NJ PGA Club of the Year; An IT Success Story
NJ PGA Club of the Year; An IT Success Story Introduction For the historic Glen Ridge Country Club, 2017 was a transformative year complete with a $12 million renovation, and winning the New Jersey PGA’s impressive “2017 New Jersey Club of the Year” award.
The renovations (consisting of a state-of-the-art fitness center, lounge, and highly acclaimed kitchen upgrade) all contributed to the well-deserved honors and recognition. However, one upgrade likely went largely unnoticed. While the physical space was being built-out, the organization also underwent a complete virtual renovation – upgrading their aging technology infrastructure and IT services with a brand new IT Operations as a Service (OaaS) partnership. As a testament to The Club’s leadership, vision, and management, they understood the importance of aligning with professionals in every aspect of their transformation. While revamping technology infrastructure, protocols and processes, the changes also bolstered IT security, improved system performance, and completed the club’s vision of becoming one of the state’s premium private golf courses. Challenges & Opportunities From a business and security perspective, upgrading the club’s information technology was as critical as upgrading the facilities (though understandably not as interesting to member families). To present GRCC as an organizational leader in a highly competitive market, the technology systems needed to be in-line with the overall brand and identity of this prestigious club.
The existing IT model was not proactive, and couldn’t meet the demands of the many new amenities and infrastructure upgrades. IT project work wasn’t being completed in a timely manner, and no real process existed for general IT services, end-user support, or basic documentation.
Without a disciplined approach to properly track and manage the technology systems, manage issues, and critically assess and mitigate risk, the technology and processes in place were simply not aligned with the club’s vision and culture.
As a professional services company specializing in business technology, Mindcore was perfectly positioned to deliver the proactive IT services & support model the Glen Ridge Country Club needed. Solutions & Resolutions After initial meetings with club management, it became clear that Mindcore’s white-glove service model and disciplined processes were a natural fit for GRCC’s developing requirements and corporate culture. Mindcore would take over the club’s IT, deploying our unique Operations as a Service offering, streamlining and optimizing the organization’s information technology systems. We were proud to have been selected as a strategic partner, and would organize our deliverable in three phases:
- In Phase One Mindcore technologists reviewed all systems, software and hardware within the environment, and upgraded all technology infrastructure to be consistent with current best-practices. Applying standardization and proactive management systems to the environment, engineers worked to apply the most up-to-date software and security patches, brought all operating systems to the most recent version, and identified and resolved any preexisting network and system issues.
- Phase Two allowed us to set a foundation for delivering our white glove service model, and included deploying system health monitoring software on all servers, PC’s and laptops. From here, Mindcore technicians proactively monitor and respond to issues before they become problematic or impact productivity. In order to respond to issues that do appear, a best-in-class ticketing and response system was also integrated. The software allows Club employees to easily submit a request for support, and tracks the issue through to completion. Reactive issues are now handled with discipline and efficiency, and analytical reporting can be provided to management to aid in decision making.
- With a baseline set, Phase Three had Mindcore engage as the organization’s IT project management team and virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO). As certified Project Management Professionals, Mindcore’s Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) offering allows The Club to identify projects, prioritized them, create roadmaps and complete them with success. As a virtual CIO, Mindcore meets regularly with club leadership and advises at a higher level – helping properly budget for future IT expenses, and ensuring the organization’s technology remains in alignment with ever-evolving business needs.
The Benefit The IT Services and Support Desk now operates proactively with consistency and accuracy. Frontline security has been hardened by industry-standard password policies, regular software patch updates, and secure managed network devices.
Glen Ridge members have also noticed changes in the technology available to them. With a new, state of the art, “mesh wireless” system integrated throughout the facility, guests can now easily (and securely) access the internet from their mobile device with minimal latency. Further, member services needs are impacted far less due to a reduction in technology issues.
With day-to-day technology concerns removed, executives and management have regained valuable creative time and can more easily focus on club development, problem-solving, and high-impact business opportunities. Successes With various projects to understand and prioritize, the Mindcore Project Team had only a short time to plan and execute the first critical undertaking – moving the staff to their new permanent office space. Using a systematic approach, Mindcore worked through their standard “Office Move Project Timeline” to ensure the new space was up and running when employees arrived to work Monday morning. An incredibly smooth transition by all standards, Glen Ridge staff arrived to a ready environment with workstations setup and connected to the network.
Also vCIO meetings are scheduled over the next year, as Mindcore works with club executives to prepare their overall technology strategy for the years ahead. With everything from IoT, cloud and cybersecurity to consider, Glen Ridge Country Club has a partner to guide the conversation and help plot the course.
At a fraction of the cost, Glen Ridge Country Club has a complete technology team with anytime access to multiple tiers of client support, engineers, IT project managers, and even a Chief Information Officer. The organization’s technology is foundationally solid, with a clear picture of how to proceed methodically and maintain a technological position of strength.
Learn More About Matt
Matt Rosenthal is CEO and President of Mindcore, a full-service tech firm. He is a leader in the field of cyber security, designing and implementing highly secure systems to protect clients from cyber threats and data breaches. He is an expert in cloud solutions, helping businesses to scale and improve efficiency.
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