“During my five years looking after I.T. for the Mayne Island Health Centre Association, I have always had a very positive experience with the support we get from Gennix. They understand the mission-criticality of I.T. for our operation, and the Help Desk has been unfailingly prompt, friendly and effective in dealing with our trouble calls. Gennix has also been very helpful with non-emergency matters: requests for advice or information, equipment upgrades and so on.”
"Gennix is infinitely better at communicating with our staff than our previous IT support firm."
Rick Swadden, Managing Partner
Swadden and Company, Barristers & Solicitors
From the window of his 14th-floor office in downtown Vancouver, Rick Swadden enjoyed a spectacular view of the beautiful west coast city. What wasn't beautiful was the treatment he was receiving from the IT firm he had been using for the last couple of years; it was time for a "change of scenery."
After completing his undergraduate degree at UBC and his law degree at the London School of Economics, Rick Swadden began what is now a 45-year law career. He founded Swadden & Company in the 1980s, and as the managing partner of the firm, Rick oversees the IT infrastructure for the lawyers and paralegals.
As in most business sectors, the use of technology in law practices has grown over the years. For instance, in the early days of desktop computing lawyers embraced WordPerfect as a competitive edge because it cut down document turn-around time and improved attorney-staff ratios. Since then technologies such as scanners, servers, and databases have been implemented to continue the drive for efficiency and profitability.
One of Rick's goals is to make Swadden & Company a technically advanced firm that leverages IT to improve productivity. They have embarked on a multi-year project to scan and convert all their paper documents into easily accessible electronic data. While modern IT makes all this possible maintaining that infrastructure requires the support and expertise of a technology partner, if the IT is not running smoothly, it's going to hinder not help the user.
It's About People Not Systems
The IT support firm that Swadden & Company had been using for several years was determined to limit the channels of communication with Rick and his staff. Essentially every interaction was sent through email and email only. The problem with email is that it is not made for collaboration or for real conversations and these days we are overloaded with it. By forcing clients into this one mode of communication the IT support company seemed to lack empathy for their clients and only cared about what worked for them.
After one last aggravating experience Rick knew it was time to look for a new support company. He had dutifully submitted a request via email to have a computer configured for a new lawyer joining the firm. Unfortunately, the petition got buried in a flurry of emails, and when the support company had not heard back from Rick after the prescribed amount of time, their system automatically closed the ticket and dropped the request entirely. Once Rick discovered what had happened there was very little time left to get the computer set up and he was justifiably frustrated. The sad fact is a simple, 30 second follow up phone call to Rick would have closed the loop, and the work would have been done on time.
Easy Communication
After getting a referral from another of Swadden's business vendors Rick met with the directors of Gennix, Erik Edge and Ren Giesbrecht, to discuss their new IT support partnership and review the results of a network assessment they conducted. Together they shaped a plan to improve data security and accessibility by installing VPN (virtual private network) software for remote workers and upgrading the Wi-Fi access points in the office.
Gennix Consulting is an excellent fit for Swadden & Company because both firms value good communication. The Gennix team welcomes whatever means of communication works best for the client. So rather than forcing clients into a single method for making requests they can call and talk to the friendly helpdesk team, send an email, log into the client portal or even send text messages. Gennix responds to service requests with a follow-up phone call to let clients know they have received the request and confirmed the details. After every ticket, Gennix gives the client an opportunity to rate their experience and help improve the service in whatever way possible.
Problems Solved.
Once Gennix began serving Swadden & Company Rick Swadden noticed an immediate improvement in the time to resolution on service requests. In one instance a piece of time tracking software, critical for billing Swadden's clients, stopped working and needed to be dealt with quickly. Rick says, "[The previous support company] would have only started working on the problem in two or three days, Gennix was able to work with the software vendor and get the problem resolved in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The feedback I'm getting from my staff is that Gennix is solving our IT problems."
Gennix is providing clear channels of communication, quickly resolving issues, reducing downtime and improving profitability for Swadden & Company, and for Rick Swadden that brings peace of mind.
"IT support costs dropped by 35% per month after patchwork IT was streamlined."
Erin knott
CMA Canada Pacific District
Before we brought in Gennix to support our IT infrastructure we were struggling with an unstable network and some critical outages including a three-day server meltdown costing several thousand dollars in employee productivity not to mention repair costs.
"Gennix virtualized our server environment by converting three aging servers onto one new hardware server saving us over $5000 in hardware upgrade costs."
Our tape backup system was unreliable and required our staff to manage the tapes on a daily basis. Now the backups are automated with copies being made every hour and knowing it’s all monitored provides peace of mind.
I really appreciate having a support helpdesk to call when problems arise and whether supporting us remotely or onsite I find the Gennix staff to be courteous, professional and ready to help.
“Gennix Consulting has provided excellent expertise and service to our strata management company over the past 10 years. They respond to our needs on a timely basis and we rely heavily on their knowledge and experience in overseeing our day to day IT requirements.”
"Not having to worry about any IT concerns means the Reliable team can focus on our business."
Reliable Mortgages
After almost 2 years into our partnership with Gennix, Reliable Mortgages is very happy with the Gennix team. They are responsive, professional, and able to resolve issues quickly. Gennix is a managed service provider (MSP) and provides us with structured processes for our company’s IT lifecycle. From hardware procurement to cloud services to network security and problem ticketing, Gennix has proven themselves to be an excellent choice for all our IT needs.
We appreciate that Gennix does not push needless solutions and upgrades but instead promotes the idea of using existing technology to its maximum potential. When computers and software stop producing, Gennix quotes and sells quality products and services.
After coming out of an IT support situation where our company was left feeling underserved, we now enjoy a high comfort level with Gennix offering solutions for all our IT and technology needs. Gennix is a trustworthy company and most importantly, acts quickly when any issues come up. Not having to worry about any IT concerns means the Reliable team can focus on our business.
“Gennix transitioned us to the Cloud which has had a positive impact on our employee productivity – i.e. less downtime. Thanks, Gennix.”
"Gennix have proved their worth in helping us navigate a number of unexpected challenges"
Darlene Marno
Ecotrend Ecologics
We first started working with Gennix when we needed more than advice on our next server upgrade - we needed a partner that could take us through a needs assessment, acquisition, set up and transition and stick with us to really take hardware and network concerns out of the picture.
Gennix has done all that and far more. They have become a true partner to us and have proved their worth in helping us navigate a number of unexpected challenges from a full Microsoft audit to working with our software providers to resolve problems with our ERP system upgrade.
We wouldn't go back to in-house management of our network after realizing the savings of time and effort that we have working with Gennix. I recommend them without hesitation.
“Going with Gennix has streamlined our company’s IT management and helped us work more efficiently by providing innovative solutions, personalized customer service, and timely troubleshooting and support. Through these efficiencies, we were able to reduce our costs: important for non-profit organizations such as ours. Each member of their team has proven to be thorough, prompt and responsive to customer concerns.”
"Gennix made EMR a reality for our clinic."
Jennifer Napper
Wilson Centre Family Practice
A solid reference from one medical clinic turns into a long term
relationship between Gennix and Wilson Center
When Wilson Centre Family Practice was ready to jump into the world of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) they began looking for an IT partner who could provide the computer infrastructure needed to host the EMR system for their doctors and staff. The EMR vendor listed Gennix as a possible IT support provider and after receiving a strong reference from White Rock Medical Associates, Wilson Centre chose Gennix to bring them into the exciting world of computer-based patient records. That was in 2008 and now eight years later Gennix continues to provide valuable IT support services to the large Port Coquitlam clinic.
As the clinic administrator, Jennifer Napper overseas the office operations and keeps things running smoothly for the clinic staff. “We would not have been able to get the EMR system going without Gennix” says Napper. “Prior to 2008 we were a paper-based clinic drowning in patient charts and inefficient work flows”. EMR is a way to streamline how practitioners see patients, document issues and write prescriptions.
Gennix quoted and provided a comprehensive IT implementation plan that started with building a server room and ended with ergonomically mounted computers in the exam rooms plus everything in between. The project included running structured network cabling, installing network equipment, building servers, rolling out desktop computers and configuring printers throughout the clinic. As well Gennix integrated high-speed scanners and an electronic faxing system to help the clinic become a paperless office.
Gennix assisted the clinic with setting up VPN access to their patient records which has been a huge benefit to the doctors when they need to work off site. Ultimately the goal of being computerized with the ability to track patient records and have all the information they need at their fingertips has multiplied the efficiency of the clinic.
“Gennix bridges the gap in our IT support”
Like any computer based systems the network at Wilson Centre needs ongoing support to keep things running smoothly for their staff of professionals. In her experience with Gennix Jennifer has seen that “Even though many of our users are not tech savvy the move to EMR has been very positive due in part to the support provided by Gennix. Their response times are great and we appreciate that their team understands the IT needs of a large and busy medical clinic.”
Gennix has enjoyed a long term relationship with Wilson Centre, taking the clinic from one with a handful of administrative computers to one with dozens of mission critical computers and equipment. For a medical clinic using EMR having a trustworthy partner in IT can make all the difference.