Insight Enterprises, the global integrator of Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ for organizations of all sizes, in partnership with Intel announced three winners of a national $150,000 Connected Workplace Makeover Contest that will help the businesses address the effects of aging technology. Each winner will receive IT consultation from Insight and $50,000 worth of new 11th Gen Intel Core Processor devices, including best-in-class Intel vPro® Platform PCs built for business.
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The contest helps small and mid-size companies of under 1,000 employees that have been particularly strapped for resources or may be struggling to adapt IT systems and processes to the shifting marketplace amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The contest focused on three areas of critical IT needs: Productivity, updating outdated tools, particularly for remote work; Security, especially for more dispersed work environments; and Total Cost of Ownership, addressing the hidden costs of declining performance and maintenance of older technology.
Two healthcare organizations – River Valley Counseling Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, Louisiana – were named winners, respectively, of the Productivity and Security categories. The Wine Warehouse from Los Angeles is the winner of the Total Cost of Ownership category.
“Business needs and demands have changed dramatically in the last year alone, when keeping pace with new technology already was challenging enough for independent businesses in ordinary times,” said Brenda Hudson, senior vice president, commercial business solutions, Insight. “Each of the winners of the Connected Workplace Makeover Contest have experienced significant disruption or financial hardship during the pandemic, from having to abruptly switch to more telehealth options and shoring up the security of patient data, to bringing greater stability to a widely distributed workforce. A technology makeover will put them on the fast track to more reliable performance and stronger connections with their customers and workforce however and wherever they need to engage with them.”
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More than 1,200 U.S. organizations submitted contest entries sharing why they needed a workplace makeover. The three winners were selected based on these needs:
- Productivity – River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC): RVCC is a community-based mental health agency serving the Massachusetts counties of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin with services including children’s behavioral health, school-based health centers for most area school districts, and one of the longest-running HIV/AIDS support programs in the state. RVCC has traditionally struggled to keep up digitally, having only recently adopted electronic health records and “always playing catch-up” with day-to-day IT needs. A key constraint has been outdated devices, with the organization losing on average 25 percent of its productivity due to poorly running computers, including some still running on Windows Vista. New Intel Evo vPro PCs will allow the organization to service clients in a timely manner, roll out better telehealth options, stay secure and HIPAA compliant. With RVCC recently securing an FCC grant to upgrade its network, new devices will complement the enhanced infrastructure.
- Security – Lane Regional Medical Center (LRMC): The primary healthcare provider for more than 200,000 residents throughout the North Baton Rouge, Louisiana, region has suffered great financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mandated suspension of all in-person clinic visits and non-urgent surgical procedures drastically reduced revenues, while the treatment of COVID patients increased expenses. Compounding the problem, LRMC IT staff needed to remove more than 250 Windows 7 installations throughout the hospital, and the vulnerabilities inherent in older operating systems persist with more than 200 Windows 7 computers still operating. In patient rooms, more than 85 workstations do not consistently process electronic health records at a reasonable speed for nurses, physicians and other healthcare providers. A makeover to replace Windows 7 and other outdated workstations with secure, faster devices powered by the 11th Gen Intel vPro platform will shore up weak spots and free up hospital funds for other critical IT infrastructure upgrades, ensuring greater all-around security of patient data.
- Total Cost of Ownership – Wine Warehouse: When this southern California distributor of fine wine and beers needed to send office staff to work from home because of the pandemic, the company lacked adequate laptops and docking stations to allow them to maintain productivity. Many employees resorted to working from tablets as a last resort. New laptops with lightning fast Intel Thunderbolt 4 and Intel Wi-Fi 6 connectivity in the hands of Wine Warehouse’s remote office workers and field agents, who service area restaurants and stores daily, will bring added mobility and productivity to the company now, stability for future emergencies, and allow the company to reallocate IT budget to needed server upgrades.
Over the next month, Insight and Intel will be conducting on-site consultations with the winners to help them identify the best technology upgrades for their environment. Devices will be powered by the 11th Gen Intel vPro® platform, providing the modern workforce with the highest performance and most comprehensive hardware-based security designed with highly mobile workers in mind.
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