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Why Your Company Needs a Knowledge Management System

Knowledge influences your company’s competitive advantage. An educated team is a prepared team.

The challenge is sharing knowledge.

How do you convince staff to contribute to a database? Are they willing to share information? And will other staff members be able to use the knowledge effectively?

A knowledge management system is an employee-collaborative software that manages intellectual property. At Quartet, we use Microsoft Sharepoint, but there are others developed by Moxiesoft and Atlassian.

When would you need a knowledge management system?

A knowledge management system is a great tool for growing companies. At its best, the system is a well-oiled machine that helps regulate process standards, customer service expectations and operational efficiency.

Quartet has been investing heavily in our knowledge management system. In the last five months, we’ve seen the launch of Windows 8, new mobile devices, two new server technologies, the Office365 migration and Windows Server 2012.

We recognized the need for a knowledge management system because we have a lot of new information and little time to learn it. This tool helps us access information quickly. As a result, we are able to better manage our customers’ projects.

Benefits of a knowledge management system

  1. Scaling – If a specialized technician is unavailable, another employee can use a knowledge management system to find technical specifications. The employee is able to resolve the issue quicker and reduce on-site costs.
  2. Training – Knowledge management systems are used to train new hires on your company’s processes and infrastructure.
  3. Proof of expertise – A well-documented knowledge management system is evidence of your company’s experience. It’s a log of every configuration, hardware and software issue your employees have solved.
  4. Innovation – Employees will feel more comfortable hypothesizing and testing if they are well-versed with the technology. Every solution becomes part of the blueprint to a new idea.

Companies grow with knowledge management

Bottom line, a knowledge management system organizes ideas, drives innovation and improves operations.

(Image: Florian Seroussi)


Kingsdale Capital

Disaster Challenges Solution Results
Flood1 Kingsdale Capital Corporation is a leading, Toronto-based global financial services organization. They have become a name that is synonymous with quality offerings and industry innovation.

A business located above Kingsdale has a liquid-cooled air conditioning unit.
On June 26, 2007 at approximately 1:00PM the water supply connector that went between the main waterline (which comes in from the city) and the backup line sprung a leak.

The leak found its way directly into Kingsdale’s server room. There was a significant amount of water pouring directly out directly above their equipment; the pipe in question was 4 inches in diameter and pressured to about 100psi.
Flood1 Due to the obscure nature of the leak, it took several hours to locate the pipe and cut the flow of water.

The destroyed equipment included:
  • All the networking equipment (6+ switches)
  • SonicWALL® content filter
  • Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM) switch
  • Large Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
  • 1 Power Distribution Unit (PDU)
  • ParGain® DSL router
Flood1 Within 5 minutes, Angelo – one of our Field Support technicians – was on site.

In order to protect the equipment, Angelo stood over the equipment racks, deflecting the water with some cardboard. Once additional Quartet staff arrived, garbage bags were pieced together to form a plastic shroud over the hardware.

Following the initial stabilizing of the situation, Quartet immediately ordered new servers, assuming that the equipment was destroyed.

After an assessment by our network engineers, we found that the servers were in good shape. We stopped the preemptive order and succeeded in getting Kingsdale operational by next business day. At 9:30AM on June 27, 2007, Kingsdale was running at roughly 95% capacity and we maintained our reputation of having customers up and running in less than 24 hours.

We also created initiatives for projects that included:
  • Drip/Splash tray for above the servers
  • Netbotz® implementation
  • BC/DR planning
Kingsdale was approximately 6 business hours.
Flood1 “In any support situation, whether it be internally sourced or externally, there are many risks. The case has been made with Quartet because of their availability. We get the required response times for the same cost of hiring an in-house IT provider. In return, we get the leveraged expertise they have on staff.

Quartet has 5 to 6 specializations – which gives us access to a much larger talent pool opposed to hiring in-house support. During a recent disaster recovery situation we witnessed their model in action. While one Quartet staff assessed the damage, another ordered the needed components and someone else actually cleaned up the mess. Typical concerns of our computer and technology infrastructure have become nonexistent.

Quartet is the right firm for us.”


- Peter Notidis Chief Financial Officer, Kingsdale Capital Corporation


Quartet Service Inc. Named Among Top ICT Companies by Branham300

TORONTO, Ontario, April 23, 2013 – Quartet Service Inc., a Toronto-based IT service provider, was listed as one of Top 250 Canadian ICT Companies by Branham300. This is the second consecutive year Quartet has made the Branham300 list.

For the last 20 years, Branham300 has been celebrating the top Canadian and Multinational ICT companies operating in Canada, ranked by revenue. Earlier this year, Quartet Service Inc. announced a 54% revenue increase, marginally above the ICT professional services growth rate of 12.98%, as stated by the Branham Group.

“We’re pleased to have been selected again to the 2013 Branham300 report,” said Rob Bracey, President and CEO of Quartet Service Inc. “This past year has brought a lot of changes, not just to our company, but to the industry as a whole. Toronto’s IT needs have become increasingly specialized. That’s why, with support from IBM, we launched an enterprise-level cloud service platform. This focus on cloud technology is the future of our industry.”

The Branham300 is a listing of Canada’s top public and private ICT companies. The Top 250 Canadian ICT Companies is published annually at www.bramham300.com.

About Quartet Service Inc.

Quartet Service Inc. provides helpdesk and onsite technical services, designs and builds IT networks and provides a variety of cloud-based services to reduce costs and risks for their clients. Quartet’s support packages are customized to meet budget, risk, and service requirements. Benefits include reduced capital & operating costs, increased reliability and regulatory compliance.

About Branham Group Inc.

Branham Group Inc. is a leading industry analyst and strategic marketing company servicing the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) marketplace. Branham Group assists ICT Technology companies and related institutions in achieving market success through its custom consulting services (Planning, Marketing and Partnering), and through its multi-client research subscription programs (Digital Health, Green IT and Cloud). Branham also produces an annual listing of the top ICT companies in Canada (www.branham300.com) and monitors over 450 Digital Health vendors (www.branhamgroup. com/digitalhealth).

For more information regarding Branham Group, please visit www.branhamgroup.com.

Contact Information

Andrew Bisson Anderson
Vice President, Consulting Services
Branham Group
613-745-2282 Ext. 127
abisson@branhamgroup.com

Radha Tailor
New Media Coordinator
Quartet Service Inc.
416-483-8332 Ext. 2162
rtailor@quartetservice.com


Rob Bracey talks relationship innovation with Advantage Magazine

There’s something different about a man who uproots his life to earn his MBA at a Japanese university. That’s the path President Rob Bracey took before coming to Quartet Service. Now, he’s using the Japanese concept of relationship innovation with the company’s clients and service agreements.

“We invest in IT infrastructure on behalf of our clients, such as a private cloud or phone services, and then deliver services on a multi-tenant basis,” Bracey explains. “Performance is guaranteed, there are no capital costs, and contracts are flexible. None of the services by themselves is all that spectacular; but rolled together and made accessible—that’s the different approach.” – Advantage Magazine

Laura Williams Tracey sat down with Rob Bracey for a full one-on-one about relationship management, community growth and Quartet’s legacy.

“Where Worlds Collide” by Laura Williams Tracy
Advantage Magazine, April/May/June 2013 issue
http://bit.ly/ZJcbgX

 

Can’t access the webpage? Here’s a pdf version of the article online. Advantage Online – Quartet


Ward Cleaver

Fatherly Advice

My daughter and I were at the Leaf game when I started up again.  She asked me a question, but after my 23 minute soliloquy on values and perspective, it doesn’t matter what it was.  The gist of it though applies as much to Quartet, and potentially to you, as it does to my 16 year old.

Read more


Outsourced

CBC interviews Quartet about the risks of offshore IT outsourcing

How often are IT outsourcing jobs being sent overseas? And how many people have lost their service jobs from offshore outsourcing? CBC News visited Quartet to understand why companies are moving their IT services offshore and how it’s affecting Canadians.


Referral program ad spotted at the Spring “Fling”!

We like to invest in our employees by supporting their initiatives in the community. One of our employees was a fundraising committee member for the Rays of Hope Fundraising Dinner Dance, A Spring “Fling”. It took place on Saturday, April 6th. The committee gave us the opportunity to advertise for our new referral program. This is what the ad looked like.


Quartet Service Inc. reviews Blackberry 10 for CBC’s The National

In light of the release of Blackberry 10, CBC’s the National visited Quartet Services Inc. on January 31, the day after the launch. Although we provide BESX (Blackberry support), Reporter Havard Gould wanted to know if Quartet would be distributing the product, following our recent change to another platform. Gould also surprised our team with a Blackberry Z10 to review. Take a look at what our tech team had to say.


Clean cows and Kenyan shillings, the cattle dip is open

 

First day using the cattle dip

Great news – the Cheptegei cattle dip is now making money!

For our new charity referral program, we are contributing to a micro-financing project in rural Kenya to build cattle dips. The cattle dip will enable the Kokwet Women’s Group to generate an income. We’ve already built one dip and with our referral program, we’re raising funds to build another.

On the first day, the women’s group earned kSh2500 (about $30) and they’re aiming for kSh4000 (about $47.50) next week!

John Carson, co-founder of the Rift Valley Marathon, has been updating us on the project. He says the ladies want to install a milk cooler and sell the milk to the Kenya Co-operative Creameries, a major dairy board based in Nairobi.

We congratulate the Kokwet Women’s Group and all the contributors on the successful implementation of this project!

Want to see how the cattle dip works? Turn up your speakers and take a look at this short video.

 


Winners of the Rift Valley Marathon

Earlier this year, we became a sponsor of the Rift Valley Marathon in Kenya. Canadian runners, including our own Olympians, banded together to organize this event. Through this marathon, the team was able to fund-raise for clean water initiatives and micro-financing projects. Kids received new shoes and laptops, and overall, the team helped bring tourism to the neighbouring villages.

Read more

 
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