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The Context IT is becoming increasingly critical in the home building industry. Companies lack the necessary internal technical expertise and are challenged to keep IT costs under control.
The Client Venture Homes is a leading home builder in Atlanta, constructing 300 homes per year.
The Problem How do they keep up their IT needs without increasing costs, and have access to special skills as needed?
The Choice All Covered was chosen by Venture Homes to cover both their day-to-day and strategic needs.
The Results All Covered's local team of experts has created a stable environment and provided expert advice that has resulted in real financial savings and business benefits.
Profiles in IT Management - Venture Homes
Case Study: Venture Homes
For Venture Homes, using All Covered means having confidence in their IT systems and accessing special expertise when they need it.
The Context
The residential building industry has become more complex over the last 20 years as construction companies have expanded into home design, real estate and the development of complete communities. The scale of the projects being managed and the communications needed between design teams, construction sites and sales offices has grown significantly.
This has required leading firms to become more sophisticated in their use of Information Technology (IT). They need more reliable and advanced data systems and communications networks, but the complex delivery creates a need for a more experienced level of IT support. Internal staff, who had been able to provide adequate support for more straightforward desktop environments, are challenged by these more demanding tasks. How can firms take advantage of enhanced IT environments without taking on a lot more IT support costs
The Client
Venture Homes has been building single-family detached homes and townhomes in Atlanta for more than 20 years. The company was founded in 1984 by CEO & President Robert C. White. In 1989, Venture Homes began developing its own communities, and in 1991 formed its own Real Estate Sales Division. The company currently builds around 300 homes per year. As the company grew, it hired two internal IT people, but they found that they only needed the advanced skills of the more senior person from time to time. The company found it hard to justify the cost of the other person and downsized to one IT person.
The Problem
The management of the company knew that it needed more IT expertise than just one internal person could provide. It was hard to imagine that building up an internal team would be the right thing to do, certainly, it would be expensive. Meanwhile, the company’s use of IT was continuing to grow and with 12 satellite offices at development locations to support, the needs continued to grow.
The Choice
Venture Homes wanted the assurance of the support of a company with extensive resources, that could provide them with a broad range of support, from help with day-to-day user issues to strategic IT decisions. The company decided to engage All Covered to assist them with their IT strategy and systems. With a strong local presence in Atlanta, backed by a nationwide organization, All Covered offered a strong balance of expertise and resources.
Enter All Covered
The company started using All Covered for some one-off projects when they needed specific assistance, but later realized that they needed to move into an on-going relationship. Venture Homes found a perfect fit with the All Covered Care service which is designed to address the company’s ongoing IT management and support needs.
All Covered’s local team sat down with the Venture Homes team and discussed the company’s business environment and goals, as well as the IT systems, and mapped out a strategy to deliver the appropriate level of service to meet the requirements.
The Results
Since transitioning to having All Covered support their IT systems, Craig says that there has been “no negative feedback from the users” and that the company is enjoying the benefits of a smooth running IT infrastructure.
The pressure on IT systems has been growing as the pace of the business has increased. Venture Homes has introduced a Trade Portal for its supply partners and this needs to be available around the clock. All Covered has continued to help with special projects in support of this from time to time.
As part of the on-going All Covered Care contract, the overall IT infrastructure is tuned and monitored 24/7 to ensure that it runs in a stable and predictable way. Venture Homes has leveraged All Covered’s IT strategy advice for the company, and Craig sees this model as having “tremendous leverage”.
