As soon as you contract with Capital Network Solutions to become your Managed IT Services provider, we kick off our comprehensive onboarding process.  In our thirty-plus years in the IT industry, we have onboarded businesses of all sizes in a variety of industries to our managed services plans.  Of course, our IT experts will be there to walk you through every part of the process.  Just take these seven simple steps with CNS, and you’ll never have to worry about your business IT again.

Kickoff meeting

What we do: This is what we call the front-end onboarding, which is the client communication

Why we do it: Beyond the standard meet-and-greet, we want to find out why you decided to work with Capital Network Solutions.

Sample questions: Were you unhappy with your previous IT provider?  Was there an incident?  Are there any concerns about your existing infrastructure, such as slowness or crashing?

Assessment

What we do: We need to know what we’re going to support, so we do a full infrastructure assessment.  This assessment involves documenting your network equipment, your servers, your applications, your support contracts, your vendors and more.

Why we do it: Our goal is to document everything.  We have a repository where we keep the documentation, and you will gain access to it once the CNS onboarding process is complete.

Sample questions: What is your current hardware and software situation?  Do you have a firewall?  Who is your ISP?  What line-of-business applications do you use?

Project Plan

What we do: We come onsite to meet and review everything together and figure out your unique business needs and goals.  Using the gathered information, we will create a list of IT priorities and collaborate to craft the perfect coverage plan.

Why we do it: It’s about education, not about forcing a solution on you.   In the world of managed services, one size does not fit all, so it’s essential to tailor solutions to the individual business.

Deployment

Remote Agent and Data Backup Setup

What we do: Our trained and certified technicians come onsite to install our remote monitoring agents.  These are the same people who will eventually serve as your help desk support.  If you operate an on-premises server, they will also install a data backup appliance at this time.

Why we do it: The remote agent lets us proactively monitor your system.  Meanwhile, the backup device protects your data in case of an emergency.  Going onsite also allows us to get a visual assessment of your infrastructure.  That makes it easier for us to see the big picture.

Antivirus Deployment

What we do: In the other onsite portion of the process, we convert you over to our antivirus software.  First, we uninstall any existing antivirus, and then we install the CNS antivirus.  Finally, we confirm that all computers are checking in.

Why we do it: Antivirus software is a necessary yet all-too-often overlooked cybersecurity measure.  By requiring clients to use the antivirus products that our technicians know the best, we can provide the most efficient customer service.

SPAM filter/Firewall/Patching Setup

What we do: More cybersecurity measures, although these get handled offsite.  We deploy the e-mail filter, set up the firewall rules, and come up with a software patch management schedule.

Why we do it: Statistics show that most small businesses go out of business within one year of suffering a cybersecurity incident.  With Capital Network Solutions guarding your perimeter and monitoring your interior, you can sleep easy at night.

Transition and Training

What we do: The help desk is now open for use.  We outline the process for calling in a service issue, discuss our after-hours availability, layout the patching and backup schedules and more.  Welcome aboard!

Why we do it: More than anything, we want to make sure that your transition to managed services goes seamlessly and remains tension-free.  At this time, we can also discuss big-picture ideas and upcoming projects.  Any time you have a question, pick up the phone and give us a call.

NOTE: The CNS onboarding process timeline varies based on the size of your organization and other factors, and some of these tasks may happen simultaneously.  Additional information and a more detailed schedule will get dispensed during the Initial Meeting phase.  If you have any questions in the meantime, give Capital Network Solutions a call at (916) 366-6566 and find out how we can help your business.