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iCorps needed to configure ISP's routers itself
COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS Case Study -- Investment Firm Connects With DSL
By Charlotte Dunlap
MedEquity Investors LLC moved off dial-up and into the fast lane of broadband connectivity thanks to some help from a savvy network integrator.
MedEquity, a fast-growing firm that invests in health-care companies, had just started updating its networking infrastructure when it heard about iCorps Technologies, a solution provider based in Boston.
Dial-up Internet connectivity no longer sufficed for MedEquity, so executives decided to look into DSL.
Small businesses now have access to technologies they could never have afforded in the past, says Mike Hadley, president and CEO of iCorps. "We can allow our clients to effectively and securely leverage the Internet using cost-effective solutions," he says.
First, iCorps replaced two workstations with a Compaq server with Windows NT and Exchange. Then the solution provider installed a firewall and router using PPTP to increase MedEquity's bandwidth.
But getting the customer connected via DSL turned out to be more complicated than iCorps had imagined. MedEquity's ISP dragged its feet, providing only limited access to its service, and iCorps finally had to configure the ISP's routers itself.
"When we weren't able to get in touch with the ISP, iCorps stepped in and answered the questions and worked as a liaison for us," says Caitlin Dwyer, director of research and communications at MedEquity, Wellesley Hills, Mass. When all was said and done, MedEquity's 12 employees could access e-mail over the Net using DSL, cable modems, VPNs and ISDN.
Secure information transfer proved to be one of the most important elements of iCorps' solution, given the confidential nature of the investment firm's communications.
"This whole broadband thing is going to be fantastic as long as people are aware of the security issue," says Jeff Zahr, iCorps' manager of network services.
For MedEquity, the integrator used SonicWall from Sonic Systems for the firewall. And because MedEquity employees do a lot of traveling, iCorps signed up the company with IBM Global Dial-Up Account, a service that provides travelers with affordable Net connectivity from any location in the world.
Over the course of one month, iCorps spent 15 to 20 hours on the broadband connectivity portion of the MedEquity project.
"[iCorps] has taken us from a very small start-up with just the beginning of an IT infrastructure and really helped us grow," Dwyer says.
Copyright ® 2000 CMP Media Inc.
Caitlin Dwyer of MedEquity is a happy client of integrator Mike Hadley of iCorps.
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