LOOKUP is a business ‘on the up’.

The Managed Service Provider (MSP), which delivers

Modern Workplace, IT Support & Cyber Security for

Australian businesses, is riding the wave of an exceptional

12 months’ performance.

From its offices in Brisbane and Sydney, the company’s

headcount has grown from 9 to 17, on the back of

broadening its offering into new pillars of business.

Now offering security (MSSP) and tailored software services

alongside managed IT, and with plans to have local, remote

support available in every major Australian city by 2021, the

ARN-recognised IT expert is just getting started.

The efficiency gap

But that growth hasn’t always been hand-in-hand with

profitability. Founded in 2000, Peter Kantarelis, CEO of

LOOKUP, says that several years ago the company had

stagnated.

“We’d hit an efficiency limit. We were hiring more people

to meet demand, but we weren’t making more money. We

had bigger overheads and despite increasing our turnover,

our profitability was down.”

“We pride ourselves on our ability to remove complexity in

IT for clients, but internally we were anything but efficient.”

This, says Peter, was down to inefficiencies in its own

operations. “We had too many high touch and disparate

systems that were slowing us down.”

One example was the process from quoting a job through

to invoicing and collecting payment. “It was completely

broken. We were using Microsoft Excel to cost up quotes,

which were then transferred into a Word doc. This then had

to be emailed to clients, chased etc. When it came time for

invoicing, we had MYOB - so that was another system again.

I was fed up.”

When the LOOKUP chief began considering a software

solution to take control of the situation, an industry contact

referred him to ConnectWise. After speaking with the team

at ConnectWise he decided to go ‘all in’.

“Like Microsoft, ConnectWise is a true partner in our business. They’ve helped us grow - not just in terms of revenue, but in profitability.” PETER KANTARELIS, CEO AT LOOKUP

LOOKUP partners with ConnectWise to transform business operations

‘All in’ approach to transformation

“We decided to go all in with ConnectWise. It would have

been easy to just choose one of its quote and proposal

automation services and test the waters, but we wanted to

realise the full benefits of their technology.”

“Making the transition to unfamiliar software solutions, can

seem like a daunting, and difficult path, but we were able

to demonstrate to LOOKUP the potential to create business

efficiencies by delivering the tools they needed for CRM,

ticketing, help desk, and tools for project management,

billing, and procurement.”

“Peter wanted to be able to record the time techies spent

on certain tasks for clients to enable more accurate billing

and quoting. We were able to show that with our screen

recording and call logging software - which integrates

into telephony - LOOKUP would have a true view of where

resources were being spent, which could lead to data-

driven business decisions.”

From a sales point of view, ConnectWise has also been

able to transform LOOKUPs approach. “Now when we

share a customer quote, we can actually see when they’re

looking at it based on their IP address. That’s a powerful

opportunity for us to follow up while the iron’s hot.”

Peter’s role in the business has also evolved with the

implementation of ConnectWise.

“I used to be so caught up in the day-to-day, it was hard

for me to really manage and grow the business. The total

visibility that ConnectWise has given me has meant that

I can lift myself out of the weeds and lead the business

and we have been able to reduce our labour costs by a

staggering 30% because of ConnectWise.”

Key technologies:

• ConnectWise Automate

• ConnectWise Control

• ConnectWise Identify

• ConnectWise Manage

• ConnectWise Sell

• ConnectWise Assist

• ConnectWise Command

• ConnectWise Fortify

• ConnectWise Recover

“Looking back now, our evolution into MSSP and software would not have been possible without ConnectWise.” PETER KANTARELIS, CEO AT LOOKUP

Due to the scale of the services that LOOKUP elected,

implementation was phased over two years which Peter

says was worth the investment.

“ConnectWise can give you visibility to where your business

is going wrong and what needs to change. It’s a process

that helps you redefine your business.

“For us that wasn’t going to be an overnight change, but

we were willing to make the commitment and I think that is

the key when looking at any software deployment because

the cultural change is just as significant.

The ability for monitoring and auto scripting using the

mobile phone View tool has been awesome with our retail

clients” says Peter.

Peter says although the transition wasn’t always easy, it was

smooth, which he attributes in part to the ConnectWise IT

Nation Evolve peer groups.

“In the last year this value-add has helped us to unlock

the best of the technology we have at our fingertips.” He’s

referring to the quarterly 2-day peer meetings for MSP

business owners and leaders, which are held all across the

ANZ region.

“The thought-leadership and peer networking has helped

us to solidify our best-in-class approach to cyber security

and Managed Services,” says Peter. “We now know where

we stand in terms of best-in-class for operations and

financials across thousands of MSP’s globally, and therefore

where we need to focus on improving. “

“LOOKUP is a ‘yes’ before ‘no’ company and we take the same approach whether we’re working with customers, clients or partners, so culturally the fit was right from the start.”

LOOKUP is an Australian IT Managed Services Provider specialising in cyber security and the modern workplace.

For over 20 years, it has provided fixed cost services to Australian SMEs, advanced enterprises and franchises across professional services, healthcare, construction, labour, retail and NFP. LOOKUP is a team of senior engineers committed to one-touch resolutions and an average response and plan time of 15-minutes or less.

A partnership journey to implementation

Born out of a single software solution designed to help MSPs gain control of their help desk and billing, ConnectWise has grown into a robust platform of software built for technology solutions providers (TSPs) to run their entire as-a-service business.

With products aiding in business management, remote monitoring and management, remote control and access, quote and proposal automation, and cybersecurity risk assessments, integrations with hundreds of key vendors, plus the largest and most engaged community in the industry, ConnectWise has built a platform for The IT Nation.

For more information contact the Ingram Micro Cloud team:+61 02 9381 6735 | imcloudau@ingrammicro.com

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