The Company
Spyder Active Sports is the largest ski-specialty brand in the world. The company is renowned for integrating high-tech fabrics, fashion and functionality. It prides itself on a relentless commitment to creating the ultimate performance experience for athletes and focuses on every detail in engineering superior ski wear.
Beginning in 1978, Spyder revolutionized ski racing with the introduction of the first padded slalom sweater designed “for racing, by racers.” Today, Spyder products are the choice of the U.S. Alpine, Austrian Alpine, Canadian Alpine and Freestyle World Cup Teams. Rigorously tested by top athletes around the world, Spyder products range from casual sport-lifestyle clothing to outerwear for any outdoor pursuit. Numerous products from the company’s ski apparel line have been showcased on many Olympic podiums, accessorized by Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals.
With global headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, Spyder has approximately 125 employees worldwide. It sells products to more than 550 high-quality, specialty retailers in the United States and Canada. Spyder products are sold outside North America into 50 countries through the company’s Spyder-Europe office and through independent distributors around the globe.
The Challenge
When a company offers to pay its IT outsourcing provider more money in return for more services, and the provider not only refuses the offer but its service levels continue to go downhill, it’s time to look for a new provider. That’s precisely what happened to Spyder’s Information Systems Director, Kevin Smith, when their outsourcing provider had been purchased for a second time. The provider’s declining service levels hit rock bottom when Spyder’s headquarters office in Boulder experienced an IT outage that forced its operations to go down for four solid days. This happened during one of the busiest times of the year for Spyder: its shipment of apparel to more than 550 retailers throughout North America. This peak period begins in July and lasts through December.
As a result of an improper back-up system, Spyder lost nine days worth of critical shipment data. Since invoices to customers were lost and unable to be retrieved, they had to be recalculated and manually prepared. At the same time, the company was unable to electronically generate orders to its retailers. To make matters worse, Spyder’s outsourcing provider had been experiencing turnover problems given its second acquisition. So, Smith and his internal IT team had to rely on a small and dwindling IT staff to resurrect the system. “Those were some of the worst days of my career when the system was down,” remembers Smith. “And I wasn’t confident in the outcome.”
Once bitten, twice shy, so the saying goes. And that’s how Smith described his level of distrust and lack of confidence when he set out to hire another outsourcer. In evaluating potential vendors, Smith identified three cornerstones requirements: First, he was seeking an IT outsourcer with a proven track record that could guarantee reliability and performance. Secondly, the new outsourcing company would have to answer an important question: How do you intend to support Spyder’s business continuity? For Smith, that meant being proactive and possessing expertise in disaster recovery standard procedures. Finally, the new provider would be expected to operate as a partner with Spyder — an extension of its business — and possess a similar culture in terms of size and growth.
It came down to three potential vendors — a tough choice according to Smith. He said cost wasn’t an issue since all vendors offered similar pricing packages. However, a number of factors lead Smith to select OneNeck IT Services. Among them, he explained, were the OneNeck team’s “undeniable technical expertise,” and “genuine interest in forming a partnership.” Further, the OneNeck team was open to two-way communication. Smith experienced this first-hand when he was invited (prior to becoming a customer) to OneNeck’s Executive Forum. OneNeck hosts the annual event to bring customers together to share the state of the company and update them on industry best practices. In addition, attendees share ideas and candidly discuss OneNeck’s performance.
While attending the Executive Forum, Smith observed that OneNeck executives were asking their customers for input on how to improve performance. “OneNeck’s relationship with its customers is a two-way partnership — words in action,” said Smith.
