W.T. Rich Company Builds Success in the Cloud

Box: The Clear Choice for Cloud Transition

When Gene Massie became Director of Information Technology at W.T. Rich Company, his first task was to modernise the firm’s technology. His predecessor had initiated a move to the cloud with remote desktops and Citrix File Share, but files were still stored centrally in the main office. Frequent power outages made data access impossible.

This was interolerable for the Massachusetts-based company known for “delivering exceptional construction management services, consistently exceeding expectations, and setting new standards in safety, quality, customer satisfaction and employee engagement.” Massie prioritised moving content to the cloud and sought a solution that matched their commitment to quality, reliability, and security.

“I spent the first month of my new role trying to plan out our technology and evaluate everything that was out there,” said Massie. “Box was the best fit because it offered unlimited storage, as well as the stability and security that we needed”

With numerous K-12, public safety, airport, and government contracts, reliability and security were crucial. “Project teams need to be able to share data and be productive wherever they are located, whether they are at the corporate offices, at home, or at a job site. With Box, our folks don’t have to worry about the IT infrastructure, they can just focus on building buildings and getting their job done.”

Massie noted that while other options appeared cheaper initially, he lacked confidence in their security features. He stated confidently that “Box is rock solid” and would be cost-effective long-term due to its scalability.

“There are other options on the market that we looked at that were less expensive at the outset, but I wasn’t confident with their security. I know Box is rock solid and ultimately going to be cost effective in the long run because it can grow and scale with us. The unlimited storage and the ongoing improvements they continue to make to the solution give me the confidence we will be able to efficiently support our needs going forward.”

The Intelligent Content Managment platform made the transition seamless

Massie paid for Box consulting to help him smooth the move to the cloud. “Box consultants were a great resource. They were so professional. They laid out what was going to happen, step-by-step, which helped me get the buy-in I needed from the executive team and employees.”

He continued, “The roll out was tremendous. It really made me look good. I was assigned an account executive at Box to work with and they laid everything out for us. They looked at how much and where our data was and told us exactly what was going to happen.”

“We planned to make the move over a weekend. I’ve been in IT for over 20 years and have been involved in many implementations, so I was prepared for hiccups, but everything went seamlessly. It was spectacular.”

Before transitioning fully online, Massie’s CEO requested an external hard drive backup of all data as precautionary measures were taken by keeping old servers operational until confirmation of successful migration occurred.

The implementation began on Friday; by Saturday morning all data had synced perfectly—allowing them to go live ahead of schedule on Monday without any interruptions during operations when COVID-19 hit two weeks later.

“The platform just keeps getting better”

“We’re enjoying our journey with Box,” said Massie regarding ongoing functionality improvements within their web version platform: “There’s stuff we haven’t even tapped into yet.”

Massie elaborated, “90% of the firm is on Box drive all day, every day, using it as a traditional file server with all their folders, and they love it. They are starting to get to know and use the other capabilities that Box offers, like Box Sign, and are really excited.”

“We love the ease of use of Box,” said Massie. “We empower our users to play with the product. We have a lot of people that are not super tech savvy, but they quickly get it and can be productive right away. Everything is cataloged nicely and simple to understand. Box support is phenomenal.”

Some of the implementations involve maximising the value of their other technology investments. “I’m constantly impressed by Box’s ability to connect to different things,” said Massie. “We appreciate the native integrations with some of our partners, like Microsoft, as well as the APIs. We know that when we need to integrate with something it’s not going to be complicated.”

Box is used many ways to support the business

“Box is literally our server. We’ve cut the cord and don’t have any on-premises servers anymore. Everything is in the cloud, making Box our biggest technology partner, outside of Microsoft, for connecting all our data points,” said Massie.

“Box is great for collaboration, facilitating information flows between our employees, partners, and even clients, whether they are in the office, at home, or on a job site,” said Massie. “We have people traveling all over. They may be going to a job site, a conference, or a client event, and they know they can get on to Box and everything they need is right there. We just had a team go up to Canada, where we were working on a fire station, and they were able to call up the drawings from their iPad right there on the spot. They didn’t have to worry about VPNs or getting a secure signal, they were just off and running.”

Another workstream that Massie says Box helps with is file requests. “Our staff can make file requests to partners asking them to send us their drawings through Box, as opposed to having to use another repository, or worse somebody’ else’s repository. From an IT and security standpoint this gives us more control because we trust Box to protect the integrity of the data and prevent leakage.”

Massie’s team has also begun experimenting with Box Relay aimed automating collaborative workflows stemming from success experienced utilising Box Sign previously implemented successfully digitising contract signing processes saving significant costs compared alternatives considered ($15K annually + $5K one-time fee).

Another feature the firm loves is Box Mobile. Massie explained, “Our staff loves that they can securely capture, access, and share content on any device anywhere. When they are on the job site, they can take a picture with their cell phone, and then, instead of having to go back to the office and upload everything, they can pick a folder to automatically save the images to, which saves everybody a ton of time.”

Something else the firm is excited to use is Box AI and Box Hubs to help them surface relevant content and insights faster. “It is nice to have a product that is flexible and can grow with your firm,” said Massie. “We know we have a partner in Box we can trust and work with to evaluate new features and help us take the next step.”

Check out our e-book, “Unleash your Business Superpowers” here on our Small Business for Box webpage for more details on how Box can power your small business.

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