ClearFuze Networks, Inc. is a Los Angeles managed services and cloud support provider, providing clients with its unique ClearONE solution. Services include cybersecurity, vertical market applications, data backup, and disaster recovery. ClearFuze provides customized technology solutions designed to meet the unique requirements of businesses including architectural and legal firms, entertainment agencies, investment and finance firms, and healthcare organizations.
Far more involved than a traditional MSP, ClearFuze also offers consulting services that enable clients to elevate their businesses. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in LA, ClearFuze stays on the cutting edge of technology solutions, which allows them to deliver exemplary service to clients.
The ClearONE solution is a customized offering tailored to the individual client and their needs. It is crafted to include appropriate (top-of-the-line) cloud solutions, cloud server monitoring, seamless IT infrastructure migration, cybersecurity management and much more.
The Challenge: Building a More Sustainable Business While Delivering More Value to Clients
A little more than six years ago, ClearFuze CEO Jason Gilbert realized he needed to change how his company operated. While the business had significant profit margins, their standard MSP approach wasn’t sustainable. So, rather than waiting for things to break and then fixing them, ClearFuze began offering consulting services that enabled them to bring enterprise-level solutions to the SMB market.
“We’re trying to provide stellar service and value to our clients, which is one of our core values,” explained Jason Gilbert, ClearFuze’s CEO. “We want our clients to be excited to work with us, and we want to go above and beyond as the cornerstone — not the afterthought.”
In other words, Gilbert continued, “ClearFuze ensures employees have the communication and collaboration tools needed to support remote work and hybrid teams. Very often, we immerse ourselves in custom development projects on the client’s behalf to get the job done. This is on top of the ClearONE services that keep them up and running day to day.”
“We don’t want to be their partner or their IT vendor,” Gilbert continued. “We want to be on their team, and we come up with some very unique solutions to solve their problems.”
A large percentage of ClearFuze’s clients now have cross-platform environments, which “is becoming more commonplace in the workplace, especially in creative-oriented businesses,” Gilbert explained. Though the team is very familiar with Microsoft Azure and deploying Active Directory or having servers in-house and doing domain controllers, ClearFuze wanted to stop playing catch-up and finding solutions to piecemeal together.
“We wanted to have a standard stack to deploy across our entire client base,” Gilbert said. By doing so, the MSP operates more efficiently, enabling them to get clients up and running faster while increasing profitability.
The Solution: Increasing Operational Efficiency with JumpCloud
Seeking a more effective way to manage disparate devices across complex client environments, ClearFuze began looking for a mobile device management solution.
After researching their options, including Jamf, the team ultimately chose JumpCloud.
“We decided that JumpCloud was the way to go for its more dynamic approach to working with different types of devices,” Gilbert said. “The way JumpCloud integrates with our stack is seamless between Mac OS, PCs, and Linux.”
The Results: A Centralized Hub to Push Cutting-Edge Solutions
The ClearFuze team has found a long-term partner in JumpCloud. Since joining forces a few years ago, the relationship has only strengthened, and ClearFuze looks forward to a productive partnership for years to come.
Here are some of the benefits ClearFuze has enjoyed by using JumpCloud to deliver more value to its customers:
1. Streamlined client onboarding
JumpCloud has streamlined the onboarding process for the ClearFuze team, which recently had 21 new hires to onboard in a single day.
Thanks to JumpCloud, the process was smooth. “It’s just swapping out a JumpCloud profile and going into the MDM and saying, okay, we need to ensure these approved applications are pushed instantaneously to these Mac devices,” Gilbert explained. So it’s almost a zero-touch deployment.”
While ClearFuze’s clients are happy that their new hires can be onboarded precisely when they’re supposed to be and have access to everything they need to be productive on day one, JumpCloud has been a lifesaver for ClearFuze’s employees, too.
“From the backend of the IT perspective, it makes our entire team much more efficient and effective,” Gilbert continued. “And it’s just easy to deploy, which is a beautiful thing.”
Recently, ClearFuze has been helping a significant manufacturing client move 150 users to JumpCloud from scratch, and JumpCloud was instrumental in simplifying the undertaking.
“They’re having zero issues,” Gilbert said. “It’s going extremely smoothly, and most of that is because of JumpCloud.”
2. Policy management made easy
ClearFuze has been working on security-focused policy management in the age of high-profile data breaches. Currently, they’re focused on things like full-disc encryption, making sure policies are pushed with screen lockout times, HIPAA compliance, and things of that nature.
“If you have to do it manually, it’s a ton of steps, and you have to confirm and QA it,” Gilbert said. “If you do it with JumpCloud, it’s a lot easier.”
3. A true partnership
As an MSP, ClearFuze is interested in developing great partnerships with vendors. To this end, they care a great deal about the level of support a vendor offers.
On this front, JumpCloud has been tremendous.
“The support has been great,” Gilbert explained. “The team members that I’ve worked with have been very personable, willing to find solutions, and come up with lucrative things for both sides.”
On top of this, ClearFuze has gotten leads from being featured on JumpCloud’s partner page.
“Building that rapport goes a long way,” Gilbert said.
4. Leveraging the power of the cloud
Due to JumpCloud’s cloud-based nature, ClearFuze doesn’t have to install any on-prem infrastructure for its clients to take advantage of the MDM solution — a significant boon for the MSP.
“We try to limit the amount of infrastructure implemented on any client site because it’s another potentiality for something to go wrong and us having to run out there and solve it when systems are down,” Gilbert said. “So, cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications are huge because of margins. There’s less downtime and potential points of failure.”
5. A flexible solution that can grow alongside ClearFuze
ClearFuze serves an eclectic mix of clients — from two-person architecture firms to large healthcare organizations with 1,600 employees and everything in between. Each of their clients has unique requirements, even within the same vertical.
Thanks to JumpCloud’s versatility, ClearFuze can deliver a bespoke solution that meets each client’s exact needs — which is why the MSP has decided to use JumpCloud as an AD exclusively.
“As we continue to renew clients, we are removing them from whatever they’re on at the existing moment, and then we’re putting them on JumpCloud,” Gilbert said. “For all new clients, it’s the default stack. So after getting all of our clients moved over, JumpCloud will be the only AD we use.”
Looking ahead, ClearFuze is working on delivering even higher levels of security by running 802.1X for clients as a default. They’re also looking into single sign-on through JumpCloud because they’ve had a lot of requests for it. Additionally, the consultancy is looking to host some of its solutions on Azure and AWS and focus more on internal dev work.
With JumpCloud, “it’s a one-touch connection between those services and our people who need to use them,” Gilbert concluded.
Learn More About JumpCloud
JumpCloud changes how IT administrators manage their organizations by providing a comprehensive and flexible cloud directory platform. From one pane of glass, manage user identities and resource access, secure Mac, Windows, and Linux devices, and get a complete view of your environment.
Experience JumpCloud for free with a free account for ten users and ten devices.