ARCpoint Labs Achieves Email Uptime and Encryption for Franchisees with Intermedia

The Background

In today’s digital world, email is the lifeblood of any business. Achieving email uptime and security is crucial for ARCpoint Labs who needed to provide their employees and franchisees with a solution that is dependable, consistent, and sustainable.

As email has become the backbone for business communications, companies like ARCpoint Labs are creating a new standard. The old standard, based on on-premises email, resulted in sporadic downtime. But not all email hosting providers are alike…some offer only a 99.9 percent uptime, which adds up to more than eight hours of unexpected downtime per year.

Studies show that the average cost to a business for email downtime was $870,000 in 20151. With so much on the line, businesses should accept nothing short of 99.999 percent uptime. This amounts to less than six minutes of unplanned downtime per year.

At the same time, email security and compliance is vital to businesses like ARCpoint Labs who deal with sensitive clinical data. With maximum fines reaching $1.5 million for HIPAA violations, only enterprise-class security and stringent privacy controls provide the necessary protection measures2.

1EMC, “Global Data Protection Index: Global Key Results and Findings,” 2015
2HIPAA Journal, “What Are the Penalties for HIPAA Violations?” June 24, 2015

ARCpoint Franchise Group

Company Profile:
Based in Greenville, South Carolina, ARCpoint Franchise Group (ARCpoint Labs) offers drug, alcohol, DNA and clinical testing, employment and background screening, and corporate wellness programs and services.

Industry: Drug, alcohol, DNA and clinical testing, employment/background screening and corporate wellness programs and services.

The Challenge

Before turning to Intermedia for email hosting, ARCpoint Labs worked with a vendor whose email servers frequently went down. According to Barbara King, ARCpoint Labs’ executive administrator, the company often experienced hours or even days of unplanned downtime.

If that weren’t enough, the vendor’s customer service left much to be desired. With no self-service capabilities, King needed to call the vendor when any issues arose. And due to the vendor’s limited support hours, King had no one to turn to in the middle of the night or at certain times of the day when the vendor was closed—even when email was down.

“We’re dealing with people’s lives,” said King. “Our customers need us to be responsive to their needs. Imagine a customer who can’t see their child on a weekend because our email server went down on a Friday. Whether a customer is waiting to start a new job or the courts require drug testing before granting child visitation, we can’t have email downtime affect our work.”

ARCpoint Labs’ previous vendor was also unable to help them meet the privacy and security requirements mandated by HIPAA resulting in a slowing of the company’s expansion plans due to this restriction.

At the same time, ARCpoint Labs needed backup and file sharing technologies to interact with franchisees. With nearly 120 franchises in more than 30 states, the company needed to enable franchisees to access critical operational files (sales, marketing, education, industry news/information, etc.). Without this capability, ARCpoint Labs and franchisees often resorted to emailing files back and forth, a labor-intensive process that resulted in multiple versions of files that lived on various hard drives throughout the company.

In addition, the company needed a secure backup solution that would provide file backup and data restoration to protect the company’s sensitive data from ransomware attacks. According to an August 2016 Osterman Research survey, nearly 50 percent of respondents had suffered at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months3. Further, Intermedia’s 2016 Ransomware survey found that among businesses that have experienced an attack, 72 percent of them lost access to data for at least two days, and 32 percent lost access for five days or more. With $209 million paid to ransomware criminals in the first quarter of 20164, this is becoming a critical issue for companies like ARCpoint Labs.

3Osterman Research, “Understanding the Depth of the Global Ransomware Problem,” August 2016
4CNN, “Cyber-extortion Losses Skyrocket Says FBI,” April 15, 2016

The Solution

Since 2011, ARCpoint Labs has relied on Intermedia for cloud-based Microsoft® Exchange business email. With a 99.999 percent uptime guarantee and a service level agreement that guarantees less than 26 seconds of monthly unplanned downtime, ARCpoint Labs and its franchisees can trust that their email will be available when they need it.

“When we get results back from labs, we need to get them to the customer in a timely manner,” said King. “Of the providers we considered, Intermedia offered 99.999 percent uptime. We knew we wanted the best and it didn’t take long to choose Intermedia.”

Intermedia helps franchises enable their franchisees to adopt Intermedia solutions via their referral program. Franchises simply refer their franchisees to Intermedia and get incentivized for doing so. Franchisees, in turn, get the same worry-free support and 99.999 percent service level agreement that Intermedia provides. Intermedia also manages the accounts and billing, taking that burden off the franchise.

With Intermedia, ARCpoint Labs can provide its franchisees with whichever email option best suits their needs, Exchange or IMAP. With cloud-based Exchange Email, Intermedia offers the encryption and enterprise-grade security that ARCpoint Labs needs for HIPAA compliance. For franchisees who don’t work with sensitive clinical data and who want to control costs, the IMAP email option offers a more affordable alternative.

ARCpoint Labs also relies on Intermedia for its SecuriSync® backup and file sharing solution. Protecting files and helping to ensure business continuity during ransomware outbreaks, SecuriSync® provides real-time file backup and point-in-time file restoration for PCs and Macs. The solution provides at-rest and in-transit encryption, remote wipe capabilities, and a 99.9999 percent uptime service level agreement. ARCpoint Labs also relies on SecuriSync® for collaboration on sensitive internal corporate files like payroll and bonuses.

“If someone clicks on a ransomware link and encrypts their computer, we can use SecuriSync® to go back to the point in time that’s clear,” said King. “We don’t have to pay hijackers or invest in new hardware or software.”

Of the providers we considered, Intermedia offered 99.999 percent uptime. We knew we wanted the best and it didn’t take long to choose Intermedia.

Barbara King,
Executive Administrator, ARCpoint Labs

I came to Intermedia with a problem, and they immediately solved it, in just a couple hours. Few companies the size of Intermedia can help instantly like that. It’s amazing.

Barbara King,
Executive Administrator, ARCpoint Labs

Products They Use

The Results

Since implementing these solutions, ARCpoint Labs has improved franchisee satisfaction and has gained peace of mind, knowing that files are secure and email is highly available. King said she sleeps better knowing she has a partner like Intermedia providing the uptime and protection the company needs.

Intermedia has also helped in increasing franchise sales. “A big part of selling franchises is making sure franchisees are satisfied with the support they receive,” said King. “We need to show that we have the infrastructure to support their businesses. And when our franchisees are satisfied, they’re more likely to give positive validation to future franchisees, ultimately increasing franchise sales.”

King also finds peace of mind in the service and support she receives from Intermedia. Initially, she wanted to work with a smaller, local company and thought that a bigger company like Intermedia wouldn’t give them the service and support they needed. King readily admitted that she was wrong and that when she calls Intermedia for support, they often know her by name.

“Intermedia’s support is the standard I use for all vendors now,” said King. “I can call any time day or night and speak to someone who is personable and who never makes me feel stupid for not having all the answers. No other vendor can provide this level of service. Intermedia has spoiled me.”

This service was recently put to the test when one of ARCpoint Labs’ franchisees experienced a ransomware attack. The computer wasn’t yet protected under SecuriSync®, but it made it clear to King that she needed a plan to provide franchisees with the technology. Intermedia quickly put together a plan to protect their computers and version their data for a nominal monthly fee.

“I came to Intermedia with a problem, and they immediately solved it, in just a couple hours,” said King. “Few companies the size of Intermedia can help instantly like that. It’s amazing.”

As ARCpoint Labs looks to the future, its partnership with Intermedia holds strong. They will soon be rolling out voice services and will pass along discounted pricing to franchisees. King advises other companies, particularly franchise groups, to take the time to investigate all that Intermedia has to offer. “It’s truly a one-stop shop, and you can’t beat their customer service. They’re dependable, knowledgeable and always there for me. Intermedia solves all my problems.”

About ARCpoint Labs

ARCpoint Labs is a Greenville, S.C.-based full-service national third-party provider / administrator providing Accurate, Reliable, and Confidential drug, alcohol, DNA and clinical testing, employment / background screening and corporate wellness programs and services. After the success he saw with his own drug screening facility in 1998, 17-year industry expert Felix Mirando saw the growth potential of the brand and founded ARCpoint Franchise Group LLC in 2005. ARCpoint Labs has become one of the fastest growing and most flexible models in the franchise industry behind the leadership of Mirando, the brand’s chief executive officer. To stay ahead of trends in the space, Mirando has assembled a corporate team of experts that are constantly looking for new revenue streams to benefit existing franchisees and attract new qualified operators to the system. ARCpoint Labs has over 100 locations across the country with plans to grow to 325 franchise locations nationwide by 2020. In 2017, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked ARCpoint Labs at #120 in the top 500 franchises in the U.S. The brand was also recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in 2014 and 2016 and is nationally recognized as a member of the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) and Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association (SAPAA). For more information on ARCpoint Labs visit http://arcpointlabs.com/.

SecuriSync® is either a trademark or registered trademark of Intermedia.net, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Mac is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.

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