Homes Alive Pets

Homes Alive Pets is a Canadian family owned and operated business that offers a wide array of pet supplies.

SITUATION

As a growing company Homes Alive Pets had been exploring ERP software solutions after encountering limitations with their current system. They decided on MS Dynamics 365 and contacted Microsoft who put them in touch with Sherweb, who then referred them to CrucialLogics.

“Their methodology really aligned with who we are,” says Evan Ropp, Director of Marketing. “Nim’s experiences resonated with myself and my father, because there’s a lot of small business, entrepreneurial perspective that career employees don’t necessarily understand. Every dollar is personal for entrepreneurs and he seemed to understand that.”

When Evan saw that their values and goals aligned, it helped him realize they could be long-term partners. When they began discussing the project it became apparent that the CrucialLogics team could help them work efficiently and on a budget.

SOLUTION

It was important to take a step back and make sure that Homes Alive Pets knew what they were getting into and ensuring they had the right foundation to support a system by looking at things like security infrastructure, communication tools, and policies.

The CrucialLogics Advisory First approach, took the time to conduct a full technology stack review. This groundwork helped reveal vulnerabilities in the infrastructure, firewalls, and perimeter security and an audit helped detect areas of exposure. This thorough process was a strategy comprised of building blocks that would ultimately get them to the final stage of the ERP. Homes Alive Pets realized how exposed they were and that when your profile increases you become even more of a target.

“As a growing entrepreneurial venture, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know,” says Ropp. “Having experts lift the hood actually took humility on our part, but this is for the good of us as a company and for the safety of my employees, my customers and the data we have. They did it graciously, didn’t make me feel like I was a fool. It made me realize how exposed so many small businesses must be; so for that I’m grateful to CrucialLogics.

RESULTS

Homes Alive Pets has now implemented phase one and phase two of the project. Although they have yet to implement the ERP, they’re feeling more secure. HyperCare has been keeping them up to date on things like the environment and stats. Communication as a company has advanced and their employee satisfaction rating is the highest it’s ever been.

Since they weren’t using many of their allotted hours, the CrucialLogics team admirably suggested a scaled down arrangement to help them save money. It’s something not many other companies would do and another example of how CrucialLogics was able to maintain trust.

“Shortly after we implemented this, one of our suppliers had a cyberattack,” says Evan. “There it was at the beginning of Covid and their whole system was down for almost two weeks. We took extra precautions and did some internal training, but I didn’t feel very exposed, even though a close partner of mine had recently been attacked.”

“They helped me grow up as a company. And we are definitely the better for it.”

– Evan Ropp, Director of Marketing