KippsDeSanto & Co., established in May 2007, and headquartered in Northern Virginia, is a premier investment bank, focused on delivering exceptional results for leading growth oriented companies in IT, Defense, Communications, and Government Contracting. KippsDeSanto works closely with business owners and management teams seeking liquidity, planning the next step in their company’s growth, or executing their company’s merger or acquisition.
Situation
KipssDeSanto engaged Wipfli many years ago soon after their organization was established. They had several business challenges including inadequate bandwidth, storage and collaboration capabilities and they wanted to maximize their productivity. They had ambitious plans for growth and needed a new infrastructure to help them solve their existing pains as well as provide a solid foundation for the future. They have more than doubled since engaging Wipfli and they are outgrowing their existing office space and have another impending move on the horizon. They continue to push the limits of their systems and are in the midst of upgrade to support the next 3-5 years of growth.
Strategy
Highlights of the solutions Wipfli has implemented over the years include: an integrated network and security infrastructure, upgraded hardware (server and workstations), Unified Threat Management Plan and hardened firewall, business systems including a Deal Management Solution, a Business Continuity Plan leveraging an online data protection solution, management and policy for Remote Access and Mobile Device Management, vendor analysis (VoIP, ISP), Full IT relocation support of multiple office moves (including costing, construction, build-out, and execution).
Benefits
Managing Director and co-founder Kevin DeSanto says, “When we started our business, we faced a fundamental choice: should we take charge of the IT function ourselves or outsource it? We had limited expertise as technology managers-and even less time-so our startup IT infrastructure did not meet our needs. We found an excellent professional services firm that listened to our needs and offered to act as our virtual CIO. The Wipfli team has been a crucial partner in our growth by providing deep, broad, and responsive service, ranging from trouble-shooting to provisioning to advice on best practices for security policies and procedures."
