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University
Consulting & Development

A university faced a surge in student enrollment and a need to expand its infrastructure and technology systems to support this growth. To ensure that resources were allocated effectively, the university sought an independent consultant. Blue Tree was brought in, following a referral from a satisfied client, to assess and unify technology strategies across the institution, which included over 30 distinct departments.

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Client Profile

Industry Segment: Higher Education

Founded: 1901

Employees: 2800

Headquarters: United States

Market Presence: Regional & National

Specialties: Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Research Innovation

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The Challenge

Breaking Silos to Build a Unified Strategy

The university's leadership team faced fragmented perspectives and conflicting priorities across departments, hindering cohesive decision-making. With departmental silos in finance, HR, and technology, there was a lack of a unified strategy to align technology investments with broader university goals. Moreover, the university had implemented ad-hoc technology solutions during the pandemic, creating gaps in standard governance and continuity planning. The university required a comprehensive assessment to identify modernization opportunities and align technology with its mission for student and operational growth.

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The Solution

A Comprehensive Assessment for Strategic Alignment

Blue Tree conducted an extensive assessment, interviewing over 75 stakeholders across the university's departments. This approach included:

  • Round One Interviews: Initial discussions to understand departmental needs and technology usage.
  • Documentation Review: Validating processes and examining tools, network maps, and architecture to identify technology gaps.
  • Round Two Interviews: Further discussions based on best practices and industry standards, evaluating staff capabilities, tool adequacy, and process efficiency.
  • Thematic Analysis: Organizing findings into key themes such as resource allocation, outdated tools, and governance strategy to highlight improvement areas.

Blue Tree provided an extensive report with detailed recommendations. The report outlined immediate actions for the next fiscal year and long-term plans for further modernization and consolidation.

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The Results

A Strategic Roadmap to Modernization and Growth

The assessment provided the university with clear recommendations, prioritized for re-establishing governance and developing a strategic roadmap to close the gaps identified to the future desired state. The assessment findings and recommendations were aligned with the following key themes:

  • Unified Leadership Strategy: By fostering a unified approach, the leadership team gained insights into cross-departmental dependencies and investment priorities.
  • Streamlined Technology Systems: Recommendations focused on identifying outdated and redundant systems and tools where investment would provide a financial return for consideration by the new governance body.
  • Enhanced Planning: A phased roadmap empowered the university to tackle pressing issues within 12-18 months and plan for strategic improvements over several years.

This structured approach equipped the university with actionable insights, allowing it to confidently invest in technology that supports both current needs and long-term goals.

"Blue Tree has listened to our particular IT needs, learned how we do business, and they are great at communicating in laymen's terms, so we can feel informed and make the best decisions for our company. We have a single resource to integrate our IT needs, email, shared files for the company,...

"Blue Tree has listened to our particular IT needs, learned how we do business, and they are great at communicating in laymen's terms, so we can feel informed and make the best decisions for our company. We have a single resource to integrate our IT needs, email, shared files for the company, and someone to call that we trust to discuss security management that is right for our company. Blue Tree is our go to for all questions relating to these topics. They have also been a great source for purchasing computers, etc, as they know the operating systems we use and are able to direct us to the best products for our needs at the best cost. If someone is on the fence, and has struggled with anything I have listed above, it will be the best move they can make…the cost will be worth the investment."


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Shannon S

Interior Design

"I like responsiveness. Blue Tree Technology does a nice job of communicating with us to let us know where they are in the process of fixing things. They communicate what the technicians have found and what they are going to do to fix it. They are very transparent in what needs to be done and...

"I like responsiveness. Blue Tree Technology does a nice job of communicating with us to let us know where they are in the process of fixing things. They communicate what the technicians have found and what they are going to do to fix it. They are very transparent in what needs to be done and why. I like that. I truly feel like they have our best interests in mind. Whether it comes to security, technology or software they are there to give us choices and recommendations as to what they think is good for our company. I think they really do a good job of a need of discovery and don't offer things that you don't necessarily need."


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Nikki B

Property Management

"I view the Blue Tree team as trusted partners who look out for our best interest. They stay informed about threats, best practices and strategy, and advise us accordingly. This saves us time and money, helps us do our jobs better and reduces our risk."

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Mary D

Manufacturing

"The single biggest benefit of working with Blue Tree Technology has been them leading us​ over time to fix our "patched-together" network and help us to implement better policies and procedures to get the best functioning IT infrastructure moving forward. It has been my experience, that my...

"The single biggest benefit of working with Blue Tree Technology has been them leading us​ over time to fix our "patched-together" network and help us to implement better policies and procedures to get the best functioning IT infrastructure moving forward. It has been my experience, that my concerns are addressed, my questions are answered, and I have always been treated with respect, especially when my knowledge of the issue is less than adequate."


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Jennifer P

Non Profit

"For us a single benefit of working with Blue Tree Technology has been "Peace of mind. Knowing that things are protected and if there are any issues, they are resolved quickly and efficiently. It's nice to have someone local that can be onsite if need be."

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Mike L

Food Services

"I love the peace of knowing that the IT issues are now someone else's problem. I have stopped worrying about taking care of computer problems myself. I let the team of Blue Tree Technology handle everything. Plus, I'm hoping that our security protocols will protect us from hackers and malware;...

"I love the peace of knowing that the IT issues are now someone else's problem. I have stopped worrying about taking care of computer problems myself. I let the team of Blue Tree Technology handle everything. Plus, I'm hoping that our security protocols will protect us from hackers and malware; so far so good. I listen to the webinars that Sophos (and Blue Tree) provide to customers to help me stay informed about possible upcoming threats so that I can pass info along to my team. I have them terrified to click on anything. With this knowledge, we have been able to catch numerous potential threats by picking up the phone and contacting people when we are suspicious. Many construction companies we work with have had email hacker issues. This is the first and only IT firm that we have worked with. The Blue Tree staff has provided excellent service for us. Blue Tree quickly responds to our requests and has handled every issue, even when the issue is with our internet provider. Plus, we have had zero issues with hackers and ransomware to date. I love knowing that we also have offsite backups if ever needed."


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Lisa K

Electrical Contractor

"What do you feel we do better than other IT firms you may have worked with in the past? "a. Proactive communication; b. Responding to requests and issues; and c. Consulting with clients' best interest in mind and not just focused on making your company money. Do not make an uninformed decision...

"What do you feel we do better than other IT firms you may have worked with in the past? "a. Proactive communication; b. Responding to requests and issues; and c. Consulting with clients' best interest in mind and not just focused on making your company money. Do not make an uninformed decision and don't be on the fence about IT. Spend time talking with Blue Tree work through some issues and thought processes with them. If you do this once or twice you should not have any doubts about their ability to help. The hardest part about integrating with an IT provider is getting rid of the old one. Do not underestimate the amount of time that is needed here."


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Caleb S

Financial Sector

"By partnering with Blue Tree Technology, we have been able to focus our time and effort on building our medical practice and serving our patients, not dealing with our IT needs. The people at Blue Tree Technology make all the difference in the world to us! Our partnership with them was like...

"By partnering with Blue Tree Technology, we have been able to focus our time and effort on building our medical practice and serving our patients, not dealing with our IT needs. The people at Blue Tree Technology make all the difference in the world to us! Our partnership with them was like adding a new group of amazing people to our family, and that we are actually enjoying working with them! Do not hesitate to partner with Blue Tree Technology. They strive to make things right and meet the specific needs of their clients. They have become a critical part of our business and we are relieved how much they have impacted our business in a positive way."


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Joel N

Health Care

"We have only worked with this company for the past 20+ years. However, I can say that we have no intention of changing either."

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Cindy L

Consulting Firm

"Blue Tree provides: "Personal service - Expertise - Communication. "It's been so long since I've worked with anyone else! Blue Tree Technology has a good service request intake system. Their experience level and problem-solving abilities are such that I have never had to walk away without the...

"Blue Tree provides: "Personal service - Expertise - Communication. "It's been so long since I've worked with anyone else! Blue Tree Technology has a good service request intake system. Their experience level and problem-solving abilities are such that I have never had to walk away without the job done and/or issue resolved. Blue Tree Technology team will go the extra mile to get the job done."


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Deborah L

Accounting Business

"Everything is working fantastically! We can access the NAS, print, scan to email from our printer, we are getting faxes, our phones work, and the wifi is working from each point! Blue Tree has been a breath of fresh air and I am very glad I found you! Your services will take a huge chunk of...

"Everything is working fantastically! We can access the NAS, print, scan to email from our printer, we are getting faxes, our phones work, and the wifi is working from each point! Blue Tree has been a breath of fresh air and I am very glad I found you! Your services will take a huge chunk of stress and problems off my plate."


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Brea C

Education