest benefits is that it helps us function like a mature organization but with minimal support. It has been a really powerful solution for us,” Ferrara adds.

“As a small company, this has been our best tech investment to date. HCLTech has been very proactive, detail-oriented, and flexible throughout the process. Unlike so many other firms, HCLTech was proactive and predicted our needs. They came to us with ideas and suggestions long before we realized the need for it. It is clear that that HCLTech has a deep expertise in what they do and we are glad we engaged them on the project,” says Ferrara.