Spero Financial expands IT capacity and cuts costs by 36%
A South Carolina credit union was juggling too many vendors offering similar products with little support. Katalyst consolidated services into a single package, provided expert hands for complex projects, and delivered proactive management, reducing IT costs by 36% while deepening a single, reliable partnership.
About Spero Financial
Spero Financial is a South Carolina credit union that has supported its members' financial journey since 1935. Dedicated to enhancing members' financial well-being, Spero provides authentic advice and personalized solutions through services that include financial coaching and financial education. Given that mission, Spero needed a reliable IT partner to help deliver on its technology goals, including the successful execution of complex IT projects.
The Challenge
Spero was relying on numerous vendors who offered similar products with limited support, leaving the credit union in need of a more cost-effective solution. The situation created inefficiencies, misalignment with Spero's strategic vision, and inadequate assistance when critical issues occurred.
"We had multiple vendors offering the same products at different prices, but little support," said Chris Libby, Director of IT at Spero. These gaps became clear when technology issues highlighted unreliable response times, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive solution that could reduce vendor count and deepen relationships.
The Solution
Spero's first experience with Katalyst came during a crisis, when their phone system crashed and the previous vendor was unresponsive.
From crisis response to trusted partner
Katalyst got someone to help right away, brought the phone system back online, and fixed the underlying problems that caused the crash. "We finally had someone we could call for big issues that we need outside help on," said Rich Rumney, Network Engineer at Spero. The relationship grew quickly from there.
Consolidation and expert project support
Spero moved its Microsoft services to Katalyst from a big-name VAR, and Katalyst found creative ways to consolidate multiple services into one package, reducing expenses by 36%. Katalyst also provided external expertise and extra hands for major initiatives, including screen-pop implementation, an SD-WAN conversion, a datacenter redesign, and network upgrades, while keeping Cisco licensing current and handling equipment orders.
"I quickly realized that Katalyst was a cut above in the MSP space. Not only do they focus on building relationships, they hire high quality, expert resources that can truly partner with their customers."
Damon Sipe, CTO, Spero FinancialThe Results
Partnering with Katalyst improved Spero's overall IT strategy and economics.
Consolidating multiple services into a single offering reduced IT costs by 36%, and Spero gained expertise for the successful execution of complex projects, urgent support and crisis prevention, and proactive management and maintenance. Katalyst has become the team Spero calls to fill gaps in-house staff cannot cover, supporting the credit union's "fewer vendors, deeper relationships" strategy. "One of our more difficult projects was the SD-WAN conversion. It would never have gotten done without the help we got from the Katalyst engineers," Rumney said.
Key Takeaways
- Consolidation cut costs 36%. Combining multiple services into one package reduced spend and simplified management.
- Fewer vendors, deeper relationships. Katalyst supported Spero's strategy to streamline its technology portfolio.
- Expert hands for hard projects. SD-WAN conversion, datacenter redesign, and network upgrades got done with Katalyst's help.
- Reliable in a crisis. The partnership began by resolving an outage the previous vendor could not.
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