THE CHALLENGE

Reluctance to Manage Macs Spurs Move

ACEP (Africa Centre for Energy Policy) is a 60-person nonprofit organization based in Ghana. Its mission is to conduct evidence-based research, policy analysis, capacity development and advocacy to ensure effective and equitable utilization of energy and extractive resources in Africa.
When ACEP first began, it had a single in-house IT Director. Because of several components, including organizational and budget modifications, a decision was made to outsource their IT.

Unfortunately, the expertise of the new IT service provider proved to be sub-par. One of the most significant hurdles was their reluctance to manage a mixed Apple OS and Windows environment.

Initially, ACEP was a pure Windows environment. However, the new management was committed to giving employees the tools they worked best with, which included Macs.
This push-back, mixed with some other frustrations, triggered ACEP to seek a new Managed IT services provider in Africa who was comfortable with both environments.

THE SOLUTION

Managing Mac and Windows in the Office and at Home

One ACEP executive had previously worked with iStore, now an Oceancyber company. It was suggested to iStore that he reach out to investigate switching over, to get access to a Managed Services Provider with deep technical experience in Windows and Macs.

The expertise, according to iStore, was “night and day.” For the first time, iStore felt there was a natural partnership. With the old provider, he felt like it was “pulling teeth” to get them to do things, and response time was prolonged.

When the pandemic struck, no one was happier than iStore that they had made the switch. Like many companies, most of ACEP’s staff worked in the office and overnight, everybody was asked to work from home.

iStore felt this sudden move to remote working would have been a nightmare with the old provider. Instead, he was thrilled with the support from the Oceancyber ICT Solutions provider, who could provide deep experience on both Macs and Windows.

THE IMPACT

True IT Partnership Reduces Tickets and Increases Productivity

ACEP’s technology is now “simply working so easily” that employees often forget who their outside IT provider is, as their help desk needs have dropped.

This is a significant boost to productivity and efficiency for the company. “Oceancyber is excellent with managing both the Windows and Mac computers, alleviating the burden on my time, as most staff would come to me first to see if I could fix an issue quickly,” said iStore

Now, iStore can focus on his true work priorities. Even though working for a small organization means wearing many hats, he’s happy that he can now dedicate significantly less time to wearing the “IT hat!”

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