Epifany and AT&T Relocate and Upgrade Nursefinders' Network

A veteran AT&T territory manager had won dozens of high profile accounts over the years. But after seven years of trying, the business opportunity at Nursefinders had not been won.

Initially, the AT&T solution presented to the Nursefinders’ CIO saved money, but the incumbent provider matched AT&T’s offer. It was later determined that the incumbent provider was routing large amounts of voice traffic on POTS lines, resulting in network and cost inefficiencies; but a large customer credit saved the incumbent’s position. Each time he tried to win the company’s business, the competitor would offer an incentive and sign Nursefinders to another multi-year contract.

Determined to make his third attempt a success, he changed tactics. While the approach of upgrading the WAN from frame relay to an IP VPN seemed promising, the timing was bad. Nursefinders was managing a corporate relocation with limited resources and a tight budget. Turning adversity into opportunity, the AT&T territory manager engaged Epifany for experienced technical project management and engineering resources with a deep knowledge of the AT&T solution portfolio.

NURSEFINDERS STAYS WELL THROUGH RELOCATION AND TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE

Epifany provided a scope of work that included a detailed network audit and migration plan to validate and implement the AT&T solution.

The project started with Epifany engineers conducting a network audit that uncovered a few vulnerability issues. Epifany recommended leveraging the AT&T IP network with the AT&T Managed VPN Tunneling Service (AVTS). The revised solution provides secure, seamless data transport via a fully managed, scalable platform. It broadens Nursefinders’ reach to its customers, vendors, and employees, and also provides enterprise users secure access to crucial applications, enabling them to work more efficiently and productively.

“That simple process of auditing the network and making recommendations was really key,” says the AT&T territory manager. “From that point forward, Epifany became a trusted advisor.”

COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER SUCCESS INSTILLS CONFIDENCE AND ENABLES TRUST

“Just knowing that he had a wide variety of skill sets available during major projects like relocating the corporate headquarters gave him great peace of mind,” says Epifany principal Michael Pollak of the Nursefinders CIO. “Deploying a new network and migrating to a new carrier with geographical presence coast-to-coast is a very daunting undertaking. The fact that we could plan, execute, and provide a virtual extension of his staff made it doable for him.”

Through it all, Epifany and the AT&T team continued to stay focused on the customer. The level of trust between AT&T and Epifany shone here, keeping the customer’s best interest in mind.

“That level of trust is critical in moving this kind of sales process to closure,” says Pollak, “It enabled us to collaborate and work together as a team to maintain momentum throughout a long sales cycle.” AT&T continued to show Nursefinders how AT&T could optimize its voice network and save money. Epifany educated the customer on the benefits of migrating to the new solution.

By exhibiting solid character and integrity, and with a firm commitment to customer success, the teams earned the trust of Nursefinders—and its business.