IT Outsourcing/Celgene Corporation

Please tell us about how you met Gateway Computer (hereafter referred to as GWC).

I began working in Japan as a representative for the Japanese branch of a Canadian ERP manufacturer in 2001. A user at the time introduced me to GWC.

At the time, we were collaborating on the development of stores with clients we had negotiated with on a global level. Due to GWC kitting the PCs, we were able to connect to a VPN and access the DB, so we could access client’s stores across the country and install what was needed. We asked for a variety of things, but we were able to leave the work to them with confidence.

How long have we been working with you?

Since 2001, so it’s been about 13 years already. We had a business relationship for the first two years but had no business relationship after that for about five to six years. In 2009, after moving to Celgene, I contacted Gateway Computer.

Initially, what kind of problems did you have and what kind of support were you looking for?

In 2009, our relationship resumed. We had to set up the procurement of PC units for our new sales representatives who joined us on January in 2010. That had to be completed before the end of the year of 2009. At the same time, we needed to create service specifications in the anticipation of future operations.

At the time, we decided that we needed to move to a more general system construction and become a more efficiency-oriented business. Flexibility and a sense of speed were necessary. However, due to past issues we had working with agencies who were not personally operating things, it was important for us to have outsourcing that did not employ these methods.

What did you expect from GWC?

As were taking customer requests and as we were looking to finally have Celgene’s IT infrastructure and system specifications completed, we were hoping that gateway Computer could move quickly with flexibility.

What was the deciding factor for working with GWC?

From our experiences collaborating with GWC, we knew that the response and technical capabilities of your IT engineers was high. We felt we could leave it to you with confidence. Your employees are professional and the fact that they’re bilingual puts them at an advantage over other companies. There were many foreign personnel as well. I say that, but GWC’s foreign personnel are just like Japanese people. (Laughs)

Was GWC able to provide you with support beyond your initial expectations?

Although I have three residing engineers now, we’ve been going beyond the help desk, spreading out to kitting, on-site response, and more. Additionally, because we’re thinking we would like to increase IT department functions in the future, we’re considering increasing our systems.

Please tell us if there were any moments wherein GWC went beyond your expectations with business follow-ups, support correspondence, etc.

This was in July of 2013. We had relocated the office in three consecutive holidays and encountered printer-related troubles. We had a situation come up wherein the settings of our all PC unit printers had to be reset and they collected three engineers in a hurry despite it being a holiday. One person was operating them though. (Laughs)

We place a lot of trust in your flexibility, speed, and response capabilities that are tailored to customer needs. Additionally, when we had to procure hardware emergently, Gateway Computer supported and helped us a lot.