Transform Your Work Day

with the right technology.

Helping People Like You

We work with many industries, including trades, importing and professional services, and most often work with:

architectural firms
financial and venture capital companies
market research & data analytics companies
nonprofit organizations
lawyers and law firms

Working Together

About half our clients choose to call in for help after something goes wrong.

The other half prefer proactive Managed IT Services.

Almost all start a relationship with us at a time when they are in need of IT upgrades. These case studies highlight some of what we can do for you.

To protect our clients privacy, identifying details are omitted.

Case 1

File Sharing Problems With Remote Employees

Simple NAS

Problem Solution Time & Cost

Problem

This client is suffering from unbearably slow access to documents. They are working off an aging physical server housing a virtual server. They do not want to move to cloud based subscriptions.

The team works with large PowerPoint files but their file sharing setup was crippling their productivity. File access, downloads and email attachments are very slow within the office. Remote employees are repeatedly disconnected and unable to work.

Solution

An upgrade to internet speed. Replace the aging server with a network attached storage (NAS) device. With a NAS, the team can now:

store files centrally on a privately owned device
remote employees can now quickly access files from anywhere by syncing the files from the NAS to their local computers so that the files are available when they wish to open them
work faster and with less frustration
backup to a private cloud account (Azure cloud backup at $0.02/GB)

Time & Cost

We used a 2 bay NAS with 2 x 3TB drives to mirror each other in case one hard drive dies. No special configuration was required.

All files were also setup to back up to the cloud in Azure. It took 10 days for the equipment to arrive. Setup and configuration took 6 hours on site. Data transfer was set to overnight and checked on the following day.

Total project cost was approximately $1900, hardware and tax included.

Schedule your free consultation to discuss your needs.

Case 2

Data Security Requirement For Government Contract

Meeting Information Security Bid Requirements

Problem Solution Time & Cost

Problem

In order to win a government contract, this private company needs to setup a secure file sharing solution to meet security compliance requirements.

Public cloud storage is not allowed. Private cloud storage must be housed in Canada.

External government employees require access, in addition to internal employees at the company.

Solution

A network attached storage (NAS) device bound to Active Directory for user authentication and restricting or granting access to file shares between the government vendor and the employees at the company was setup and configured.
This file storage setup is exclusive to this contract and separate from all other files the company owns.
The files need to be easily accessible by government employees so the web interface of the NAS was made available externally to select members who can upload and download files via their web browsers.
Encrypted offsite backup to a Canadian data centre was setup.
The firewall was configured for geographic restriction for improved security (all IP addresses outside of Canada are rejected).

Time & Cost

Case 3

Information Security Policies To Meet Vendor Requirements

National Vendor Contract Requirements

Problem Solution Time & Cost

Problem

This marketing research firm required network security improvements in order to bid for a lucrative job from a large vendor. TUCU helped them meet all information security requirements quickly, which allowed them to win the contract. Problems included:

No user control - all team members could access all data
No user authentication - anyone could log on to the network
No security when working remotely or on mobile devices
No network management - the vendor required that trained IT technicians manage the network and perform frequent scans and updates

Solution

Total network redesign, including:

Implement Windows Server with ADFS linked to Office 365 for Exchange, MDM and Azure AD
Windows Server provides secure verified access to local resources within the LAN. Coupled with ADFS and Azure Active Directory (AD) to extend that security to their cloud resources. Azure AD is Microsoft’s multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service. Azure AD combines core directory services, advanced identity governance, and application access management.
Mobile Data Management Policy implemented, along with remote wipe capabilities in the event of a lost or stolen device, the company owned data is also stored and accessed separately from the employee's personal data. Company data cannot be accessed from a non-domain joined device. And only domain joined devices are permitted access to the LAN via 802.11x
Managed IT Services provide the team with Virtual CIO services + total network management + unlimited computer support for the team

Time & Cost

One month consulting, planning, purchasing time and waiting for equipment to arrive + 3 weeks implementation time totaling approximately $16,800 consulting and service fees. Hardware and software costs of approximately $26,809.

Ongoing monthly Managed IT Services to fulfill vendor requirements for network security.

This was a game change for the client. It allowed them to meet vendor IT security requirements and win multiple lucrative contracts. IT transformed their business.

Schedule your free consultation to discuss your needs.

Case 4

Information Security Policies To Meet Vendor Requirements

National Vendor Contract Requirements

Problem Solution Time & Cost

Problem

No user control - all team members could access all data
No user authentication - anyone could log on to the network
No security when working remotely or on mobile devices
No network management - the vendor required that trained IT technicians manage the network and perform frequent scans and updates

Solution

Total network redesign, including:

Implement Windows Server with ADFS linked to Office 365 for Exchange, MDM and Azure AD
Windows Server provides secure verified access to local resources within the LAN. Coupled with ADFS and Azure Active Directory (AD) to extend that security to their cloud resources. Azure AD is Microsoft’s multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service. Azure AD combines core directory services, advanced identity governance, and application access management.
Mobile Data Management Policy implemented, along with remote wipe capabilities in the event of a lost or stolen device, the company owned data is also stored and accessed separately from the employee's personal data. Company data cannot be accessed from a non-domain joined device. And only domain joined devices are permitted access to the LAN via 802.11x
Managed IT Services provide the team with Virtual CIO services + total network management + unlimited computer support for the team

Time & Cost

Ongoing monthly Managed IT Services to fulfill vendor requirements for network security.

This was a game change for the client. It allowed them to meet vendor IT security requirements and win multiple lucrative contracts. IT transformed their business.

Schedule your free consultation to discuss your needs.

Case 5

Network Cross Talk & WiFi Issues

Solution Needed For Team Wide Loss Of Productivity

Problem Solution Time & Cost

Problem

Susan and her team had intermittent WiFi issues. Their problems became exponentially worse when they began sub letting part of their office to a tenant. They also purchased new laptops that simply would not perform well on WiFi. The problems were:

Out of date WiFi hardware (compliant with old WiFi G protocols - not able to support new AC protocols released over last 3 years)
No good neighbour requirements setup with new tenants
Security gaps due to old model firewall
Loss of WiFi bandwidth
Brand new laptops and devices on network hampered by slow speed of WiFi network (new devices are performing like old, slow devices when on WiFi, and negating the investment in this upgraded equipment)

Solution

Identify underlying reasons for the problems, shop for and lease new top end Meraki WiFi Access Points, switches and firewalls, and put in WiFi controls to fix network cross talk and users being dropped from the WiFi network repeatedly. We:

Replaced the primary network switch - the central nervous system of the network
Replaced the network firewall to enable data packet inspection into and out of the local LAN from the internet, to improve security.
Replaced the WiFi access points with high powered Meraki models that can support current WiFi protocols
Configured user limits
Implemented good neighbour protocols

Time & Cost

The Result:

Increased throughput and bandwidth from 54 mbps to 1.3 Gigabits per second - new devices on WiFi can perform as advertised
Improved security with new firewall
Easier to maintain WiFi with cloud interface and remote troubleshooting by IT providers
Restored harmony with tenants

Investment: Hardware order of approximately $12,000 + tax. Setup and configuration on a 2 day weekend to avoid downtime. Service fees of $3040+ tax.

Schedule your free consultation to discuss your needs.

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IT infrastructure setup, cyber security & IT management for small business in Toronto and across Ontario. Microsoft 365 certified. Google Cloud Partners.

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