How VITG supported a digital marketing agency through 15+ years of change & growth
With changes to team members, locations, and work environments, align.me has had many different IT requirements over the years – and VITG has been there to meet them all.
align.me is a Melbourne-based B2B sales and marketing agency, offering outsourced marketing services to a growing cohort of SME and Enterprise clients across the world. They also offer go-to-market planning workshops and training and have helped build over 4,000 GTM plans to date.
When align.me first started operating in 2000, CEO Hugh Macfarlane had organised for a friend to act as his one-person IT team. By 2006, align.me had grown beyond the needs of just one person – but also had no need or interest to invest in a full-time internal IT resource.
Being an outsourced provider, align.me knew the benefit of outsourcing – and it was the obvious choice to engage an IT Managed Services Provider (MSP). So in 2006 they engaged VITG to fill the role and both organisations have not looked back since!
The initial drawcard of outsourced managed IT was the Service Desk capabilities – and that’s mostly what align.me used VITG for. 99% of their IT needs were basic set-up, system and device troubleshooting. It was all about having someone who could deal with problems, so their team didn’t have to.
“VITG takes the pressure and workload off us. When something’s not working, we can call them to manage it – and it’s not our problem anymore.” – Hugh Macfarlane, CEO, align.me
Since 2006, align.me has continued to grow and the way they work has changed – and so has what they need from IT.
When IT needs grow beyond a service desk
Since first engaging VITG, align.me has grown ten-fold, moved locations, and worked through a global pandemic. Each of these scenarios has come with more complex IT requirements and problems that called for specialist help, including:
- Security: Securing remote/home networks and training staff.
- Office setup: Ensuring required infrastructure and systems in the new office.
- BYOD: Setting up staff mobile devices with application access and security.
- Onboarding: Setting up new devices and accounts for new staff.
- International Staff: Ensuring international staff had secure access to all applications and tools.
“As our needs evolved, the things that we needed VITG to be doing were more and more and more sophisticated.“ – Hugh Macfarlane
A resource for every need
Because of their extensive scope of knowledge, specialists, and IT services, VITG was able to deliver support and meet all align.me’s IT needs. Multiple teams were called on to meet changing demands by offering:
Subject matter experts
VITG’s wide expertise means they have specialists to help with nearly any problem. When align.me realised they needed much more secure access to technology, VITG had a team of specialists deep-dive into potential security risks and develop custom solutions.
Customer success managers
Having a dedicated CSM enables align.me to escalate service requests and get direct support for bigger IT needs. But more than that, their CSM acts as a proactive IT mentor. For example, when they went remote, align.me was focused on staff welfare but hadn’t considered the added security risks. Their CSM proactively raised the issue and suggested new measures that should be adopted.
Fast service desk
While align.me’s wider IT needs have grown, the team’s need for a quick and accessible service desk continues. For a fast-moving agency, it’s vital to have IT problems solved as quickly as possible. VITG’s service desk is quick, clever, and friendly, figuring out exactly what needs to be done to help and offering solutions at speed.
“Originally, we only looked at VITG as a service desk. But at each phase of our growth, we needed a different outsourced IT service – and they could still deliver.” – Hugh Macfarlane
The result? Growth and adaptability without the effort. By being able to meet align.me wherever they were, identifying, solving, and answering challenges through each business change, VITG has supported align.me to continuously adapt and succeed. This has resulted in align.me achieving:
- Successful remote working: Like most of the world, align.me went remote in early 2020 – something never really done before. They hadn’t considered everything, but VITG support allowed them to move all staff remote effortlessly and securely. Subsequently, 2020 was the biggest growth year in align.me’s history.
- Seamless move to new offices: In 2021, align.me moved offices – then promptly outgrew the new office, so added a second one next door. VITG ensured all systems and infrastructure were set up for both spaces – even sending in technicians to do what couldn’t be done remotely.
- Ongoing hybrid working: When office working returned, align.me decided to offer a hybrid working option to employees, allowing flexibility to attract and retain talent. They were able to lean on VITG to guide the move and add the required capabilities.
- 30% growth – every year: VITG worked with align.me to set up a process to secure and activate devices and applications for new starters to make the onboarding of new staff members seamless – even for those based overseas. align.me has onboarded 15 new staff since 2020, including 4 internationals
“Having VITG as an IT partner has enabled us to just keep going as we’re going. And we’ve been able to offer new things to employees, bring in new employees, grow the business, and move offices – all pretty seamlessly.” – Hugh Macfarlane
Since day one, align.me’s goal has been to grow – while continuing to support their clients. Due to this growth (and some unforeseen circumstances), they’ve also had to adapt and change a little. And they’ve been able to have a smooth journey through it all, thanks to the support of an IT provider that does more than just the norm.
“Most managed service providers do the basic service desk. But VITG has a large team and depth in multiple areas, which most managed service providers don’t have. It’s been great to have a partner ready to support each stage of our growth.” – Hugh Macfarlane
For more information on how VITG can help your business, click here.
