When the Town of Clarkstown left their former IT partner for TTI, they found more than just tech support and financial savings — they gained a partner that became part of their team.
Finding the right technology partner for your organization is an important, but often-challenging process. As the Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York discovered when working with a large tech provider, you may end up feeling like little more than a number to companies with more clients than they can handle. This often leads to increasing IT costs paired with a decreasing quality of service.
Fortunately, there’s another option. Great IT partners, like Turn-key Technologies, Inc. (TTI), will make you more than just a number. They’ll work with you like they’re part of your team, prioritizing your needs and navigating any hurdle you encounter quickly and effectively.
Read on to learn more about why the Town of Clarkstown made the switch to TTI and how the partnership has proved transformative.
Patrick Watson and Christopher Alvarado, the IT Director and Network Administrator of the Town of Clarkstown, respectively, first learned about TTI from a fortuitously-timed cold call. At the time, much of the switching and routing throughout the Town of Clarkson was approaching the end of support and end of life stages.
Patrick and Christopher were thinking about leaving their existing technology partner because of the decrease in customer service and higher costs they’d been experiencing over the past few years. Plus, Clarkstown needed to upgrade its switches and they wondered if there was something more cost effective that might give them the same quality of service or better.
That’s when they got a call from TTI and heard about Aruba Networks. Not only did it sound like TTI could fill their exact needs, but hearing about TTI’s success with Aruba in nearby areas like the Warwick Valley Central School District convinced Patrick and Christopher to give the partnership with TTI a try.
As soon as Patrick and Christopher began working with TTI, it was clear that they had made the right choice in a technology partner. The first indication was the cost. The initial installation cost the town at least 45% less than it would have with their former partner, and the ongoing savings amounted to an estimated 75% in total cost reduction. This meant that while the town’s budget only had funds to cover the core upgrade with their old partner’s pricing, with TTI Clarkstown was able to upgrade its core and several switches, even getting a backup switch in case of emergencies.
Patrick and Christopher have found that the benefits of partnering with TTI go beyond finances, too. The increased quality of products and services offered by TTI and the Aruba network is transforming the way the town’s leaders think about technology partners. With their switch to Aruba ClearPass, for instance, Clarkstown’s police department and Town Hall are experiencing a greater level of cybersecurity than ever before.
Clarktown’s updated fiber has also significantly increased connectivity. Of course, whenever you make an update to a system on that large of a scale, there are going to be some hiccups that arise. But that’s where Patrick and Christopher believe the extra value of their partnership with TTI comes in.
“The best investment we could have made was purchasing the installation services from TTI,” says Patrick. “The staff from the top to the bottom and even the guys that were sent to do the switches and the wiring were phenomenal.”
And when an issue arose with their Aruba products — even at the end of Clarkstown’s one year contract — TTI’s customer service went above and beyond, opening up a ticket directly with Aruba and ensuring it got resolved. For Patrick and Christopher, it felt like they were dealing with a coworker, not a distant tech provider.
By partnering with TTI, the Town of Clarkstown has gained more than just quality products and customer service at a lower cost — they’ve also gained a partner that has become a real part of their team. In fact, Patrick and Christopher have enjoyed working with TTI so much that they make a point of recommending it to other IT directors in nearby towns.
“It’s something I talk about all the time,” says Patrick, “If I’m meeting with the supervisor of a town, I’ll tell them how much we’re saving by using TTI and Aruba. I’ll say, ‘Look, when you get to the point of your equipment approaching end of life and end of support, you have to check out Aruba through TTI.’”
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can find a technology partner that will prioritize your organization’s best interests, contact TTI today!