While we are proud of all our clients, we wanted to spotlight a select few to showcase their mission and business successes.
Introducing ROI Communication
ROI Communication is a majority women-owned internal communication and employee engagement consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area with a national and global footprint. Founded in 2001 by CEO Barbara Fagan, the company has grown consistently over the past two decades, including winning many awards and transitioning to becoming a 100% employee-owned company in 2021.
With over 300 clients over its history, 40+ currently active clients, and 78 primarily remote employees across the US, ROI Communication’s trajectory for success is apparent. While ROI Communication is a talented, well-oiled machine, every successful business relies on technology, tools, and systems to help it deliver to its clients. The need for their systems and tools to function seamlessly is how CMIT Solutions met the ROI team.
The Situation
In 2020, ROI outgrew its locally run IT services company and replaced it with another CA-based Managed IT Services provider (MSP). There was a rocky transition, including a changeover from SentinelOne to Webroot for cybersecurity that left 30 orphaned endpoints.
As Melissa Logan, Senior Manager of Operations, explains,
“We needed a true strategic partner, able to help us run cybersecurity initiatives and assess our position, but we were in the weeds with our every day IT functions.”
Problems with patching, computer provisioning, spam filtration, sending legitimate, work-critical emails to quarantine, and basic helpdesk queries plagued the engagement with this MSP.
Melissa and office manager Julie Eufemi tried to establish a partnership with this vendor for nearly a year, but it became clear that a new MSP needed to be found.
In 2021, Melissa and the team used this experience to compile a list of strict requirements and perform a robust search for the right provider. The team solicited recommendations from the PR Council, of which ROI Communication was a member, and other internal networks. Evan Stein’s CMIT Solutions of Manhattan team was highly recommended and eventually awarded the partnership. The CMIT team jumped in quickly and began assessing damage control in February 2022.
The Results
While it took some time for CMIT to establish credibility with the now gun-shy internal stakeholders, Evan and the team eventually earned the respect of ROI staffers through their consistent responsiveness, strategic support, and willingness to be true partners. The first goal was to perform a cybersecurity assessment and subsequent migration, with 2023 focused on provisioning.
A cadence of weekly check-ins was established and is only now transitioning to bi-weekly. It’s this immersive approach to managed services partnership that Evan and the CMIT team consider to be a key differentiator.
For example, when ROI Communication was tasked with completing a vendor questionnaire for one of their clients, CMIT jumped in to help complete the technical and security requirements. Their previous MSP would have hesitated to help unless they could invoice for it.
To quote Melissa,
“All we wanted was a responsive, respectful, and strategic MSP. With Evan and the CMIT team, we got that and so much more. They are truly embedded into our workflow at ROI.”
Looking Forward
Now that things have stabilized, ROI Communication can get back on track with the initiatives that had to be put on hold during the previous MSP’s reign. Evan and the CMIT Solutions team have incorporated annual cybersecurity assessments for ROI and Quarterly Business Reviews (in addition to the now bi-weekly check-ins) to address any business process changes or plans for IT roadmap initiatives and requirements.
As ROI Communications plans for the future—the support of CMIT Solutions of Manhattan will be there.