Stepstone IT Solutions

Stepstone IT Solutions (www.stepstoneit.com) is an Ottawa-based company that takes care of the network and IT needs of small and mid-sized businesses.

“We deliver simple, reliable and effective IT solutions, network security and disaster recovery,” says Stepstone President Nauman Kuraishi, who launched the company in 2002. 

The firm’s range of services include: troubleshooting and problem solving; hardware installation and support; virus and spyware removal and anti-theft protection; security solutions; server installations and upgrades; web content filtering; disaster recovery, archival services and system backups.

Stepstone also offers fixed cost complete network management services, with ongoing support, network monitoring and help desk for a monthly fee. With this service Stepstone takes care of all of a company’s network management and problem resolution needs – so they never have to worry about how much it will cost when they call about an IT issue.

“We sell these packages of solutions to reduce costs and complexity of infrastructure for our customers,” explains Nauman. “Our clients see immediate cost savings.”

Stepstone prides itself on its quick response, performing over 98% of a company’s IT support remotely, so there are less delays and onsite costs. The can also get engineers onsite quickly to deal with emergency support. And when you call Stepstone you don’t get a computer-operated telephone answering system, but live engineers.

“We pride ourselves in being quick to respond and offering great service,” says Nauman. “We guarantee everything we touch for 30 days or our customers can get their money back. And that has never happened.”

While the majority of Stepstone’s clients are in the Ottawa area, they also service companies throughout the United States. Their business, as a result, has a heavy phone call volume.

In early 2009 Nauman wanted to streamline their communications systems and make them more efficient.

“We wanted more automation of our phone lines and since we have an onsite PBX system we decided to change from a standard business line to a trunk line,” explains Nauman.

“Our current provider was going to charge us an arm and a leg to switch to trunk lines -- what we felt was a ridiculous amount of money. Fortunately Allstream Small Business approached us and offered us the same service we were getting from our current provider but at a 60% savings. They were not going to charge us the downgrade fee for the trunk line.”

Stepstone IT chose an Allstream Small Business Phone 500 bundle, which includes two phone lines with two calling features on each line, plus 500 long-distance minutes.

“It was a no-brainer,” says Nauman of making the switch to Allstream Small Business. “We get a better service for less money. You don’t get that very often these days.”

Recognizing that no two companies are alike – and may have very specific telecommunications needs – Allstream Small Business allows customers to tailor their bundle by purchasing individual phone, fax, Internet and long distance features on an a la carte basis. This way clients never have to buy a larger bundle than they require, and pay only for services they know they will use.

For example, with clients across the U.S., Stepstone IT required a toll-free line, so they simply purchased this service as an add-on to their Phone 500 bundle.

“This serves our current needs but we can always add to the package down the road, so it positions us for growth,” says Nauman.

And since the bundle’s long distance minutes can be applied to the toll-free line, Stepstone IT is finding additional value in the package.

The Allstream Small Business bundle also simplifies the company’s accounting.

“Before we had multiple long distance bills coming in so I was tracking several line items every month,” explains Nauman. “Allstream Small Business consolidates all my phone and long distance charges into one monthly bill which is much more efficient for a small shop like ours.”

Nauman also liked the fact that he wasn’t forced to commit to a long-term contract with Allstream Small Business.

“It’s very flexible,” he says.

The switchover to Allstream Small Business went smoothly and Stepstone IT kept its original phone number

“The service has been great and I have no issues,” says Nauman. “Whenever we have a question a customer service representative is able to answer it.”

Nauman points out that Allstream Small Business and his own companies have a similar approach to serving their customers. Both companies specialize in giving small and mid-sized businesses top-notch service while saving them money.

“My philosophy is that the best service is the service you don’t notice – you expect it to just work, it should be hassle-free,” explains Nauman. “That is my business philosophy and it is also how Allstream Small Business works. Stepstone sells services that offer immediate value to our clients and Allstream Small Business is the same. We started saving money as soon as we switched over. And the service has been excellent.”