Wolter Group LLC picks OneNeck for cloud-based services

5-year contract allows Wolter Group LLC to focus on strategic business matters while OneNeck cares for IT services & upgrades.

OneNeck IT Solutions, a leading provider of cloud-based, hosting and application management solutions announced today they’ve signed a new contract with Wolter Group LLC. As part of the newly signed five year contract, OneNeck will begin managing the day-to-day IT infrastructure for the Wolter Group of companies, consisting of Wisconsin Lift Truck Corp., Illinois Material Handling, Fleet Services, Wolter Power Systems and Ellis Systems. OneNeck will also deploy a cloud solution, provide a variety of professional services and upgrade, then manage, a new disaster recovery solution.

“Technology is changing so fast, and finding new ways to leverage it is more critical than ever to our business’ success,” says Julie Williams, Business Technology Manager of Wolter Group LLC. “We need to be more strategic, but when our core IT team is stretched thin and constantly putting out fires, it makes it challenging to find the time. It’s exactly why we selected OneNeck to be our IT partner. While they manage our servers, infrastructure and back-up solution, we’ll be investigating and rolling out forward-thinking, strategic initiatives critical to our company’s overall growth.”

Wolter Group LLC has nine locations throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. Founded in 1962, the company began as a simple parts shop. Over the decades, they’ve grown into a widely recognized powerhouse in the material handling industry and beyond. Today, they are a trusted source for material handling, power and fleet management solutions.

With about 400 employees, the entire company is supported by a centralized IT team of five people. As the company continues to grow — they’ve made eight acquisitions in the last five years — Wolter Group LLC knows they need more IT help. In fact, the company’s president was among the first to recognize the need and provide support for Williams’ efforts to identify a third-party IT partner.

“As the company and role of technology continues to grow, our team recognized we couldn’t just keep upgrading and moving along the current path,” stated Jerry Weidmann, president of Wolter Group LLC. “We needed to find and leverage a trusted partner. As we started looking at firms, we discovered not many companies are providing all the services we need. It’s one of the reasons OneNeck stood out. In addition to providing the solutions and services we need, OneNeck also demonstrated their expertise and ability to successfully manage our IT.”

Williams feels that partnering with OneNeck virtually adds an extra body to the IT team. Starting with a complete review of Wolter Group LLC’s current IT situation, OneNeck is looking to understand what’s in place already. Then, they’ll create a strategic multi-phase plan that includes:

• Transitioning from Hyper-V to VMware.
• Deploying ReliaCloud along with a hybrid private cloud and virtual desktop solution.
• Establishing colocation at OneNeck’s data center in Gilbert, Ariz.
• Developing a BYOD environment that enables employees to bring and connect using their own devices (e.g., cell phones, tablets, laptops).
• Adding a disaster recovery solution that includes a 99 percent uptime guarantee.

“While OneNeck does all that, our team is already shifting their attention toward getting technology into the hands of our employees, faster and working on mission-critical efforts,” Williams stated.

For example, Williams’ team is looking at getting tablets into the hands of the sales team and service technicians. Doing so, she says, will enable sales to create immediate quotes and technicians to generate invoices on the spot. “It adds up to more sales and faster invoicing,” said Williams, “along with the opportunity to be more competitive and successful closing sales.”

“Anytime we can team up with our customers and enable them to spend more time on growing their business, it’s a win-win,” says Terry Swanson, senior VP of Sales and Marketing at OneNeck. “We are proud to take on the day-to-day IT management for the Wolter Group of companies, while also creating a road map that includes cloud, disaster recovery and virtual desktops. They will be technologically prepared for well into the future.”

OneNeck IT Solutions offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware, and state-of-the-art data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. Visit oneneck.com for more information.

About Wolter Group LLC
Wolter Group LLC is a family owned and operated group of companies consisting of Wisconsin Lift Truck Corp., Illinois Material Handling, Wolter Power Systems, Fleet Services and Ellis Systems. Through these businesses, the Wolter Group provides parts, rentals, service, and training as well as new and used sales of forklifts, aerial lifts, industrial engines and generators, filing and material storage systems, automated material handling solutions as well as fleet management services. The Wolter Group has a highly trained staff of over 390 employees with an average tenure of 17 years of service who take pride in delivering superior service to over 15,000 customers throughout Illinois, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Visit woltergroupllc.com.

About OneNeck
OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, employs nearly 550 people throughout the U.S. The company offers hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware and top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. OneNeck’s team of technology professionals manage secure, world-class, hybrid IT infrastructures and applications for businesses around the country. Visit oneneck.com. 

TDS Telecommunications Corporation (TDS Telecom/TDS), headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC and TDS Broadband Service LLC. Combined, the company employs more than 3,400 people. Visit tdstelecom.com.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately six million customers nationwide through its businesses U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, and TDS Broadband Service LLC. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. employs 10,400 people. Visit tdsinc.com.