Scaling Success: How Maark Increased IT Efficiency by 85%

About Maark

Maark, a digital media agency, delivers end-to-end strategic innovation across enterprise platforms. Designing and delivering end-to-end, branded Adobe experiences on the cutting edge of marketing and commerce, Maark makes world-class user-experiences possible. Combining capabilities in strategy, design and engineering, Maark has helped clients such as Manulife, Marriott, Forrester and Akamai realize the potential of their digital experience.

The Challenge: Navigating Rapid Growth and Cybersecurity Challenges in the Digital Media Landscape

Maark was facing a rapid growth phase at the end of 2020. As the world scrambled during COVID to move remote, Maark already had a successful hybrid working structure and was looking to take it to the next level.

Maark provided an array of digital marketing consulting and software implementation services. At the same time, they managed IT functions in-house, which put a strain on their resources. Furthermore, as their client portfolio expanded, they encountered clients with stringent security requirements, necessitating a heightened focus on cybersecurity. Clients' high-security demands required strict protocols for granting and revoking access to sensitive data. What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated cyber-crime by an alarming 300%. Maark needed to ensure remote access was strictly monitored at the beginning/end of an employee’s tenure to protect client data.

This dynamic called for streamlined onboarding processes, scalable IT systems, and robust cybersecurity measures to meet the stringent requirements of their high-profile clients. Balancing client satisfaction, developer on/offboarding, and stringent cybersecurity standards became a complex juggling act. The agency needed to prioritize client safety without compromising on efficiency, making the automation and standardization of IT processes a necessity.

With the agency's growth trajectory, the need to expedite processes such as setting up and terminating new users in the system, a very time-consuming process, became apparent. Maark searched for a managed IT service provider to help them optimize their IT operations and cyber security.

The Solution: Innovative Protocols and Automation Increases Efficiency by 85%

Eager to kickstart their exponential growth, Maark looked to Synivate as their outsourced IT managed services partner. Synivate is a fully outsourced IT company that specializes in helping companies in complicated, competitive industries leverage IT to help, rather than hinder growth.

The two created a custom IT solution that was capable of meeting the growing demands of the company and its clients. The first step involved creating strict protocols for adding and removing personnel from the system, ensuring that security remained a top priority. As the company grew, Synivate wanted to help them automate the onboarding and offboarding process without adding extra burden to their team or leaving their data and sensitive client information open to security vulnerabilities. Additionally, Synivate proposed strong remote work protocols such as VPN improvements, SSO (single sign on) implementation, and clear protocols around adding or deleting users from the system.

The result was a custom onboarding and offboarding process, complete with department-specific forms that created specific protocols for adding and removing new people to the system. Automation played a pivotal role, with processes for each user becoming standardized and automated to control the flow of access.

What once took 5+ hours to set up or terminate a user's access was now reduced to a streamlined process of just 30 to 45 minutes, an 85% efficiency gain. This automation not only significantly expedited the onboarding process but also ensured that it was standardized, reducing the potential for human error. Customized welcome emails with all the necessary access information were generated automatically, ensuring that users were supported and informed throughout the onboarding process. The transformation of IT protocols and processes not only enhanced efficiency but also elevated the user experience, instilling confidence, and trust.

The Result: Growth & Compliance - Maark’s Remarkable Journey with Synivate

The collaboration between Maark and Synivate yielded transformative results that reverberated throughout the organization. Synivate's support was instrumental in facilitating this growth by removing human error from the onboarding process, which was crucial for a company with many SaaS applications. Maark’s rapid growth trajectory continued, leading to a successful acquisition by WillowTree, a major agency focused on digital marketing, digital strategy, design, consulting and data & AI.

Armed with a solid IT foundation, Maark successfully achieved SOC-2 Compliance, a significant milestone in their journey. SOC-2 Compliance is a vital certificate that instills trust with clients by demonstrating the discovery, alignment, and implementation of stringent cybersecurity controls. Synivate played a supportive role in helping Maark navigate the SOC-2 Compliance process, establishing best practices and a robust foundation to meet these exacting standards.

Maark’s remarkable journey showcases the agency's commitment to excellence, compliance, and scalability. With a solid IT foundation in place, they are poised for a future filled with growth, innovation, and success in the ever-evolving digital media landscape.