Crystal Flash
Shifting Managed Services Responsibilities to Make Growth a Priority
Crystal Flash found themselves with limited IT resources to successfully run and grow their business. OST stepped in with managed services to provide depth of skills as needed, where needed ,without adding headcount or payroll. Providing oversight of systems and resources mitigates risks, both human and system, to take the stress out of IT.
Lack of Resources Plagues IT Team
Crystal Flash had an in-house IT team consisting of only three people, making the in-house resources overwhelmed with day to day tactical tasks. The in-house staff lacked certain critical skills or depth of experience, causing impaired visibility and control across technologies. Due to this, projects were taking too long or weren’t completed at all. There was also pressure to cut costs but maintain services. Therefore getting approval to add headcount was challenging, along with the added difficulty of finding and hiring talent with the critical skills needed. With lack of challenging work and/or overwhelming workloads, the staff was at risk for turnover due to burn-out, lack of challenge, inability to learn and grow, and having few opportunities to develop professionally. The lack of standards created too much complexity, adding to inefficiencies across the enterprise. This made the growth and acquisition strategy difficult for the IT team to keep pace with.
“I totally feel confident that OST has our success in mind. Our success is their success.” - Crystal Flash IT Director
Filling Gaps without Increasing Headcount
OST Managed Services increased visibility and availability through unified monitoring, management, and IT Operational Maturity. The depth of skills were provided as needed, where needed, without adding headcount or payroll. Providing oversight of systems and resources mitigates risks, both human and system. With OST’s Managed Services, acquisitions at Crystal Flash were easily digested and on-boarded with flexible staffing and standards that were applied across all facilities. Greater governance and overall operational maturity helped align IT and business stakeholders, freeing up internal resources to innovate.
Shifting Run Responsibilities to Allow Resources to Focus on Growth
Crystal Flash now has a reduced time of planning, implementing and resolving incidents – projects are completed on time and within budget. Internal staff could be shifted to core business activities providing greater cost to value and improving the work life experience. Smoother more expedient on-boarding of new acquisitions produced more immediate results for the company. The IT and business alignment facilitates innovation, reduces time to market, cuts costs, and improves ROI.
