Client Testimonials

Great Northern Services, Inc. has been providing Great Lakes Aquarium with network consulting services for two years. We helped set up two networks for them and continue to provide ongoing support.

Carmen Simensvik, Network Administrator/IS Technician, Great Lakes Aquarium:

"Great Northern Services, Inc. consultants were very knowledgeable and had a good idea of the source of the problem when I first contacted them. From a network perspective, they know how the network is set up at Great lakes Aquarium and are a comforting back up to contact when problems occur."

The Cloquet Public School District has been a client of Great Northern Service, Inc.'s for one year. We have provided a variety of services for the schools, including network support, consulting, training, and server support with Windows 2000. We also installed and configured their new Cisco equipment.

"Great Northern Services, Inc. was chosen over the competition because of the locality of their support and their highly knowledgeable staff. The services provided were excellent, and the consultants were very dedicated to the project at hand and efficiently worked to solve the problem. One of the biggest benefits of working with them is the friendly staff. They provide very technical answers in an easy to understand manner and provide very useful documentation for future reference.

By working with them, we have enhanced our work flow process by implementing Exchange Server Features; such as public folders and scheduling features. They also have been a key partner in improving upon our existing network configurations to maximize the student learning process. For example, implementation of a terminal server lab now allows one of our older business labs to run Windows 2000 and gives students access to the Internet and applications in a reliable and efficient manner."

ISD #709 - DULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Duluth Public Schools has been a client of Great Northern Services for over two years. Encompassing the entire Duluth area, this school district includes various pre-elementary, elementary, middle, and high schools.

Specifically, Duluth Public Schools has utilized Great Northern Services, Inc. in three areas. We have helped them with their Microsoft NT systems, reviewed their Active Directory, and also analyzed their NT 4.0 policy.

According to Bart Smith, Senior Network Administrator, Great Northern Services, Inc. was a chosen vendor for a couple of significant reasons. Because of our location, they were able to get premium service from a local vendor. Secondly, our flexibility allowed them to call on us for a variety of small and medium-scale jobs, which was a good match for the school district's budget.

Kimberly-Clark, a global manufacturer of consumer products, has been a client of Great Northern Services, Inc. since 1996. Initially, we were used for OpenVMS support, as we were referred by Compaq/Digital Equipment Corporation as one of the most knowledgeable providers in the area. We also provide services to them for all Microsoft operating, storage area networks, and Linux systems. Along with these services, we have helped them plan their hardware and software implementation.

Martin Garofalo, Clinical Research Services, Kimberly-Clark Corporation:

"I have been more than completely satisfied with Gary and his staff. Response has always been fast and accurate. One of Great Northern Services, Inc.'s most impressive features is their ability to look beyond the present and to provide support and guidance for future issues and occurrences."

"I have established more than a business relationship with Great Northern Services, Inc. It is now more personal and relaxed. This makes communication more efficient and verbose. I feel that I have good friends who are helping me meet my departmental information services requirements."

"As we are constrained by head count, I have not been able to expand Clinical Research' computer support staff. That fact, however, does not remove the responsibility to meet corporate objectives for departmental server management and data integrity. Without Great Northern Services, Inc.'s support, I would NOT be able to maintain the level of efficiency and reliability that I presently enjoy and this would not fare well with my customers and managers."

Over the past two years, Great Northern Services, Inc. has provided assistance with onsite OpenVMS system updates, raid device services and setup, VMS layered products, and has helped resolve some of Reinhart's hardware issues. Great Northern Services, Inc. was originally chosen because of their tremendous background and knowledge in VMS and Microsoft products.

Greg Parish, Corporate Director of IT, Reinhart Food Services:

"I felt their background in VMS and MS products was very broad-based making for a better fit with our organization. The service and follow up provided exceeded my expectations and response was quick and courteous. One of the best aspects of working with Great Northern Services, Ind. is I only had to ask once, and I got my answer. The services they have provided our company will help us move faster in our growth initiatives."

St. Louis County hired Great Northern Services, Inc. to provide them with the upgrade and migration services for their critical 9-1-1 OpenVMS Systems.

Marv Bodie, OpenVMS Systems Manager, St. Louis County:

"Because a 'zero downtime' tolerance was imperative, it was my responsibility to ensure my peers and superiors that the upgrade would succeed seamlessly in a timely manner. With that in mind, I chose Great Northern Services, Inc. to complete the project."

"The upgrade was a success! More importantly, the implementation was handled by Great Northern Services, Ind. in a professional manner. They were responsive to our needs, understood the critical nature of our system, documented observations before, during, and after the project, and communicated the progress of the project as it was implemented, all in the time frame I expected. Great Northern Services, Inc. clearly demonstrates technical expertise, and I would not hesitate in hiring Great Northern Services, Ind., again."

St. Luke's originally hired Great Northern Services to perform Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, TCP/IP Networking, Firewalls, Security, and OpenVMS services in June of 1998, and we have provided services to them ever since.

Great Northern Services, Inc. helped to exploit these data systems to increase the productivity of the overall staff. Some manual processes that required IT employee involvement are now completely automated; increased security on the desktop clients has decreased IT staff intervention. The services rendered have allowed St. Luke's to keep their staffing requirements to a minimum while not compromising IT performance.

Clark Averill, IT Director, St. Luke's Hospital:

"We plan to partner with Great Northern Services, Inc., far into the future. The talents they bring to our organization have met the high demands of our multi-platform, 7x24 mission critical IT environment. We do not accept anything less than excellence; Great Northern Services, Inc. has demonstrated their commitment to excellence."

The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) has been a customer of Great Northern Services for support of their Computer Information Systems, Process Control, and WAN/LAN systems.

Mike Liikala, WLSSD:

"As the IS Group and Process Control Supervisors, we can enthusiastically recommend Great Northern Services, Inc. to any business professional who wants straight answers, fast results, fair costs, and an ethic of value added service. When your technology needs call for comprehensive planning, implementation, and support that gets the job done right the first time, I recommend that you call on Great Northern Services."