Case Study —
Voyageur

Voyageur transportation has been relying on Protek Integrated Business Systems for 20 years, and Theresa Matthews can remember exactly how the relationship began.

"I had just started with Voyageur, and we were buying our very first computer network. Protek helped us with that and has been helping us ever since," says Matthews, general manager of Voyageur Transportation.

The company has grown remarkably since then, from fewer than 50 employees two decades ago to more than 600 today. Divided into four distinct operating areas, Voyageur handles ground transportation of all kinds. Voyageur Express is a trucking company; Voyageur Transportation is a school bus division; Checker Limousine ferries people throughout the city; the Patient Transfer division delivers patients wherever they need to go for non emergency treatment. It's a diverse, complicated model with some sophisticated IT requirements.

"Our back office is fully integrated across all our divisions," Matthews says. "It works very well. Protek has helped us grow."

The relationship between the two organizations stretches back to a time when Protek was a very different company.

"I was working with Voyageur before I joined Protek," recalls Peter McMahon, one of Protek's four partners. "It's been a wonderful partnership across a whole range of services."

McMahon and another Protek partner, Harvey Schilke, owned Ditech Inc. and were looking after Voyageur's imaging and document management needs. In 1995, they merged their company with Protek, a move that sparked a sustained period of growth for the company.

"We were dealing with Ditech and Protek separately, and we continued after they merged," Matthews recalls. "So they have been helping us with a variety of services, not just IT, for many years."

Voyageur continues to rely on Protek for its imaging requirements. It also looks to Protek for its software needs, including its Accpac accounting system.For many years, Voyageur relied exclusively on Protek for its IT needs. Recently, it hired its first dedicated IT employee, and the relationship with Protek is closer than ever.

"Protek actually helped us find the right person for this job," Matthews says. "They wrote the job description for us and helped us with interviews so we got someone who was qualified. Now our IT manager works with Protek on a regular basis."

Last year, Protek replaced Voyageur's entire server system with a fully scalable, virtual server system, removing any technical barriers to Voyageur's continued growth.

"We had 12 boxes and now we have two with no limit to growth. It's much more efficient, and we don’t even have to worry about whether our system can handle something we want to do," Matthews says.

Protek also helped Voyageur as it expanded geographically. With offices in Kitchener, Sarnia, Chatham and Etobicoke, the company needed an integrated solution that allowed all offices to communicate with head office and each other. Protek built a network to make it happen.

"We look at technology as something that delivers efficiency. That’s why we use it," Matthews says. "And Protek has helped us every step of the way. We have them at our boardroom table at times doing needs analysis for us. They have been a wonderful partner for us over the years."

Article and photography originally appeared in London Business Magazine