Acknowledge has been a proud partner of Tools4ever since October 2020. Acknowledge provides ICT services with a broad range of offerings, including digital workplaces, multi-cloud, and proactive monitoring of ICT environments. They will assist Tools4ever in implementing our HelloID software. But why did they choose Tools4ever, and what are their plans and goals for the coming years? To find out, Farid Ouachour (Manager Consultancy at Tools4ever) spoke with Mike van Eck (Business Consultant for Information & Security at Acknowledge).
Listening to Customer Needs: Why did Acknowledge choose Tools4ever?
“I know how Tools4ever’s employees approach their work and that they do everything to deliver a good solution to the customer and listen to their needs,” Mike explains. He has been familiar with Tools4ever since the UMRA era. Through this long history, Mike knows many of our consultants and their methodologies. The combination of the organisation and the product adds significant value to Acknowledge’s product portfolio. The overlapping sectors are also an important factor. Both Tools4ever and Acknowledge primarily operate in the healthcare and education sectors.
How did Acknowledge decide on HelloID?
“The selection was made much earlier when HelloID was still in its infancy,” Mike continues. At that time, HelloID was still under development, and the market was not yet mature enough for Identity Access Management as-a-Service (IDaaS) solutions. “HelloID has since evolved and proven itself as a secure, modern, affordable, and user-friendly IDaaS solution. This allows us to better address our customers’ IAM issues.”
Selection Criteria: What was Acknowledge looking for?
A key selection criterion for Acknowledge was the traceability of issues. Mike explains, “Things can always go wrong, but it’s important that they’re quickly resolved.” Another important criterion was the ability to monitor productively. If something goes wrong, it’s good for the customer to know quickly. “You shouldn’t wait for the customer to report a problem. You need to be ahead of it,” says Mike.
The self-service aspect, which empowers end-users to control their resources, is also a significant advantage, according to Acknowledge. This relieves the service desk and makes end-users more self-sufficient, distributing responsibilities more within the organisation.
Functionality and Security: Why did Acknowledge choose HelloID?
Reasons for Acknowledge to opt for HelloID include its functionality, security, and the ongoing developments by Tools4ever. The functionality is ensured by responding to customer needs. “HelloID is DIY (Do It Yourself); it’s designed so that a partner can set up and manage HelloID themselves, and all components are fully documented. This makes partners quite self-sufficient and allows them to tailor the product to their customers’ needs,” says Mike. This way, something can be created that is very understandable for the customer and aligns with their processes. HelloID’s cloud service also adds great value for the customer. However, both Tools4ever and Acknowledge note that not every company or sector is ready for this yet. Therefore, it’s important to clearly and transparently convey both the advantages and the disadvantages to each other.
Trust and Open Communication: What is important for Acknowledge in the partnership?
Key factors for Acknowledge in entering a partnership are initially trust and open communication with each other, building something together with associated co-creation. “That you not only have close contact with each other during the initial projects but also keep each other well-informed and consulted over the years on how we can best assist our customers,” Mike adds. Should there be developments within the industry or the product, it needs to be communicated timely. This way, Acknowledge can better meet the needs of their customers.
Short- and Long-Term Solutions: How do customers benefit from the partnership?
For both Acknowledge and Tools4ever, it’s about ensuring the product fits the customer and provides a solution for the customer’s IAM objectives in both the short and long term. The security aspect is also a major advantage for the customer, according to Mike. Especially safeguarding user authentication and authorisations: “Thinking along with the customer and presenting them with solutions they didn’t know they needed is something we can achieve and offer with Tools4ever.” Acknowledge implements all three modules of HelloID. For now, there is particularly demand for the Provisioning module, but the other modules usually follow quickly thereafter.
From Joint to Independent Implementation: What are the joint goals of Tools4ever and Acknowledge regarding the partnership?
As partners, it’s good to discuss what you want to agree upon and especially important to articulate goals to sketch a clear picture for the future. After signing a partnership, the next step is to train more employees. Employees of the respective partner can follow free HelloID training for all modules at Tools4ever. This way, they learn the basics of the different HelloID modules to then implement them with Tools4ever at a customer’s site. Acknowledge’s employees already have extensive experience in implementing Identity Access Management solutions and are also trained to implement HelloID. As a result, Acknowledge has already carried out two joint implementations and is now able to independently perform HelloID implementations. We are, of course, very proud of this!
Interested in a partnership with Tools4ever or a HelloID implementation by Acknowledge? Email sales@tools4ever.nl or visit Acknowledge’s website.