Work Solutions Gippsland

Work Solutions Gippsland is an employment agency
specifically for people with disability.  We have a contract with the
Commonwealth Department Education Employment and Workplace Relations to gain and
maintain jobs for people with varying disabilities throughout Gippsland.
We have 9 offices across the region and 37 staff.

Our I.T. infrastructure is vitally important to us, our entire
business runs by it.  From receiving referrals to recording confidential
client details, to planning employment pathways and ongoing support
requirements and finally to invoicing and receiving payment of
claims.  Everything relies on our I.T. infrastructure.

For over 3 years our I.T. infrastructure was not working as it
should.  Continually breaking down, extremely slow, inconsistent,
frustrating staff efforts to do their job effectively and in a timely manner.
It seemed that each day brought additional difficulties and greater
frustrations.  No one was able to effectively diagnose and repair our
problems.  Several specialist organisations were consulted and while some
were able to relieve some areas of difficulties, in the main the most
substantial of our difficulties continued.

Finally we met with Tom and Jake from Connectivity I.T. who
made a thorough diagnosis of our entire I.T. infrastructure.  Following this
they prepared a plan to address the difficulties they found in a systematic way
that was sensitive to the requirements of our staff.  Many staff had
suffered much frustration over an extended period with our I.T. difficulties and
it was pleasing that the Connectivity I.T. plan took their feelings and frustrations
into consideration.

We implemented all the recommendations from Connectivity I.T.
and we have experienced a complete turnaround in the effectiveness of our I.T.
infrastructure.  It now works and works effectively and speedily.  It
is properly monitored by Connectivity I.T. and most difficulties are anticipated
and dealt with before they become a problem.  We have never had such
efficiency from our I.T. since Connectivity have been involved.

One of the major advantages to having effective I.T. is that
our staff are not as stressed attempting to deal with I.T. problems that
frustrate their ability to do their job.  Our I.T. now serves us; we are not
continually trying to navigate breakdown and slowness issues.  We have
regular meetings with the Connectivity I.T. team who continually survey our staff
and monitor our I.T.  We have gone from a disastrous, unworkable I.T.
position to one where we are enjoying the full benefits of I.T. infrastructure
that is working efficiently and, importantly, our staff are appreciative.
We are also planning additional I.T. infrastructure to meet our future needs
and to take advantage of new technologies that can assist us to be more
effective in what we do – ie. Find sustainable, ongoing employment for people
with disabilities from the Gippsland community.

We are very grateful to Tom and Jake and their team.

Bob Faulkner