A healthcare leader modernized backup across 3,900 Microsoft 365 users, 80 virtual machines, and 35TB of data while using ARG to reduce the research burden, evaluate providers, and preserve scarce internal IT capacity.
When Growth Put IT Capacity Under Pressure
The IT leader has spent years managing technology against a demanding operating reality.
Before the organization was formed through a merger of two companies, one predecessor regularly competed for state Medicaid contracts that could require a physical office presence in the state. In some cases, that infrastructure needed to be in place before a proposal was submitted.
That put technology on the clock. Circuits had to be ordered. Telecommunications providers had to be coordinated. Offices had to become operational quickly, sometimes without an IT resource onsite.
The internal organization remained lean. Today, the IT leader oversees six reports, with a managed service provider handling much of the day-to-day operational work across an environment that includes approximately 15 offices.
The pressure was straightforward: every hour spent researching carriers, evaluating providers, or managing procurement consumed capacity the internal team needed elsewhere.
ARG became a way to extend that capacity.
The relationship began roughly 15 years ago with a conferencing requirement, then expanded into circuit sourcing and support. Over time, ARG helped evaluate call center platforms, cloud communications, managed services, and other major technology procurements.
The technologies changed. The need for outside market expertise remained.
Turning Vendor Research Into a Decision
Ask the IT leader where ARG saves the team the most time, and the answer is immediate.
“Research, research, research.”
Technology markets rarely present a clean shortlist. Providers make similar claims, pricing models vary, and capabilities that appear comparable on paper can perform differently in practice.
ARG helps the organization reduce that noise.
When the IT leader brings ARG a requirement, the team identifies potential providers, narrows the field against the organization’s criteria, and organizes the differences into a format the IT team can use. The organization can also introduce providers it wants considered.
“They put it in a condensed format, easily digestible, easy to translate so that we can understand the benefits that each vendor provides.”
The IT leader retains decision authority. ARG supports the evaluation and pricing process, then steps back when the organization wants to negotiate final rates directly.
That structure gives a lean IT team access to specialized technology-market knowledge without maintaining deep expertise in every category it may need to procure.
Applying the Model to Backup Modernization
The organization’s recent backup modernization put that approach to work.
The IT leader described the existing backup environment as expensive. The requirements extended well beyond lowering cost.
They wanted backup delivered as a managed service so the organization would not have to add another platform for its team or MSP to administer. They also wanted immutable, air-gapped protection and a provider capable of supporting recovery if the organization experienced a serious event such as ransomware.
After seeing managed backup solutions presented at an ARG event, the IT leader asked ARG to explore the market.
ARG brought multiple providers into the evaluation, compared them against the organization’s requirements, and helped narrow the field. The resulting Corporate IT deployment protects approximately 3,900 Microsoft 365 users, 80 virtual machines, and 35TB of data through a co-managed model.
The new configuration covered a substantially larger and more complete environment at a comparable monthly cost, an outcome the IT leader viewed as a meaningful budget win. They cautioned that the previous and new setups differed enough that a precise percentage comparison would mislead.
The broader payoff was capacity. The organization gained a managed protection model built around its operating requirements while ARG carried much of the market research needed to reach the decision.
Commercial Transparency Builds Trust
The economics of the relationship also matter.
When the organization began considering an upcoming MSP procurement, its internal procurement team explored running the RFP process and determined that capacity was constrained. The IT leader also considered outside firms that could conduct the evaluation.
Their estimate: a comparable consulting-led selection process could become a six-figure engagement.
ARG’s evaluation process does not require the organization to fund a separate upfront consulting engagement. The IT leader understands that ARG has commercial relationships with providers, and considers that structure when reviewing recommendations.
They also see transparency in how ARG handles it.
“They do appear to be unbiased in their evaluations. They don’t necessarily push us toward a specific vendor.”
When the organization’s newer executive leadership asked how ARG is compensated, ARG addressed those questions directly. According to the IT leader, that openness increased leadership’s comfort with the model.
The organization continues to control the final decision, the providers under consideration, and the ultimate commercial negotiation.
Fifteen Years of Flexible Expertise
ARG’s role after selection varies by project.
Where the organization has strong internal expertise, its team may take the lead. Where the technology is less familiar, ARG can participate more deeply in implementation, provider coordination, and ongoing support. If problems arise, ARG can help escalate them with the provider.
That flexibility has allowed the relationship to evolve with the organization’s technology agenda without creating another fixed layer of internal overhead.
“As a longtime trusted partner, I’m really hesitant to move away. I know that from a technology standpoint, they’ll have a better feel for what the field of candidates might look like.”
For the organization, the value is durable: specialized research when a major decision arises, experienced support when the team needs it, and more internal capacity focused on running the technology environment behind its healthcare operations.
See what independent market clarity looks like for your healthcare infrastructure. Talk with ARG.