The collaboration between Gofore and StarIT began in 2014, when Gofore had about 60 employees. Today, there are more than 700 professionals working for Gofore, and collaboration with StarIT has only expanded over the years. StarIT currently helps Gofore employees with IT challenges, maintains various systems and provides software and devices pre-installed and ready to use.
Partnership through device acquisitions
When Gofore needed a new video conferencing system in 2014, StarIT and Sami Korpi were contacted for assistance.
”Instead of offering an easy off-the-shelf solution with a 10,000 Euro price tag, Sami did more extensive surveying and ended up recommending a considerably cheaper, used option. That attitude and problem-solving ability made an impression on us”, says Gofore founding member and security director Jani Lammi.
The collaboration got off to a good start and continued in the form of small projects, until it grew to cover things like support and maintenance services, device acquisitions and participation in coming up with ideas for and developing the IT environment together with the company’s IT management. Before StarIT, Gofore was using a so-called decentralized in-house model, where IT gurus working in-house were responsible for the operation of their own hardware in their own ways. Rapid growth of business led to the need to find a unified model, and IT outsourcing was seen as a sensible solution.
”An IT environment survey project produced many good observations, and in particular, a clear plan on how to proceed as operations grow.”
Fast growth requires automation
Gofore has been growing rapidly, and at the peak of its organic growth, the company recruited as many as 100 employees a year.
”When a new employee starts work, it is important that the tools, i.e. a computer and its peripherals, can be adopted quickly and that everything works flawlessly”, Lammi explains.
Accomplishing this manually would have been nearly impossible, but thanks to the high level of automation of StarIT’s services, new Gofore employees received their tools and user IDs on time.
The years of partnership have been mostly smooth, and any problems encountered have been solved and fixed in good collaborative spirit. StarIT’s responsiveness and ability to change in particular have garnered praise. When necessary, solutions have also been built outside the regularly offered services.
”There will always be problems in the IT industry, but StarIT has proven to be an agile partner whose operating model is uncomplicated and suitable for us”, Lammi muses.
As Gofore builds an even more functional future, StarIT supports its business by ensuring the flawless operation of systems and tools.
