Managed Solution Turns 20 in 2022- Cheers to 20 years!

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Managed Solution is proud to celebrate 20 years in business!

 

In 2002 our Founder and CEO, Sean Ferrel, launched a business out of his college dorm. His mission? To create a better way to support companies through the power of technology. What began as a dorm-room dream grew to a fully functioning organization. 

Fueled by an exceptional team of talented individuals -- our success intersects at passion for people and expertise of technology. 

Our Why 

Our reason for coming to work everyday doubles as our secret to success: people. Both internally and externally, we explore technology solutions through a people-first perspective. We believe that the care we take of our team sets the standard for the care that we take of our clients and partners.  

20 Days to celebrate 20 years!  

So how are we celebrating this massive milestone? Every day for 20 days we are digitizing fun group activities through Microsoft Teams. Kicked off with pictures of the team members from 20 years ago! 

On Day 6, we reflected on the core values that make us who we are by looking at the code of conduct that got us where we are today.

Most importantly, we took a moment of gratitude for our team and accomplishments in our quarterly meeting, where many of our amazing staff members were highlighted for their incredible contributions. 

In Our 20th Year We… 

Awards 

This year alone, Managed Solution has been awarded 14 times. Our top-tier leadership team has been recognized for their dedication and direction in a string of honors. Starting with our very own CEO, Sean Ferrel, making San Diego Business Journal’s Most Influential People in San Diego, 40 under 40, and being a finalist for SDBJ’s CEO of the Year.  

Furthermore, we had multiple C-suite staff placements on SDBJ’s Top 50 Influential Women in Tech’s list by our VP of Sales and Marketing - Tina Rountree, and VP of Strategy and Programs - Alecia Wilson, as well as our amazing COO - Jenell Mott! 

As a company, we were also over-the-moon to learn that we were placed on SDBJ’s Best Places to Work list 2022! 

Our powerful solutions and services have also been recognized this year in Expertise.com’s Best Managed IT Service Providers in San Diego, Techreviewer’s Top IT services Companies in 2022, Cloudtango’s Top Managed Service Providers US Select 2022 and many more! 

Community 

At Managed Solution, another huge focus for us is giving back to our San Diego Tech community. 

Some ways we were able to do that include donating Microsoft Technology to San Diego’s Just in Time Foster care.  Sponsoring and participating in this year’s Cause Conference, to empower ourselves and fellow organizations to make a positive social impact within our community.  We proudly helped sponsor Farm to Table’s charity event, benefiting Hospice of the North coast.

With Center for Community Solution’s Tea and Tonics event, our sponsorship helped raise over $510,000 to aid survivors of domestic abuse and contribute to abuse-prevention initiatives.  

As Cyber Security Month Champions, we spread Awareness during October’s Cyber Security Month to help businesses and organizations stay in-the-know about the best practices for safety and security!  

Speaking of Cyber Security, we had a blast at SIM’s Cyber Security Padre event where we came together with other IT professionals for two of our favorite things: Cyber Security and sports! 

We also enjoyed participating in many of Telarus’s golf events throughout the year, where we were able to connect with an onslaught of amazing individuals in the Tech community!  

Internally 

We've had a big year here at Managed Solution. From employee shout outs to fun bonding events, to babies and weddings and promotions! We couldn’t be more thrilled with the memories and bonds we’ve made this year. 

In February, with our 14 days of love for Employee’s – we shared what we loved about our stellar staff members! 

We came together in fun team building trivia events including this totally tubular 80’s themed trivia night. 

We also highlighted our Rockstar team members in our ‘Player of the month’ program. Every month, we reward a staff member who has gone above and beyond with 8 additional hours of PTO.  On top of this, we’ll be adding an Employee of the Year category in 2023! 

Want to learn more about our 2023 initiatives, sponsorships and events? Click here[link] to sign-up for our monthly newsletter to stay connected with us! 

The Years Ahead 

Businesses can sometimes lose their purpose in the grind of meeting bottom lines. Here, we understand that by doing right by our people the numbers will always follow.  

What has really defined our success and kept us in a state of growth, is the happiness of our team. Our future holds the promise of maintaining that ideal. Along with that – we have a collective excitement and curious approach for the challenges ahead. 

We are so grateful to have served you for these 20 years and we look forward to the next 20 years… and heck, the 20 after that! Thank you for your continued support, be sure to join us in the celebration on Instagram and Facebook!  (more…)

Managed Solution- Compliance Support as a Service

Written By: Sara Cardoza

As technology continues to expand and become more complex (and the more it begins to connect all our critical data) the need for compliance and regulation will continue to expand right along with It — and as it should!  Compliance is meant to be an ally… but without proper management it can quickly become the enemy. While many see compliance as more red tape, the truth is failure to comply with regulations can lead to expensive fees and fines. Managed Solution can help boost your compliance and help your business get closer to you compliance goal.

What is Compliance & Security Management?

In the IT world, compliance management around governance, risk and compliance is the process of ensuring a company or organization consistently complies with federal and state laws, industry requirements, vendor best practices, cyber insurance policies as well as post-breach protocol when it comes to their technology and data management.

In many ways when someone says “compliance,” what they really mean is documentation… and lots of it. Compliance is a big, complex collection of paperwork and data of all kinds, and compliance management is making sure all of that is organized, and more importantly, up to industry standard.

 Why Automate Compliance Management?

Because the world of compliance is so complex (and continues to evolve) it’s critical to make sure your organization has its T’s crossed and I’s dotted.  Like it or not, there’s a cost to compliance. BUT, research has shown it’s much more expensive not to follow the mandated industry regulations… in fact, up to 2.71 times more costly. The bottom line: compliance can be a headache, but implementing a consistent, effective solution saves money.

The good news is you don’t have to try to tackle compliance alone. That’s where Compliance Manager and Managed Solution comes into play. Compliance Manager is a cloud-based solution that automates the data gathering and reporting required to order to meet the necessary internal and external auditor expectations.

It’s a one-stop shop for:

Key Compliance Manager Features

Compliance Manager is a robust tool that reduces risk by simplifying and streamlining your IT security documentation. And more than that, it makes sure everyone on your team is onboard and has one, easy-to-use platform to store, access and manage their part of the process.

Here are some of the key features: 

  1. Customizable Documentation & Processes. Compliance Manager is a role-based solution, meaning you can tailor it to meet your specific IT compliance needs and workflows. So, whether you’ve created your own company-specific standards or need help complying with industry regulations, each report and process can be adjusted accordingly, giving you the flexibility to simultaneously manage multiple compliance standards and information security protocols from one centralized location.
  2. Centralized Management. Because compliance involves many different data points and stakeholders, centralizing the information and access is key to successful management. An automated solution provides self-serve portals for both employees and vendors, allowing you to automate a variety of tasks and collect necessary data and documentation for compliance verification.
  3. Employee-Focused Tracking. Organize employee-specific training courses, assignments, and policy acknowledgements, upload policy documents and track employee compliance and reporting. All of this is accessible from an easy-to-use IT admin access dashboards which allows you to access and manage your employee’s compliance requirements and activity quickly and easily.
  4. Vendor Risk Assessment & Tracking. House and manage both permanent employee and vendor details all within a single solution and with the option to provide a unique vendor login, vendor assessments, status tracking, surveys, and more.
  5. Compliance Manager can integrate with IT Glue, VulScan, VSA, and Bullphish among other separate technologies to leverage an even more distinct degree of control and customization.
  6. Automated Reporting. Compliance Manager automatically generates custom plans, procedures, risk analyses, milestone reports, auditor checklists, supporting documents and more which update based on data and information supplied to the program.
  7. Compliance Templates. As compliance grows, so does Compliance Manager’s compliance template database, meaning you don’t have to start from scratch. Some of the most popular templates to-date include:

Leveraging a Managed Solution

 A tool alone is not enough to reach compliance. Let Managed Solution’s compliance team help your business through the lengthy process. Our compliance team will ensure progress and work hand in hand with you to integrate Compliance Manager into your existing ecosystem.

Interested in learning more? Schedule a call today and learn how Managed Solution can help boost your compliance and help your business get closer to you compliance goal. Not ready for a direct call? We are hosting a webinar on July 28th, click here to register. Attendees will receive a FREE 30 minute consultation with our vCIO to see if our Compliance as a Service tool can work for you!

Staffing Services: The Details- What you need to know!

Staffing Services: The Details- What you need to know!

By: Amanda Hawthorne, Director of People and Culture at Managed Solution

So you’ve got an opening or resource need on your team? Exciting! Managed Solution’s Staffing Services can help! But knowing where to start with an outside recruiting firm can be tough, and you may have a lot of questions about the process…

There are plenty of choices for service providers: so how do you know which is going to deliver?

Sometimes the exact resource or budget requirements for your position may be a bit hazy, and you may still be sorting out how exactly a new hire will engage within your team. Who can help you define your needs and understand a market-realistic hiring budget?

Everyone is already stretched thin today, and no one has time to interview a series of candidates who completely miss the mark. Working with a trusted Staffing Service provider like Managed Solution can help you quickly connect with pre-vetted technical talent so you can make efficient staffing decisions and get back to work with the right team!

Why You Can Trust Managed Solution to Deliver Top Talent

Managed Solution is an IT service provider – which means IT people are our business. For over 20 years, we’ve been meeting talented engineers and connecting them with our clients across Southern California (and beyond!) to fulfill ongoing support or even project-based needs. In the age of remote work and the “Great Resignation,” it’s more important than ever to hire highly skilled and vetted engineering talent – and even harder to find them!

After hearing from client after client about the challenges they’re having in finding and vetting top talent, we saw an opportunity here: open our Talent Community to our clients, giving them access to the amazing people we’re meeting daily. (And as a bonus, individuals in our Talent Community have already been vetted by our Microsoft-certified engineers!)

Plus, since hiring our Talent Advisor, Kat Grunzinger, we now have a talent concierge to meet with our clients and really dive into their needs, to help define an opportunity for efficient recruiting. Kat has years of experience in the recruiting space and has a true knack for building quick rapport with candidates, diving into what they know (and don’t), as well as understanding what opportunities are truly of interest to them. She leverages this same inquisitive nature to consult with clients to understand what Staffing Services are best-suited to their needs – and which candidates will really fit the bill!

What You Need to Know When Getting Started with Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor

You may be asking, what’s it like to work with Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor?

Here’s what you can expect:

First, Our Talent Advisor will want to interview you! We’ve found the best way to understand the true needs of an organization isn’t to rely on a job description (which may be out of date or miss key aspects of what a position truly requires), but to go straight to the source: you!

As a hiring manager, you’ll have insight into your needs, your team, and your organization – even if you haven’t scoped out a formal job description yet, or if you haven’t gotten the chance yet to update the one that’s been on file for years.

Our Talent Advisor can help you outline the specific function that’s needed. She’ll be aiming to understand the ins and outs of your open role, so she can connect you to the right resources. Key questions she’ll ask include:

  1. What function or role will this person play in your organization or project? Do you need someone to take charge and lead a team? Someone to execute tasks already outlined in a project plan? Someone your end users can trust to solve their issues in a responsive and friendly manner?
  2. What skills & experience are essential for their success? Are you seeking a well-rounded IT generalist with demonstrated success in a particular industry? A helpdesk superstar already proficient with a specific ticketing system and Office365 administration? An SQL wizard?
  3. Who will this person interact with most often? What people skills would make someone most successful in those interactions? Every team has a different style, and Our Talent Advisor knows a successful candidate will be a value-add to your existing team culture. Is your team highly process oriented or working in a compliance-heavy environment? Operating in a start-up mentality where adaptability is key? Our Talent Advisor wants to know so we can present candidates who are ready to jump in and be successful!
  4. What is the available budget and target market for hiring? Are you looking for an onsite resource in your downtown Los Angeles office, or flexible to find someone fully remote from anywhere in the nation? Do you have budget for a full-time internal hire, or will you be looking to staff a temporary need with an external position on an hourly bill rate?

Our Talent Advisor will ask these key questions so she understands exactly what this individual will be doing on a day-to-day basis and how their success will be defined. This will help her articulate the opportunity to potential candidates - and help us avoid wasting your time with candidates who would fall short of expectations. This understanding will allow her to scroll through her mental Rolodex of people in our Talent Community so she can quickly connect you with any pre-vetted candidates that might align with your goals.

Understanding your needs can also help us align our Staffing Service offering with your ‘ask’ to ensure we’re helping you meet your need in a cost-effective manner.

How Managed Solution Approaches Staffing Services

Managed Solution offers several different Staffing Services to meet your IT hiring needs:

When our Talent Advisor meets with you to discuss your team’s needs, she’ll help you determine which Staffing Service is right for you.

How a Strong Rapport with Your Talent Advisor Helps You Hire Better, Faster

Once a Staffing Service Agreement is signed, she’ll begin sorting through our existing connections within our Talent Community and will reach out to appropriate passive candidates on your behalf.

When we find suitable candidates – aligned to your role in terms of experience, skills, location, culture, and career goals – we’ll pre-vet them with our Microsoft-certified engineers and then present you with their talent profiles (a fancy term for their resumes, catered to your position). Ideally, they’ll all look good on paper, and then it’s time for you and your teams to interview!

Our Talent Advisor will work with you to define your own vetting process for the opening – who will be involved in the interviews; when/how interviews will be conducted; etc. Then, she’ll coordinate scheduling and share pertinent information to the candidate so they can be on-time and ready to discuss your opportunity, whether that’s in person at your office, or via Microsoft Teams video interview. (We can even send out a Microsoft Teams meeting bridge for you and the candidate to connect on!)

During the interview, you’ll get a sense of your own as to whether the candidate meets the eligibility and suitability requirements of your role. Our Talent Advisor will check in after your interviews to hear about what went well, what concerns still linger, and what next steps look like. Our Talent Advisor will also get feedback from the candidate to ensure a strong mutual fit before moving ahead in the process. This two-way flow of information and feedback is one essential for effective recruiting services – and helps ensure that by the time an offer is issued, you’re confident it will be accepted.

Having a strong rapport with your Talent Advisor can help you move through the hiring process faster, more effectively, and with the outcomes you’re looking for. Sometimes hiring managers hesitate to share negative feedback about a candidate’s skills or experience (because who likes giving bad news?), but we encourage open communication during this process. Understanding exactly what is or isn’t working helps us ensure a better outcome on the next candidate. And if things are going well, timely communication is even more important: you’re more likely to get an enthusiastic “yes!” in response to an offer when the candidate feels the process has moved along at a natural clip, and they’ve received timely, positive feedback. Plus, a strong rapport with your Talent Advisor also allows her to share honest feedback from candidates about your position, interview process, and the candidate experience.

What details Talent Advisor Wants You to Know

Want the inside scoop about working with our Staffing Services professionals? We sat down recently with Kat Grunzinger, Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor, to talk about her professional background in recruiting and her hopes for Managed Solution’s Staffing Services.

Here’s what Kat Grunzinger, Managed Solution’s Talent Advisor, wants you to know!

Q: What do you want a hiring manager to know about you?

A: “I want hiring managers to know that I’ve been in their seat! I know how challenging it can be to find, vet, and hire the right people for the right positions.  That level of empathy drives me to move quickly across the process – jumping onto an intake call, running through recent conversations to see if there are any immediately ‘right’ candidates, proactively sourcing talent across multiple platforms, and being timely in scheduling and feedback. I will earn the hiring manager's trust by active listening to quickly understand an opening; by being flexible and available for their calls; by following through on any action items outlined; and by reassuring them that I’m here for them! I feel most successful when I know we’ve done the right thing for the client.”

Q: What drew you to recruiting and what’s your favorite part of the process?

A: “I love getting to meet talented individuals and hearing their stories and learning what they want out of their careers – and then getting to help make that happen! It’s a privilege to assist in their journeys, and I take seriously that we are talking about a person’s livelihood. The same care I take in building relationships of trust with hiring managers, I apply to our Talent Community. My goal is to facilitate transparent, two-way communication. I’m not afraid to tell a candidate when a job isn’t going to help them meet their goals because it frees them up to find the opportunities that are right.”

Q: What should a hiring manager know about your job to make the relationship more effective?

A: “Honest and open communication matters. Not only is this aligned with Managed Solution’s values and Code of Conduct, it’s truly critical for recruiting and other Staffing Services. A hiring manager needs to be honest and realistic about budgets, the true needs of their team, – and sometimes as an outside entity, I’m able to help them see another side of the coin. Whether that’s advising the client about the right pay scale for a position with a specific region or helping them see that their job description is unrealistic (or describes three different jobs), I really appreciate when hiring managers value this two-way feedback. I think it brings us more credibility as recruiters and ultimately helps clients fill their needs.

I think it’s also important for a hiring manager to understand that my role as a recruiter is to help sell the value of an organization or position to candidates. The time we invest up front in an intake call positions me to effectively communicate with potential candidates about the roles, and to proactively answer the questions they have. We’ll both spend more time talking to the right people if a hiring manager spends the time with me up front to help me learn how their team functions, what types of soft skills help someone thrive, and what perks/benefits exist within their organizations. I’ll definitely do the right homework on my side to read the job description, the company website, and more before that meeting, but there’s nothing like learning straight from the hiring manager how the team is doing and what it needs.”

Q: What are your hopes for Managed Solution’s Staffing Services?

A: “My hope is that we can continue building trust with our clients, as we succeed in connecting them with qualified talent. I know I’ve done my job when a client comes back for help with another opening or refers us to their colleague for assistance on a role. Continuing to help good people find fulfilling work with amazing organizations – that’s what it’s all about!”

Ready to hand over the heavy lifting to us? Email us about our Staffing Services today!

Shawn Weebe: January Player of the Month

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CONGRATULATIONS TO SHAWN WEEBE:  JANUARY 2017 PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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This award is given on a monthly basis to a Managed Solution employee who has done an amazing job of exemplifying and living up to the Managed Solution Core Values.
The Managed Solution leadership team selected Shawn Weebe as Player of the Month because he has shown outstanding determination and initiative with both his team and clients.
For starters, Shawn has shown incredible leadership by volunteering to lead and overtake some major projects. Shawn went above and beyond when he showed independent leadership to bring client-focused training to the PMO.  Not only is Shawn a great person to work with, he has also shown a great work ethic and built relationships with clients.  He advanced our Client Roadmapping Initiative to allow our clients to have a timeline of events to reach their goals.  As a result, Shawn  continues to receive high survey marks from his customers.
Shawn's positive attitude and dedication to the company, his team, and his clients, is greatly appreciated by everyone here at Managed Solution.  Leadership is excited to award his dedication and hard work with this month’s Player of the Month. Congratulations Shawn!
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At Managed Solution, we strive to be the best technology based company by investing in our top assets; our people!

Here at Managed Solution we thrive in an energetic, performance-driven environment where results, teamwork, and quality of customer satisfaction are recognized and rewarded. Our corporate culture is diverse, open and creative. We look for team members with proven experience, a strong sense of passion and dedication to the highest levels of excellence, technology and business ethics.
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Four Microsoft Internships and Counting

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Four Microsoft Internships and Counting

Why One Student Returns to the Redmond Campus Every Summer
Written by Lisa Walls as seen on blogs.microsoft.com
Though he’s not yet graduated from college, Zimraan H. is no stranger to the way Microsoft works. This university junior already has four internships with the company under his belt. Next June, he’ll be starting his fifth. “I’m pretty sure it’s breaking a record,” he laughs. Many students start a Microsoft internship with a general enthusiasm for technology but no specific area of interest in the field—however, Zimraan has always felt drawn to information security.
His interest started in high school, after a computer networking and security course. The technology class touched on router switch security—and Zimraan was hooked. “It caught my imagination because it was so real,” he says. “A lot of the stuff we had at home wasn’t secure.” Information security is a high-impact line of work, and Zimraan likes that he can “have a positive influence on it.”
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Although it was a high school computer class that caught his interest, Zimraan has deepened his passion for information security on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. What keeps him coming back? He appreciates the company culture. He relishes the “awesome” projects he works on that “have an impact.” And, he loves how his “mentor, manager, and team members are always there” for him if he needs help. “They’ve been great to me,” he says.
“They keep supplying him with awesome projects and experiences, so he wants to come back and build on what he learned,” says Heidi Dowling, operations manager for the intern program. She and Zimraan grab lunch together every summer.
Dowling says the interns “bring such excitement to the company” that it’s palpable—over one thousand arrive on the Redmond campus every June. “I love having them here,” she says, “learning about what they’re working on, the awesome things they get to experience while they’re here—they have some amazing opportunities.” Interns aren’t relegated to performing inconsequential tasks. They work on real-world projects and “impact the business and the products that we’re shipping,” she says.
A Microsoft internship gives students a huge advantage. They have an opportunity to learn about and experience the company’s culture, and the team they’re working with has a chance to see them in action, both personally and professionally. “It’s like a 12-week interview while you’re here,” says Dowling.
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But company internships aren’t just about work. Planned outings and social activities are as integral to a Microsoft internship experience as the time spent inside the campus buildings. Every summer, the company holds a big ‘Signature Event’ for student interns; last August, they attended an exclusive Ellie Goulding concert at the Seattle Center, where the singer’s strong lungs entertained the group. Every concert goer carried a Surface Book laptop home that night—Microsoft’s gift for all their hard work.
That event was a highlight of Zimraan’s summer. Another was a Microsoft-sponsored trip to Las Vegas, where he attended the ‘Black Hat USA’ security conference. During those four days, he “got to meet other industry leaders, learn about the bleeding edge in security technology, and see cutting edge hacks that will shape the future of security.”
Every internship has increased Zimraan’s knowledge of information security. He finds the field “a really cool place to be” and only sees it expanding. “It’s a crucial role,” he says. “You don’t think about your credit card or email being hacked until it happens.” He likes being one of the people who protects against a data security breach.
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Last summer, his internship involved “improving cloud security” for Microsoft Azure. As part of the Information Security and Risk Management (ISRM) team, he worked in a Project Manager (PM) role to “develop features, track issues with bugs and get them resolved, and put more stuff into production.” He found the experience to be “a good challenge” as he was adding “a lot of PM skills” to his toolbox.
Zimraan enjoys PM work more than the developer side of engineering. He likes “working with so many different people to build something” and touching “every aspect of the project.”
“He did outstanding work,” says Don Nguyen, a security architect with ISRM, who mentored Zimraan for two years. “He impressed both me and our CISO.” Nguyen has watched Zimraan evolution from “high school kid” to college junior. “I hope to see him at Microsoft as a colleague,” he says.
Jeff Miller, a senior PM on the ISRM team and a former mentor to Zimraan, finds the student “extremely mature for where he is in his career path” and “very inclusive” as a team mate. He “makes sure everybody is brought into the project and things are communicated well.” That ability to “bring people together, define a team and keep people connected” is something Miller prizes in a colleague. And it’s Zimraan’s internships that have given Miller visibility into how his former mentee works with others. When he’s hiring talent, he says, “It’s something I look for in a manager.”
In a job market where the number of tech jobs outnumber the people who can fill them, Zimraan could work anywhere—but only one employer interests him. He wants to stay at Microsoft, where he’s had “so many opportunities to do great work.” He’s a very practical sort of person. “If I love what I do, and my team, and coming to work every day, then why would I leave?” he says.

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Managed Solution employees volunteered at The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and donated over 300+ food items and $1,500 to help families in need

Every December, Managed Solution and their employees select a charitable cause to help families less fortunate. With our headquarters being in San Diego, a county of 3.1 million residents with 475,773 living in poverty, we selected the San Diego Food Bank. 15.2% of the population in San Diego, 138,334 being children face “food insecurity,” which means that little or no food is available at home. Many times, they will not know where their next meal is coming from.

Managed Solution is committed to investing not only in our clients and staff, but also in our community. So, to help address food insecurity in San Diego, Managed Solution is proud to announce that our team has brought in over 300+ food items, volunteered at The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and donated $1,500 in cash to the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank!

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January 3, 2017: Managed Solution employees volunteering at the San Diego Food Bank. They helped package 580 food boxes to feed families in need.

Why the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank?

Want to help the cause? Donate to the virtual food bank.

The Fighting Hunger Games

Managed Solution encouraged staff to participate individually, but also created a point-system that helped earn additional company donations through participating in staff challenges, volunteer days, and more! The Fighting Hunger Games was Managed Solution’s Food and Fund Drive benefitting the San Diego Food Bank, running November 28th through December 30th. Follow us on social to see how our staffers participated.

Our staff is also encouraged to share their individual charitable contributions and volunteer work with hashtag #ManagedSolutionCares

Managed Solution employees volunteering at the San Diego Food Bank. We raised over $1500. #sdfoodbank #volunteer #nonprofit #sandiego #homeless #california #donate #microsoft #tech #employeeappreciation #supportlocal #feed #feedthehomeless #noonegoeshungry #love #community #ManagedSolutionCares

A video posted by Managed Solution (@managedsolution) on

4 Tips for Easier Collaboration with Contractors

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4 tips for easier collaboration with contractors

As written on blogs.microsoft.com.
Having independent contractors at companies of all sizes is the new normal. Busy seasons demand extra bandwidth, full-time employees take temporary leave or unique/temporary roles need to be filled.
Whatever the reason, getting support from contractors can provide scale, flexibility and specialized skills to your team—which is why their popularity continues to grow. For example, 51 percent of companies say their need for contingent workers will continue to grow within the next three to five years. Alongside, the talent pool is changing to match this trend: By 2020, 43 percent of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers.
Finding the right contractor for the right job is only the first step. They’ll likely be working outside of your office, but will still need to rely on the resources your internal teams use daily. If you want to enable your contractors to do their best work, you need to ensure they have the right tools to collaborate with your internal teams.
Here are four tips to set your independent contractors up for success:

#1—streamline communication

Make it easy for your contractors to stay in touch. Set up technology that allows them to communicate with and get to know your internal teams. This can (and should) come in the form of many tools, so they can choose the ones they prefer. Enable them to send instant messages to anyone in the company. Promote the use of video conferencing and screen sharing for efficient collaboration. Not only will this increase productivity, but it will allow full-time employees and contractors to build more personal relationships with face-to-face communication.
Will your independent contractor be working across several teams or projects? If so, then you may want to consider a chat-based workspace—not just for them, but also for the rest of your team. They shouldn’t struggle to keep up with dozens of private instant messages about similar projects. Instead, get them on a threaded group chat that allows for more organized web-based collaboration.

#2—share files with ease

Depending on when and where your contractors work, coordinating across time zones and locations may be a factor in their success. Avoid a situation where a contractor is stuck waiting for a team member to come online to gain access to files. Instead, opt for cloud-based file sharing and storing. That way, contractors can get the files and documents they need around the clock to get the job done. And with permission settings, you can restrict and permit access to the specific files an independent contractor needs, and revoke access when a contract ends.

#3—stay on the same page

Enhance collaboration with the ability to co-author (edit and work) on the same online documents. It’ll prevent excessive back-and-forth on email between team members. Digital files automatically sync and update over the internet, so your team is always looking at the most up-to-date version. And since your files live in the cloud, you’ll always know who made the last edit and can review and revoke changes if you ever need to go back to an older version.

#4—secure your data

Security may not always be top of mind for your employees and contractors—but it is for you and your IT team. Strike a balance between giving your extended team what they need while retaining control over your company’s data. The file access you give to your freelancers doesn’t need to last forever. When their contract is over, simply revoke access remotely. Even if your independent contractor has used their own device to access your data, cloud-based tools can delete your company’s files from that device.
With the right technology and infrastructure, independent contractors can become an effective extension of your team. Forget disruptions, lost files or a lack of security. The right tools can solve those problems and help your teams do their best work.

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New Employee Announcement: Mike Salapow, Field Engineer

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We are so excited to welcome Mike Salapow! Mike joins Managed Solution as one of our new Field Engineers. Mike was born and raised in San Diego, where he currently lives.
Mike is an absolute animal lover!  His house is currently home to one Frenchton (a French Bulldog mixed with a Boston Terrier), two Gold Dust Day Geckos, one Dart Frog, five Ball Pythons, one Hognose, and one Kingsnake.  Welcome to the team Mike!
Here at Managed Solution, we thrive in an energetic, performance-driven environment where results, teamwork, and quality of customer satisfaction are recognized and rewarded. Our corporate culture is diverse, open and creative. Above all, we are focused on organically growing our solution service offerings while delivering outstanding client support. We look for team members with proven experience, a strong sense of passion and dedication to the highest levels of excellence, technology and business ethics.

Learn more about our Corporate Culture