A Brand New Company With 6 Staff and 100 Clients on Day 1

When a partner left an established New Jersey accounting firm to start his own, the new firm opened with six staff, 100 clients and no IT. VJNetworks had email live on day one, laptops in three days and the firm’s accounting software in Microsoft Azure within two weeks.

Background

An accountant, who knew us from having previously worked for one of our clients, was working at an established accounting firm in New Jersey, serving Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson County clients. One of the partners at the firm decided he was going to leave and create his own firm, and she decided to go with him. They had a team of 5 accountants and 1 administrator leaving the firm, taking their clients with them. Because she had worked with us closely in the past, she recommended VJNetworks be brought in to consult with them and discuss a plan to address all of the technological needs of starting a new company.

Challenge

Since the new firm was starting with a roster of active clients and employees on day 1, and were not able to take any of the computer systems from the original firm, they were starting with no computer infrastructure at all and a dire need to have everything put into place as quickly as possible. They had no office space, no computers, no servers, no software, no domain, and no business email.

Approach

We quickly outlined a plan to purchase a new domain, set up professional email accounts with Microsoft 365, quickly obtain business-class laptop computers, and purchase the professional accounting software suites they had previously been accustomed to using.

Instead of setting up a physical server in a closet somewhere, we were able to offer them a Microsoft Azure based approach, which allowed them the freedom to work from temporary office space, from home, or from clients’ offices, and would transition seamlessly to their permanent office space.

Due to the way we proposed to set them up, they would have a built-in disaster recovery environment, ensuring they could continue to function as a company no matter what happened to their office space.

Execution

On Day 1 we were able to set them up with a professional domain and Microsoft 365 business email. In 3 short days we had them set up with new computers.

We built out a dedicated server for the firm on Microsoft Azure, to which their laptops would connect via VPN, giving them security and high mobility. This would allow them to work the same from any physical location. We worked closely with their team, speaking with them every day throughout the process.

Results

In 2 short weeks, all of their professional accounting software was installed and configured on their server in Microsoft Azure. By moving quickly and expertly, we were able to help them minimize the downtime from the start of the new venture. We made the piece of the transition that they had perceived to be the most difficult, the easiest part of the entire process for them.

Client Perspective

The client was blown away by how quickly we got everything off the ground and how confidently we held their hands throughout the process.

They quickly came to trust our judgment and expertise completely. They would repeatedly tell us how happy they were, not only about the execution of the project, but at how good of a system we had set up for them. Our system on Microsoft Azure gave them much better freedom, flexibility, and reliability than they had ever known.

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