“It’s chalk and cheese. Absolutely chalk and cheese.” That’s the verdict from Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki Business Support Services Manager Janet Williams after it switched to CodeBlue for its technology provisioning, support and roadmap.
Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki is a rural Iwi-based, not for profit, incorporated society providing affordable health and wellness services across the Hauraki rohe for over 25 years. Its Whānau Health Centres offer a wide variety of community services from traditional GP clinics through to education, wellness care, mental health services, and whānau support, along with additional community based services such as home-based support, community mental health, health promotion and public health services.
Situation
Sometimes, a poor experience provides the context to appreciate a better one. For some time, Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki found itself caught in a troubled relationship with its previous service provider, explains Williams. “There was confusion and uncertainty around what was being delivered and our expectations.
Promises weren’t being kept. From an initial assurance that ‘once everything is in the cloud it will be good’ quickly became ‘no we never agreed to that’.”
The relationship felt exploitative, says Williams, with the result that the entire IT estate was suffering. “What that meant for our staff was unreliable or unsuitable computers, constant connectivity issues, and added stress to their daily work. And all the while, this service provider was getting us to commit to work which never seemed to improve anything and never seemed to end.” Williams agrees that the issue was a lack of trust—there was none. “We couldn’t get answers, and if we spent money, there was no certainty of value.”
Solution
When new Manukura Hauora/CEO Tammy Dehar came on board, discussions with Williams and other staff members quickly led to action. “Tammy was as shocked as we were. But she had previous experience with CodeBlue, so knew what a proper managed services relationship should look like,” Williams explains.
While there were multiple approaches for Te Korowai’s business, CodeBlue quickly demonstrated why it enjoys a sound reputation. “We asked for a presentation from CodeBlue and our previous provider. This included ideas and a roadmap for better aligned IT. Even at this stage, CodeBlue’s capability and willingness to help was immediately obvious.”
This included visits to all Te Korowai sites across the Waikato and Coromandel, korero with staff members gauging requirements and service delivery issues, assessing connectivity, and evaluating all IT services and equipment. “This was eye-opening. The prior provider hadn’t done any of that, whereas CodeBlue consulted with us, reviewed our infrastructure, and understood the daily challenges of the people in our offices,” explains Williams. “What’s more, they did all that without charge.”
Soon, a roadmap and technology recommendations arrived. “Even this came without charge. And it broke down our challenges into manageable chunks: extremely urgent, urgent, and good-to-haves,” says Williams.
Results
Over the course of a year, Williams says a complete transformation of Te Korowai’s IT estate has relieved people across the organisation of a major stressor. “It’s night and day. We literally felt like we were in the dark with no idea of what was going on with our IT. Even our internal IT person felt belittled for asking questions. Now, we have an inclusive relationship with CodeBlue where our teams interface smoothly. Everyone organisation-wide knows where to go for help. And more importantly, they know they’ll get it.”
Among the upgrades ushered in on CodeBlue’s watch is a ‘rightsizing’ of Te Korowai’s infrastructure and devices, with role-appropriate laptops issued to its people. Appropriate capacity switches and other connectivity devices were introduced. Retirement of on premises servers in favour of cloud services also occurred. Where persistent problems were encountered, CodeBlue conducted root cause analysis, eliminating underlying problems causing IT headaches for employees.
Information security, too, has gone from an unknown quantity to an assurance of best practice. “Information is taonga to Māori, and medical information is known to be sensitive with bad actors constantly attacking health services,” notes Williams. Broadly speaking, she says CodeBlue has corrected the alignment of IT services with business requirements. “Now, our people have the right device, they can reliably access the right service, and they can do their mahi without worrying about the IT side. It just becomes invisible.”
The work’s not yet done, but Williams and her team are confident in their partner and the roadmap taking Te Korowai into the future. “Regular monthly meetings keep track of everything done and work items coming next. It’s a completely different relationship now. One of mutual trust and appreciation,” she concludes.
