Download Success StoryWhen you’re part of a government run health system, you really have to justify every decision you make. The William Osler Health System, which consists of two hospitals, seven clinics and a corporate office located in Toronto, recently undertook the task of finding a provider who could offer a tailored solution to help them achieve their goal of developing a formal IT service desk operation.

When Brian McNamee joined as the Manager of IT Service Desk in July of 2009, the organization had just gone through a major structural change. “There wasn’t a formal service desk operation to deliver IT services within the organization,” says Brian. It was essentially based on who you knew versus where to call.” Brian needed to acquire an enabling technology that would allow his team to deliver formal IT services back into the organization.

Brian chaired a committee that was responsible for developing the requirements and vetting various vendors. In total the committee identified over 300 requirements that vendors needed to meet. Kifinti Solutions was one of several vendors that, after a very competitive bidding process, found themselves on the short list.

The committee was impressed with Kifinti throughout the presentation process for several reasons. For one, they brought the manufacturer they had recommended to the table with them. Brian notes: “We were impressed that they were able to actually leverage their vendor relationships and that showed that they had a good partnership.” Kifinti also left a lasting impression on the committee when they brought a team of subject matter experts to the table ensuring that if questions were asked about the system or the components of the solution, the SME’s were able to provide in depth answers on the spot “ proving that they had ‘bench strength’” adds Brian.

Paul Kelsey, Kifinti’s Sales Manager, says his firm has an approach that is solution oriented, not product oriented. Says Kelsey: “We represent industry leading technologies. We are able to talk to our clients and present options and alternatives within their specific market. In that way we help clients understand what their options are and which ones are going to be the best fit. A lot of companies represent only one vendor and that’s all they understand. That’s not our approach. Our value is that we have deep expertise in both sales and implementation.  We’re not trying to be all things to all people, but we are experts on the technologies we offer and how to implement them.”

Brian McNamee agrees. He says: “Because it represents many partners, Kifinti was able to bring a tailored solution, expertise and a competitive bid. What differentiated Kifinti from other vendors in this vertical is that they had a depth to their organization that enabled them to be able to respond to customer requirements very, very quickly. They can look at a business problem and come up with some creative solutions to work around it.”

Kifinti provided all of the system implementation, which included design, mapping Osler processes to the tool, and building customizations to meet mandatory requirements, along with the project management to implement the solution. At the end of the project they were able to hand over an operational system that Osler could heartily
recommend and implement.

Brian notes another service that differentiates Kifinti. He says: “Unlike most of the vendors you might work with, Kifinti encourages their customers to talk to each other. For example, Kifinti brought us together with another government organization that is using the same product so that we could share our ideas and practices. A lot of other vendor’s won’t do that. That’s something that has been a real value and has added a personal touch.”

Since the implementation of the Kifinti solution, the IT department at William Osler Health System has dramatically improved its relationship with the organization because there is now confidence in what the department delivers. According to a recent internal study, the IT department satisfaction rate now exceeds 90%. Even the physicians at the senior leadership level have provided positive commentary about how the changes have actually had a positive impact on the organization.

“We made the right decision in choosing Kifinti” says Brian.

Thanks to the project’s success, William Osler Health Systems continues to engage Kifinti to work on additional projects which they see as a partnership moving into the future. An in-depth knowledge base and a willingness to go above and beyond to provide custom tailored solutions gives Kifinti the ability to build lasting partnerships.


William Osler Health System is one of Canada’s largest community hospital corporations serving the growing and diverse communities of Brampton, Etobicoke and surrounding areas in the Greater Toronto Area.

Osler currently operates 773 inpatient beds and employs a team of more than 4,100 dedicated health care professionals , 700 physicians and 1,000 volunteers.