Provide a brief description of the Initiative.
In 2009, Epic Information Solutions announced an exciting new initiative – the Extreme Technology Makeover 2009. Working with major partners Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Cisco, Epic Information Solutions offered one small business in Winnipeg an incredible opportunity – to have their information technology infrastructure completely revamped and redone – at zero cost.
Describe what makes this Initiative original or innovative in the application of IT to a group of customers or solution, and/or in presenting an established approach in an innovative and creative way.
The Extreme Technology Makeover was based off television’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Essentially, Epic Information Solutions would choose one company who could benefit the most from such exercise, and proceed to overhaul and improve their technology infrastructure. The reasoning was simple – that small businesses have both a needs and a wants list, and often IT infrastructure is a want, that is overshadowed by the more pressing day to day needs of a growing company. In order to get the idea out to the companies we wanted to target, Epic Information Solutions employed the use of a direct-mail company, which allowed us to specify the type of company we wanted to target and the person within that organization who would choose to take advantage of the opportunity. Another critical factor was that they were companies that didn’t already do business with us. Companies with anywhere from 5-50 users were invited to submit their applications via the Epic Information Solutions website. Postcard mailers were sent out to the organizations and individuals that met the assigned criteria. Advertisements were posted in local newspapers, a billboard sign was hung from our office building, and an email campaign was also sent out to encourage participation. Each company who applied would receive a technology assessment by one of our senior technicians. This assessment, regardless of whether they were chosen to win, was presented to them later in hopes of encouraging them to do business with Epic Information Solutions after the contest. This helped Epic Information Solutions to get to know each company and expand upon their submission to really understand their infrastructure (or lack of it) in order to properly choose a winner. However, each non-winning company who chose to buy product or services, or enter into a Managed Services Agreement (MSA) with Epic Information Solutions as a result of the contest, also received a 15% discount off their purchases for one year. The winning company received a complete assessment and overhaul of their IT infrastructure, with a value of $50,000. This included all-new Hewlett-Packard hardware, including desktops, document management and a server, as well as the necessary software. However, as opposed to simply taking out all the old and giving them new equipment, Epic Information Solutions sat down with the winner to go over what they already had, and then customized the solution to fulfill their needs, while hopefully utilizing their existing infrastructure. Epic Information Solutions also contributed a large percentage of complimentary services, including managed services, online education, help desk support, and web site design and hosting, as well as others. The total amount also included optional services like VoIP phone systems, disaster recovery, and a variety of other add-ons. The winner was announced at a customer appreciation reception at the Victoria Inn, all companies who registered for the promotion were invited to attend, and the chosen company had to be present to win. Epic Information Solutions also chose to invite all of their existing small to mid-size clients to attend as well, to show their appreciation for their business in the past year. Every representative who attended was given a free gift, and was treated to a mini trade show and presentation from CEO David Reid, as well as from participating vendors HP, Cisco and Microsoft. Photos were taken of all participants as well.
Describe how this Initiative benefited the solution provider with improvement in interest, leads, sales, revenue, or other factors. What changed? Provide evidence of measurable improvements in leads, sales, revenues, etc.
The Extreme Technology Makeover 2009 generated significant interest in Epic Information Solutions in the small to mid-size space. A number of our current managed services customers became customers of EPIC Information Solutions’ after entering to win the makeover and receiving a technology assessment from EPIC Information Solutions. It allowed them to see the kinds of products and services EPIC Information Solutions could provide for them, at a reasonable cost. As a direct result of this activity, Epic Information Solutions added an additional 75 companies to their list of regular support customers, as well as an increased visibility as a leading expert in the supply of IT products, services and solutions. As a result of this activity, Epic Information Solutions added an additional 75 companies to their list of regular support customers, as well as an increased visibility as a leading expert in the supply of IT products, services and solutions. This translated into over $1 million in additional managed service contracts and one-off purchases of products and/or services for Epic Information Solutions.
Describe how this Initiative strengthened the solution provider’s relationship with their vendor. What changed? Provide evidence of this strengthened relationship.
This initiative strengthened our relationships and increased visibility with the involved partners, and has helped make Epic Information Solutions a go-to partner of choice for leading IT companies like HP, Cisco, and Microsoft. We have also increased the number of certified technicians and sales staff that we have just to keep up with sales related activity. Additionally, as a result of this initiative, our number of Managed Services agreements increased – both from companies that entered, and companies that heard of Epic Information Solutions as a result of the promotion – which enabled us to not only boost our own services, but opened up opportunities to do more training with vendors and other companies we work with to provide those services. Our choice to specify only a select three vendors to promote for this activity helped reinforce that they were vendors we planned to build our future business with. As a result, there has been an increase in the willingness of our partners to assist with the provision of resources and additional solutions/information not accessible to all partners, to offer more competitive pricing in an RFP situation and to provide free training to both Epic Information Solutions staff and customers as needed.
In what ways did this Initiative go above and beyond industry norms and expectations?
The Extreme Technology Makeover was a highly focused marketing event, dedicated to only three vendors and a specific customer base, making it a fun promotion with serious benefits to the winning company. Smaller companies often have other issues and needs with higher priorities than IT spending, and as a result, the importance of IT as a contributing aspect of the business tends to get overlooked. By selecting one deserving small business for this makeover, we hoped to demonstrate how important IT is in today’s marketplace.