IT Solutions for Industrial Sectors

Don’t let cybercrime drain your resources. A data breach can cost you money and your reputation. F12 was one of the first managed IT service providers to obtain SOC 2 Type 2 and CyberSecure Canada certifications.

With over twenty years of IT security experience, we know how to secure all your network’s sensitive information using the necessary and proactive steps like vulnerability testing, employee training, and ongoing monitoring.

Our technical assessment will also confirm whether you comply with stringent government regulations like SOC 2 Type 2, CyberSecure Canada, PIPEDA, and PIPA. And to boost your accountability to shareholders, we can integrate your technology systems with production numbers for live dashboards and transparent reporting.

Like clockwork, some exciting new IT hardware is always coming down the pipe. Of course, you need to grow and evolve to maintain a competitive advantage, but significant capital investments carry a lot of risks.

F12 offers a variety of strategic IT plans for energy firms, including our Operational Expense option, where we make an upfront investment in hardware, software, and labour.

And as you grow your business, we’ll scale with you as needed, so you never have to worry about purchasing technology or services today that you may need tomorrow. So, while you may see IT as a cost of doing business, we see it as a long-term investment in your industry. Now, when you win, we win, too.

With F12 as your managed IT service provider, choosing the right software for your business won’t be a make-or-break decision.

We have experience with all the industry-leading vendors, including HIS Markit, Geological Systems Ltd., Aucerna, and Powervision, so we know first-hand what works and can set you up for optimized performance.

But if you’ve already found the ideal software solution, we’re not interested in pushing something new on you. Instead, we’ll support your existing applications while seamlessly integrating new software and tools. F12 isn’t interested in changing what you do—only in helping you do it even better.

Client
A multi-location Canadian company with decades of experience levering advanced processing capabilities in the energy industry. This company’s enduring success comes from relentlessly perfecting its technology and customer service.

The Problem
Although successful in innovating unique, differentiated processing technology, this company’s IT infrastructure was shaky. Not that they knew it. After all, they had recently invested in top-tier servers, storage, networking, and back-office applications. In addition, they had purposely purchased a more expensive “high-availability” IT environment.

The business leaders had entrusted IT design and support to a small local firm that provided ad-hoc services on a time-and-materials basis. This seemed to serve the business well in the past. However, reliability issues began to mount. Then, one day an after-hour alarm from a processing machine went unnoticed because essential IT infrastructure had gone offline. The cascading effect of this incident damaged the processing machine and the products it was processing, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of loss.

F12’s Solution
F12 was referred in by an investor connection and performed a health check of the IT environment. The results were alarming. The complex, high-availability solution was badly misconfigured, resulting in several single points of failure. Worse, the backups hadn’t run in months. Worse still, the months-old backups were stored on the same array as the operating environment. In reality, both the redundancy and the backups were an illusion. A single failure would forever wipe out all the company’s systems, data, and backups.

Fortunately, the business had purchased all the right equipment and software for a robust, modern IT environment. It simply needed to be configured correctly and then properly managed continuously.

F12 began with a project to ensure reliable offsite backups were working. Once that was in place, F12 reconfigured the IT systems to function as intended, performed validation, and generated suitable IT documentation. Once remediation was complete, the business enrolled in the F12 Select program to have ongoing monitoring, maintenance, support, and expert advice.

The Result
This business prides itself on its process technology innovation. Partnering with F12 has enabled them to keep their focus on their business differentiator, leaving the nuances of the underlying IT management to a trusted expert. As a result, the overall end-user support experience and the cyber security posture are greatly enhanced. Most importantly, they have the reliability, scalability, and confidence to continue growing for decades.

This accounting firm appreciates counting on F12’s proactive approach rather than counting line items on its IT invoice.

Note: We have redacted client names from online case studies and testimonials to mitigate against cyber threats from social engineering like phishing and pretexting. Contact F12 to review our client list or to connect directly with the business leaders we support.

Are you an IT Leader? If you are, then you will likely find this eBook of interest.

The Challenge Facing IT Leaders:
Is your company struggling with high turnover and low job satisfaction? Then, it’s time to face the challenge head-on. Most technology leaders aren’t doing a bad job – they’re stuck doing the wrong job. Download our complementary whitepaper on the topic to gain valuable, actionable insights.

You understand job site safety regulations and building codes; we understand network security and government compliance. F12 was one of the first managed IT service providers to obtain SOC 2 Type 2 and CyberSecure Canada certifications. Thanks to our twenty years of IT security experience, we know the necessary and proactive steps to ensure your sensitive information is as safe and secure through vulnerability testing, employee training, and ongoing monitoring.

Our technical assessment can also identify and close any gaps in your network security to ensure compliance with all federal and provincial regulations like SOC 2 Type 2, CyberSecure Canada, PIPEDA, and PIPA. And if any emergencies should happen, we’ll have response plans ready to get you back to operating with minimal disruption.

You know the value of the right tool for the job. But sometimes, the right tool doesn’t make financial sense.

Upgrading your IT hardware can take your business to the next level, but that capital investment can often be prohibitively expensive. With our Operational Expense option, we’ll invest in hardware, software, and labour so you can grow while sticking to your budget.

And as your business evolves, we’ll scale with you as needed, so you never have to worry about buying technology or services for tomorrow that you don’t need today. So while you see IT as a cost of doing business, we see it as a long-term investment in your industry. Now, when you win, we win, too.

If you want to upgrade your software, figuring out which option is best for you can be challenging.

A managed IT service provider can help you choose the right software so you can work smarter, not harder. F12 has industry-standard software experience, including Laserfiche, Jonas Construction Software, TelDig, and more.

But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? If you have a software solution that works for you, we won’t change it. We’ll support your existing applications while seamlessly integrating new software and tools. F12 isn’t interested in changing what you do—only in helping you do it even better.

Are you an IT Leader? If you are, then you will likely find this eBook of interest.

A security breach can cost you money and your reputation, something you can ill-afford in your fast-paced industry.

With twenty years of experience in IT security, we know the necessary network testing, employee training, and ongoing monitoring to ensure your network is ironclad.

And our technical assessment will confirm whether you comply with government regulations like SOC 2 Type 2, CyberSecure Canada, PIPEDA, and PIPA.
F12 was one of the first managed IT service providers to obtain SOC 2 Type 2 and CyberSecure Canada certifications. As a result, we’ll have you ready for any contingency. Should an emergency occur, we’ll have an emergency response available immediately to get you back on your feet with minimal disruption.

The manufacturing industry evolves quickly, and you can’t afford to be a laggard. Upgrading your IT hardware can bring a lot of advantages, but that requires a significant capital investment. What if you could lease instead of taking all the risk?

You may see IT as a cost of doing business, but we see it as a long-term investment in your industry. So, let’s make that investment together. Through our Operational Expense solution, we make an upfront investment of hardware, software, and labour to advance your business without hurting your credit line.

We’ll keep adding technology and services so that you can scale strategically. So now, when you succeed, we succeed.

Trying to choose the right software for your business can be mind-numbing. We get it. F12 has experience with all industry-leading software and ERPs like Autodesk, Epicor, Infor, and more. Whatever your needs, we’ll get you fitted quickly with a solution that is flexible and accessible.

And if you want to improve on perfectly serviceable software, we won’t overcomplicate things for you. Instead, we’ll support your existing applications while seamlessly integrating new software and tools. F12 isn’t interested in changing what you do — only in helping you do it even better.

Client

A beloved publicly traded Canadian beverage manufacturer with a reputation for quality and craftsmanship.

Background

Over several decades, this producer established itself as one of Canada’s most successful beverage brands. As the company scaled, investments in information technology, production automation, and business intelligence kept pace. However, commercially reasonable IT security measures such as firewalls, passwords, and antivirus were maintained.

Yet, success also made this business a juicy target.

Cyber Security Incident

A cybercriminal successfully used a social engineering cyberattack to bypass controls and tricked unsuspecting staff into initiating a funds transfer. The fraudster pretended to be a legitimate vendor with an outstanding balance. Unfortunately, millions of dollars were fraudulently transferred to the criminal enterprise behind the cyberattack. Despite interaction with national and internal authorities, the funds were not recoverable.

Bolstering Cyber Security

After the facts of the incident came to light, the company set about improving financial controls and its overall IT security. Employee training and multi-factor authentication were made universal.

Seeking to achieve best-in-class cyber security, the Director of IT met with F12’s CTO, Calvin Engen, to review security gaps. Ultimately, they selected F12 Secure to bolster their cyber security posture. F12 Secure added 24X7 managed detection and response, zero-trust application control, rigorous social engineering testing, and ongoing security consultation.

“I selected F12 Secure after carefully reviewing the security stack,” explained the IT & Business Intelligence Director. “The solution brought the enhancements I sought – ultimately reducing our risk and raising my confidence.”

Note: We have redacted client names from online case studies and testimonials to mitigate cyber threats from social engineering like phishing and pretexting. Contact F12 to review our client list or connect directly with the business leaders we support. 

Client

A Canadian industrial manufacturing business with world-leading coatings to extend and protect the life of fabricated metal products.

Disaster Preparations

Disaster planning and business continuity were not the top considerations for this company when seeking a new technology partner. Instead, they chose F12 to help modernize their IT and improve the day-to-day experience for their staff.

Nevertheless, F12 included a comprehensive disaster recovery solution in the full-service offering selected by this industrial company. Moreover, the disaster recovery plan went beyond backups; it had private-cloud standby services, image-based recovery, and spare infrastructure equipment under an “as-a-service” model.

Disaster Strikes

Unexpectedly, a fire broke out one weekend in the early morning hours when no one was on-site. The prevailing winds and chemical fumes complicated fire suppression, requiring sixty firefighters to don full hazmat suits. It took several hours to quell the inferno, and ultimately, the building was lost.

Recovering from Disaster

F12 first became aware of an issue when alerts were raised early in the morning that critical servers had gone offline. F12 sprung into action, restoring back-office services in our private cloud, procuring and configuring replacement assets for essential staff, and assisting in standing up a small network in an offsite location.

By Monday, the business had replacement laptops, network access, hosted servers, and remote access to their critical back-office systems. The plant was down, but the company could still collect AR, process payroll, and communicate with suppliers and customers.

Today, this organization is stronger than ever. Decades of experience and a reputation for exceptional customer service helped them overcome this disaster: that and a little help from F12.

Note: We have redacted client names from online case studies and testimonials to mitigate cyber threats from social engineering like phishing and pretexting. Contact F12 to review our client list or to connect directly with the business leaders we support. 

Are you an IT Leader? If you are, then you will likely find this eBook of interest.

Your customers trust your brand. Don’t let a cyberattack derail that relationship. With twenty years of experience in IT security, we know the necessary network testing, employee training, and ongoing monitoring to ensure your network is rustproof.

And our technical assessment will confirm whether you comply with government regulations like SOC 2 Type 2, CyberSecure Canada, PIPEDA, and PIPA.
And should an accident occur, we’ll have the plan to get you back on track with minimal disruption, no matter what. So, pop-open the hood, and we’ll ensure everything runs smoothly.

We don’t need to tell people in the automotive industry that better equipment means better performance. But an upgrade can be prohibitively expensive when it comes to IT hardware.

What if you could lease instead of taking all the capital investment risk? You may see IT as a cost of doing business, but we see it as a long-term investment in your industry. So, let’s make that investment together.

Through our Operational Expense solution, we make an upfront investment of hardware, software, and labour to advance your business without hurting your credit line. We’ll keep adding technology and services so that you can scale strategically. Now, when you succeed, we succeed.

Trying to choose the right software for your business can seem daunting. However, we know the right applications to run your operations like a well-oiled machine.

F12 supports all the industry-leading business applications and data management systems, including CDK, Reynold and Reynolds, Lightspeed, and more. And if you’re happy with what you have, we won’t try and switch it up on you.

We’ll ensure the seamless integration of your software and tools to keep your business running smoothly. F12 isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; we help it spin faster.

Are you an IT Leader? If you are, then you will likely find this eBook of interest.

The Challenge Facing IT Leaders:
Is your company struggling with high turnover and low job satisfaction? Then, it’s time to face the challenge head-on. Most technology leaders aren’t doing a bad job – they’re stuck doing the wrong job. Download our complementary whitepaper on the topic to gain valuable, actionable insights.