Executive Summary: By Migrating to the Cloud, Trestle Increases Cybersecurity, Significantly Boosts Productivity, and Expands Geographical Reach with Ciracom Cloud

About Trestle

Trestle, comprised of Trestle Programs and Trestle Inc., has served communities in Colorado for more than 28 years. The company name “trestle” stems from the type of framework that supports architectural structures, such as bridges. In this vein, Trestle’s primary goal is to create foundations that support nonprofit organizations and their administrative workflows. More specifically, Trestle Programs operates social work programs for youth involved in the juvenile justice system in Colorado. Trestle Inc. provides expert consulting and business management assistance like accounting, finances, and human resources to small-and-medium-sized nonprofit organizations. Trestle is led by President Bryon Budensiek, CPA.

Customer Issues

Prior to engaging Ciracom Cloud, Trestle was not cloud-connected. They were previously using a single in-house server; over time, this became an illogical stopgap for their needs, as it limited workers’ abilities to collaborate if outside the office. Trestle also faced other difficulties, including an outdated and inefficient phone system and the lack of regimented avenues through which sensitive client information could be shared securely. Trestle needed to boost their collaboration capabilities, plus a safer way to share information, a proper hosting environment, and more functional setups for their remote workers.

Solutions

To support Trestle, Ciracom Cloud actioned the following:

• Migrated Trestle’s operations to the cloud to enhance their cybersecurity and IT infrastructure
• Deployed decisive Microsoft solutions to significantly increase Trestle’s workplace efficiencies; included was Microsoft Teams, which overhauled many of Trestle’s communications entirely
• Set up a safeguarded Azure hosting environment, especially so Trestle could host QuickBooks in the cloud
• Devised a plan to deliver new equipment to Trestle’s team members via more convenient and accessible means

Trestle’s Cloud Migration

After formulating a roadmap that made the most sense for Bryon Budensiek and his teams at Trestle Inc. and Trestle Programs, Ciracom Cloud fully migrated them to the cloud. The illogicalities their previous on-premises server presented were removed, and Trestle now enjoys Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Azure Active Directory Premium, Office 365 E3, Exchange Online, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Microsoft Teams, SIPPIO for VoIP in Microsoft Teams, and Ciracom Cloud’s Security Operations Center. Over time, Trestle began experiencing substantial increases in their collaborative potentials and workplace efficacies, and they now receive regular monitoring and maintenance of their equipment, patch management, database migrations when necessary, and hardware issue resolutions via Ciracom Cloud’s enterprise-class, 24x7x365 support.

Microsoft Teams

With the deployment of Microsoft Teams, cumbersome email threads became well-organized and succinct Teams messaging conversations. Via intuitive Teams-enabled solutions, Trestle gained the ability to seamlessly schedule and participate in voice and video calls; this especially became commonplace via SIPPIO for VoIP in Microsoft Teams. Ciracom Cloud also implemented a brand-new text messaging service through Teams and SIPPIO that simplified how Trestle supported many of their clients. “We asked Ciracom if it was even possible, and before we knew it they had gotten to work on it, tested it, and made it happen. That was exemplary; it broke new ground for us, and their experts helped us step by step.”

Trestle eventually replaced all of its offices’ phone systems with Teams. “Every feature has been of benefit,” Budensiek said. “Even the simplicity of being able to check a team member’s availability status. Things like that feel like they should’ve been the norm for us the whole time.”

QuickBooks

Trestle’s previous QuickBooks Desktop iteration did not prove optimal for them. Now, by being able to tap into their secured Microsoft Azure server environment for hosting QuickBooks in the cloud, Trestle was able to save tremendously on time, resources, and costs without sacrificing security or flexibility.

New Device Setup

Before partnering with Ciracom Cloud, Trestle’s process through which new devices were acquired and set up was not as fluid as they would’ve liked, as no new equipment came pre-loaded with the required software. Devices used to be purchased and delivered to one of their offices, where an IT agent would need to be contacted separately to set each of them up. This wedged long waiting periods into Trestle’s procedures, decreasing productivity and adding costs for setups on top of the devices’ bills themselves. And if one malfunctioned, repairs were known to take up to three or four weeks, which interfered too heavily with their teams’ performances.

With Ciracom Cloud, when a new device is needed, everything is taken care of before it lands on a Trestle employee’s desk, be that at the office or at home for remote work. Once it’s there, it comes already set up with the necessary preloaded software and is ready to go. Employees can log in immediately without waiting for download periods or extraneous credentials.

“It’s the essence of automation,” Budensiek said, “and it has helped immensely.”