MEEVivenz supports vulnerable citizens in participating fully and as much as possible in society under their own steam. They do this by helping people with a backpack with problems of personal and/or social functioning. The goal is to make clients as self-reliant as possible.
After the reorganizations and mergers of the past few years, a solid company has emerged that is committed to a strong society where everyone can participate.
CaptureTech had been the IT partner of one of the companies that merged into MEEVivenz for years, and so it is now that of the entire organization. That the two organizations had to find each other again in the process is no secret. That this has more than succeeded in the meantime, Esther Albers, Employee in Operations, and Nicole Baltussen, Manager of Operations, tell us.
Specific wants and needs
MEEVivenz is an organization within the social domain. ‘That means that our costs are paid from community funds. This is an important thing, because you want to be careful with that. You have to be accountable for your expenses, so everything has to be as efficient as possible,” Nicole says.
“By the way, that doesn’t mean we can’t spend money, but it has to be useful. For our colleagues, and especially for the employees in the field, it is important that IT works for them. That it is always and everywhere available, that it is easy to use and that they are helped quickly and well when they have questions. And that at the most competitive price possible. That is the continuous balance we are looking for.”
CaptureTech supports this: “At the point where we are now, we know that CaptureTech is really our partner who stands beside us. A partner who thinks along with us. That can be in several areas: they proactively come up with opportunities to purchase licenses cheaper, for example, with features that we are already paying for but not yet using, but also with new solutions that can make our work easier.”
“They always come with advice that suits us: not the most expensive and comprehensive package by default, but the package that meets our needs and requirements. As for Security-as-a-Service: of course cybersecurity is important to us, but we don’t need the most comprehensive package. So they don’t advise that. We also look together periodically to see if there are any cost savings anywhere. It’s very nice when a partner is open to that.”
Moving forward together
Esther and Nicole must also be honest: cooperation has not always been as good as it is now. “Previously, CaptureTech provided IT services for part of our organization. After the merger at the end of 2020, they became the IT partner for the entire MEEVivenz organization. You noticed that both they and we had to find our way in that,” Esther explains.
“They had to get to know us again and understand what we needed. And we had to feel that it was a collaboration. First and foremost, let me say that it succeeded! There was a lot of effort on both sides to make that collaboration successful, to get to where we are today. Within our organization there was a lot of change, and IT is not our expertise. Because CaptureTech showed that they were able to fully support us in this. From taking on the service desk to thinking strategically about what is ahead of us and how we can shape the future: the collaboration between us grew together with our organization to what it is today.”
CaptureTech thus provides not only the licenses and hardware, but precisely also a piece of service. And for that, it’s important to be on the same page, says Esther: “Within MEEVivenz, we don’t have an IT department. So our service desk is at CaptureTech, and they also do the management. I am the coordinator and translate the wishes and needs of our organization to CaptureTech, and vice versa, of course. Now as a partner you can think, “fine, it’s running,” and continue as you do every day. Where CaptureTech shows its distinctiveness, for example, is that they recognize trends in user demand and feed this back to us.”
With this, MEEVivenz can look at how the service towards end users can be improved, Esther explains: “If certain questions occur frequently, such as, for example, how to use certain applications, that’s where training opportunities lie. It’s a waste to pay for a service desk if we can make employees more self-reliant through training.”
Training and awareness
So together with CaptureTech, they are now rolling out training platform 5MOT (5 Minutes of Training), says Esther:
“Through short e-learnings, employees can train themselves on how to use different applications. That saves a lot of questions to the service desk, and then again we can save costs. Furthermore, we can use the trainings for awareness, especially in the area of cybersecurity. Because that turned out to be a huge need with us!”
What do employees think about that? “Of course, it’s not everyone’s favorite thing to do, and by no means everyone is equally adept at it. Plus, everyone learns in his or her own way. So most of the feedback we get has to do with personal preferences. But the vast majority are very satisfied with the solution,” Esther says.
Make onboarding a party
MEEVivenz tries to listen to their employees. After all, they are the ones who carry the organization. So, when a lot of feedback came in on the onboarding process, Esther and Nicole knew they had to do something with it.
“Employees had to get a laptop, cell phone, its accessories and login information, plus explanations. Often they had to wait days, sometimes weeks, before they had everything complete. That that’s frustrating, everyone understands. And there was no question that CaptureTech could not solve that on their own. But, they did do everything they could to support us,” says Nicole.
“CaptureTech provides the laptops and IT. We have another supplier for mobile phones. We started by mapping our processes and finding the bottlenecks. Because that’s where the process starts, if it’s all passed on our side properly and on time, that’s already a win. But, so, we wanted everything to be delivered to the employee at once. Because that’s where you score points.”
“That was easier said than done, because we have two partners, who somewhere are also competitors. But I really want to credit CaptureTech for stepping over that and working with the other party to set up an onboarding process that works for us. We now only get compliments and great feedback from new employees, and that’s what we do it for!”
Together for an innovative future
A collaboration this close never stands still and is never “done. Besides, the world of IT is changing rapidly. CaptureTech keeps an eye on all innovations and sees where they can be deployed for clients like MEEVivenz. And sometimes that means making choices, Esther tells us:
“We were using a portal that CaptureTech itself had created, and maintained. When we were introduced to Workspace 365, it turned out to better suit our needs. Instead of sticking to their own portal, CaptureTech really listened to us. They researched the possibilities and included Workspace 365 in their offerings. So they can also support us with this. That they do that says a lot about their attitude: the customer always comes first!”
Esther and Nicole summarize the cooperation as follows: “We are listened to, CaptureTech is always open to feedback and does everything within their power to support us as well as possible. They always look at the latest technologies, new features and possible cost savings. They are honest and that works wonderfully together. We look forward to the future with confidence. And of course, there are always areas for improvement, but where aren’t they now?”
Want to know more about MEEVivenz? Check out their website here.