Case study: CompoundLabs
With their industry expertise and proactive approach, Think Concepts keeps this custom pharmaceutical compounding lab secure, serviced, and up to date with new technology.
A partner at Moore Markhams Chartered Accountants, Atul Mehta had a long-standing relationship with Think Concepts, having worked with founder Hadleigh Bognuda, and COO, Simon Davis for many years.
Atul is also the managing director of a compounding pharmacy called CompoundLabs. Unhappy with his then IT provider, he felt that Think Concepts’ attentive service and knowledge of the pharmacy sector would make them a much better fit for his business. Though contractually bound to their existing provider, Atul had Simon and the team perform ad-hoc work where possible and brought them on in an official capacity in 2019.
Why switch technology providers?
The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually quite shocking: CompoundLabs’ bank account was hacked, which came as a complete surprise, even though further investigation revealed that Atul’s and another director’s email accounts had been hacked thousands of times prior. “We didn’t discover the theft for five days,” says Atul. “That’s why the bank wasn’t able to chase it.”
Understandably upset about the lack of communication regarding the email account security breach and feeling neglected because of his company’s relatively small size – CompoundLabs has a staff of 32 compared to Moore Markhams Auckland’s 70 – Atul knew he needed a higher level of service. A level he was accustomed to getting from Think Concepts, who had also won business from several of Moore Markhams’ clients.
Because of his existing relationship with Think Concepts account managers Charith and Gary, Atul was able to get what he expected and more.
Gary Smith - Regional Manager - AKL
Charith Silva - Senior Consultant
What support services does Think Concepts provide?
“Firstly, they come in one day a month. We had an ongoing requirement for somebody to be there on a regular basis, but the previous provider never committed to that and was always ad-hoc, which we didn’t like. We want someone to be at our side at least one dedicated day a month so people can ask questions if their issues flare up. “
“They also do proactive maintenance and look out for things. They look after all our cyber-security. They look at our system processes, give an overview, and provide ongoing support when people’s computers play up or they have a software or hardware issue. They also manage the servers and backups, and they’re on demand if we need them.”
Because CompoundLabs formulates custom medicines for suppliers, data integrity and uptime are crucial: “Think Concepts is responsible for the crisis management side of things. Procedures are in place so that if something happens, we can retrieve our data and quickly get going again.”
What about special projects?
When the COVID pandemic broke out, Think Concepts helped set the office team up for remote working while the factory team continued to work in shifts.
“Now the key people can work from home and we’re pleased that we can. Think Concepts sorted it all out. If something happened tomorrow, we could carry on because we’ve got confidence in our systems.”
Think Concepts also set them up with Zoom conferencing capabilities, which they didn’t have before. And thanks to Think Concepts expertise in pharmacy, they’re trialing a fully integrated, paperless eScript system where prescriptions are sent electronically.
“They played an integral part in that, so I’d say they’re innovative. And the reason again: We’re in the same sector, so they learn stuff and they tell us about it. That’s what happened here. If we weren’t in the same industry, it would probably be different. But we find that at both CompoundLabs and Moore Markhams, they’re very proactive and flag things well before we need to think about them.”
What business benefits has CompoundLabs seen as a result?
“The benefits have been the ease of operating a business, relying on our systems, and access to good people. They can come and help us, they work with us proactively, and our costs have come down.”
“In the past, we were looked after by a large organisation and we thought we were getting the best things. But every time there were issues with computers, servers, or the Internet, they were sending people out ad-hoc and charging us for it. Our costs were about a third more than what we pay now, without any benefit.”
In this case, going with a less expensive IT provider hasn’t meant a drop in quality – if anything, quite the opposite: “They’re cheaper, more efficient – much better. I’m very happy with Think Concepts. They’re very, very good with us and we like working with them.”
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