"It's only a matter of time before something is going to happen."

TPA services had been "lucky" so far but they no longer wanted to rely on luck.

Sensitive Services

TPA Services provides administration services for 401k companies. So, needless to say, they deal with a lot of sensitive information. From social security numbers to financial information, over 400 customers rely on them to keep information safe and sound. The problem? 

"We just felt we weren't secure and we really needed to step up our security game. It's only a matter of time before something is going to happen."

The reality? They were right. Small to midsize businesses are definitely at risk. In fact, 61 percent of data breach victims are businesses with under 1,000 employees.

So, they buried their heads in the sand and hoped nothing would happen, right? No way! The team decided it was time for a change and started making calls. A local firm had just the answer: a new, secure system. On-prem. 

If you're unfamiliar with the term on-prem (on-premises) you're not alone and if you have a system, completely on-prem as TPA did, you're also not alone. The thing was, they didn't want more of the same thing. Sure, it would be an upgrade to their current security but it wouldn't allow them to move into the new way of the world: the cloud. Plus, it would be costly, really costly. Between all-new hardware and the maintenance and consistent upgrades needed to keep them ship-shape, the offer simply wasn't worth it. So, they looked elsewhere.

Three Heads are Better than One

TPA's President was in a group of company leaders in his field and asked for input. What does one do in his situation? Should he stick with upgrading his on-prem system or go to the cloud? Thankfully, he received some guidance. One of the members had just moved to BEMO and another was in the process of vetting us. They joined forces. Whatever questions Christopher Tipper of Hunter Benefits didn't think to ask, Judy and her team would and vice versa. They explored BEMO's website and met multiple times with our team to hammer out the details.

Transition

Once the decision to go with BEMO had been made and the data migrated, it was time to start transitioning. Bruno, BEMO's CEO, was instrumental, Judy says, in helping TPA to create retention rules and get them organized and secure. 

"Bruno did a really great job of kind of splitting all of that out for us and giving us recommendations. Even down to the basics of retention labels. He took us in baby steps through the process."

Remote Life

For non-remote workspaces, 2020 really dealt out a doozy. Going from completely in office to completely remote was the work order and TPA made it happen. 

"The first few months of going remote was challenging, at best. Not everybody could VPN into the server but everybody embraced it and within two months pretty much everything was up and running."

From completely on-prem to completely remote in two months is lightspeed! Thankfully, the team was on board as they dove headfirst into the whole Microsoft suite, even switching to Business Voice for their calling. 

Cybersecurity

When I asked Judy how she felt nowadays about their security she responded:

"I feel very good about where we are on cybersecurity. We just had our last Quarterly Review and we felt very good about what we did working with Bruno and Domonic and Carol and they felt good about where we were too."

Three, Four, Five Heads are Better than One

From searching for an IT partner to executing and maintaining an IT strategy, the theme continues. Two heads, three heads, and so on are better when it comes to coming up with and enacting a security plan. 

"There's somebody with greater expertise than myself or anyone in our office than can help guide us, give us recommendations. Tell us what you see in other companies, what you recommend. Just knowing what is industry standard and what really helps protect us. And, you don't know what you don't know so we were not even sure what to ask for."

Safe and Sound

These days, TPA isn't waiting, knowing something will happen. They know, instead, that BEMO has their back. When we asked Judy if TPA would recommend us to a friend she replied: 

"Yes, and I have. I have nothing but good things to say about BEMO."

Thank you, Judy! The feeling is mutual 😀