Plextec Inc (MSP) fuels a 10% year-over-year growth partnering with Parallels RAS.

Plextec Inc, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, has been serving the insurance industry for over 30 years. With a focus on providing tailored IT services, they have become experts in supporting insurance brokers and law firms. Plextec takes pride in their ability to offer cost-effective, secure, scalable, and customized solutions to their clients, with a strong emphasis on installation, support, and maintenance.

During their first 15 years in business, Plextec supported their clients on-premises. After that point they transitioned the client roster to their custom-built cloud product, specifically designed for the unique challenges of the insurance industry.

The ChallengeOffering a cost-efficient cloud solution that effectively addresses cyber security concerns while requiring minimal ramp-up time.

Plextec was looking for:

• A cost-effective solution.
• Minimal need for ongoing assistance.
• Secure and reliable offering.

Originally, Plextec used the Microsoft RDS solution with one of Parallels' leading competitors but found it clunky and cumbersome. They needed constant support and felt it demanded too much handholding. They stayed the course but when cyber security became a hot topic and clients were inquiring (a given considering they — the clients — needed cyber insurance), Plextec started looking around, specifically for two-factor or multifactor authentication solutions.

Only offering their solutions in the cloud, Plextec’s focus was security and reliability, ensuring uninterrupted remote access to critical applications and desktops, irrespective of their clients' location or device(s).

As they continued to onboard an increasing number of customers, it was crucial for Plextec to scale on demand, maintain load balancing, and facilitate remote printing and scanning. Furthermore, considering the substantial number of clients with concurrent users surpassing 1000, having access to knowledgeable, dependable, and responsive support was vital for promptly addressing any issues.

In 2019, as they began researching, the Plextec team discovered Parallels RAS and learned that it not only offered multifactor authentication—which checked the security box—but a depth and breadth of features that had the potential to elevate their business model. These included simplified management, an exceptional UI, USP redirection, universal printing, and content offloading.

The TestCan the security features in Parallels RAS meet client expectations while reducing the need for unnecessary support?

Plextec conducted a comprehensive trial of Parallels RAS, driven by its all-in-one management console and enhanced security features, seeking relief from the challenges faced with Microsoft RDS support.

The trial involved deploying 10 RDS servers with 10-15 users per server testing industry specific applications. Within just one month, Plextec enthusiastically confirmed Parallels RAS as their ideal choice for the following reasons:

• Simplicity and user-friendliness.
• Inclusion of targeted features addressing their specific business pain points.
• Attractive pricing.
• Establishing essential modern business rapport.

Moreover, the multi-tenancy functionality was thoroughly tested as Plextec crafted a custom-made Hyper-Converged hosting solution tailored precisely to the requirements of their insurance clients, providing robust disaster risk mitigation against potential fire, floods, or natural disasters.

The SolutionPlextec selects Parallels RAS to enhance their cloud-based MSP offering and completed a major migration.

Plextec swiftly wrapped up the testing phase and expedited the migration of a considerable number of additional users to Parallels RAS.

Plextec primarily uses load balancing and connection monitoring within their multi-tenant architecture. Because their data centers can be managed via a single console from anywhere in the world, the data centers can be maintained and supported remotely if a disaster happens.

The ResultsYear-over-year growth of 10% and strong business partnership.

By adding Parallels RAS to their MSP toolbox, Plextec has provided their customers with an all-in-one managed hosted cloud solution—including customer support and data backups—resulting in 10% client-base growth year-over-year.

Additional benefits experienced by the Plextec team:

1. Time savings: Reduced client-side deployment time, achieving an impressive cost-saving when compared to their previous solution. Bonus: the “time saved is used to enjoy a shot of espresso and plan strategically (that is the stuff that really grows a business)” quipped Ladouceur.
2. Simplified management: Plextec no longer needs to manage multiple tools since they can host and manage their data and applications from a centralized console.
3. Accelerated security and cost savings: Parallels RAS provides additional layers of security, including Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and encryption tools, eliminating the need for an extra robust firewall.
4. Outstanding support service: Reliable and responsive support services from Parallels contribute to increased productivity and minimized downtime.

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