Milestone Support helps keep this team of 50 engineers productive.
When Wendy Skaalerud is stuck on an issue with Project Online, she knows she can get help fast.
“If we didn't have Milestone, we’d probably be wasting time on Google.”
Wendy Skaalerud, Nortech Systems
For Wendy Skaalerud, getting good, fast tech support for Microsoft Project Online isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. When she’s stuck on an issue with syncing or permissions or any of a hundred other roadblocks, she needs to get it solved quickly. So she relies on the Microsoft Project support experts at Milestone.
“If we didn’t have Milestone, we’d probably be wasting time on Google,” she says, and that’s the last thing she has time for.
“Let’s get on a call with Milestone and work through it right now.”
No time to waste
As Wendy puts it, she wears a lot of hats at Nortech, the global electronics manufacturer where she works. Her primary role is marketing, but, among other things, she’s also the administrator for the company’s Microsoft Project implementation, which supports the entire engineering department.
Wendy’s got it down to a science—setting up new projects for the 50 or so engineers at Nortech, making sure they’ve logged their hours into Project Online each month, and troubleshooting any issues with Microsoft Project.
Chief problem solver
When an engineer encounters a glitch with Project Online, Wendy is their first call—and if she can’t solve it herself, she doesn’t mess around trying to search for answers. She reaches out to Aaron Demenge, her personal Microsoft Project Online support expert at Milestone Consulting Group.
“Just two weeks ago,” she says, “one of our engineers was having a huge issue with his schedule. He was trying to explain his problem to me and I realized, ‘Yeah, I can’t help you with that one. Let’s just get the three of us on a call with Milestone and work through it together.”
In every case, Wendy says she learns new things from Aaron. “I can often help the engineers myself,” she says, “because Aaron has taught me so much over the years.”
“If we didn’t have support from Milestone, we’d probably be wasting time on Google.”
No question too small (or big)
As the go-to person for Project Online issues across all four of Nortech’s Minnesota locations, Wendy says she’s grateful to have Milestone there when she needs them.
“Sometimes I might not talk to Aaron for weeks on end,” says Wendy, “and then sometimes I email her three times in a day.”
“It might be just a quick, ‘Oh my gosh, this weird thing happened,’ and Aaron will have a quick answer. And then sometimes it’s, ‘Oh. My. Gosh. What’s going on here?’ Like, sometimes there can be a huge problem.”
Either way, Wendy says she can count on Milestone to solve it.
“Aaron is phenomenal at her job,” says Wendy. “And if she can’t find the answer, she says, ‘Well, give me some time, and I will. And, she does.”
“I like getting help directly from one expert instead of an online community. You know you can trust them.”
An easy support structure that works
Nortech maintains a fixed annual support contract with Milestone that provides predictable costs and reliable support, and Wendy says Milestone’s ticketing system keeps everything organized and documented.
“I usually just email Aaron directly and she opens the ticket for me,” says Wendy. “Then she’ll reply back with the ticket number and all the correspondence related to that ticket. So if you ever want to go back and look at the history, it’s all in one place.”
Answers she can trust
What makes Milestone’s support most valuable to Wendy is the personal, dedicated support. Instead of navigating online communities or an anonymous support department, she has direct access to Aaron, who understands Nortech’s specific setup and needs.
“Aaron is phenomenal at her job.”
“I like working directly with one person. You get your answers from that person—and they either know the answer or they don’t know the answer. It’s not somebody who may or may not be making up stuff just because they want to have an answer.”
Would Wendy recommend Milestone Support to other Project Admins?
“I just can’t say enough good things about Milestone,” says Wendy. “I love them—honestly. I’m so glad to have their support at Nortech.”
