R.V. Kuhns & Associates, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with regional service centers in Seattle and New York City, provides strategic investment consulting services to institutional investors. Since 1985, R.V. Kuhns & Associates has offered its clients world-class investment advice based on cornerstones of integrity, capability, and client service.

The R.V. Kuhns network is a VPN consisting of around 80 desktops and servers on one logical network, physically comprised of multiple home and satellite offices.

To help them better manage this network, the IT department at R.V. Kuhns & Associates were looking for an integrated Helpdesk and IT Asset management solution to help them to:

• Monitor day to day tech support activity and the volume of support requests
• Track machine related issues
• Identify repeat issues and find effective ways to resolved these
• Monitor machines for user-installed software that is not part of company policy (possibly self-installed Spyware that the user doesn't know about)
• Build a FAQ for end users, based on the responses provided to support calls
• Establish a database oriented solution for more effective reporting of user requests accepted via email
• Achieve all of the above within a limited budget.

Using the Network Inventory and IT Helpdesk modules of Microforge.net Enterprise Server R.V. Kuhns were able to put in place such a solution.

"More importantly," says Systems Administrator Durward Holt "Microforge [worked] with us to add features that were not originally in the product to provide easier migration of active directory data. They also quickly responded to shortcoming we saw in comparison to higher priced products and quickly made the changes to improve upon their software. Some suggestions were already in progress from other customer requests. It is this "Provide what the customer needs" attitude that ultimately sealed our decision. Any company willing to go to bat that quickly for even a potential customer is going to provide you with all the support you need."

When asked why R.V. Kuhns & Associates selected Enterprise Server ahead of competing products, Holt cited features of the inventory and helpdesk modules, the competitive pricing of the product and excellent customer support.

“The response and assistance of Microforge throughout the process is the attitude of a company that wants to provide you with quality service and a quality product that supplies all your needs.”

“Microforge is by far the most accommodating third party software vendor I have ever used. They are readily available and anxious to solve any problems you may encounter. Most importantly, they are willing to modify there software to accommodate your needs and improve their product. They worked with me before I even purchased their software to include better serial number tracking for HP and Toshiba machines.”

Further information about R.V. Kuhns & Associates can be found on their web site at: www.rvkuhns.com.