ePlus Case Study
ePlus is a value-added reseller offering tech solutions and services to the global market. Established in 1990, their primary focus areas include networking, security, collaboration, data centres, and managed services. For more than 30 years, they have worked with over 4,300 customers worldwide.
In 2015, Hamilton Barnes CEO George Barnes established a partnership with ePlus in the UK. Since then, the working relationship has blossomed. Over the last decade, we've helped ePlus place 56 candidates into contract and permanent network jobs. The partnership continued to grow in 2020, when Tom Marsnik, Director of Post Sales Engineering at ePlus, would utilise the expertise of our Vice President, Antonio Costa, for his specific network recruitment needs. This case study highlights the partnership between Tom and Antonio, documenting the challenge Tom faced, the solution Antonio delivered, and the results that were achieved.
56
Candidates placed
33
Contract
23
Permanent
Our Client Needed to Source High-Calibre Network Engineers
"ePlus were going on a journey in EMEA – with the acquisition of IGX Global, they were looking to replicate what they have done in North America in EMEA. We helped ePlus do that in the form of permanent and flexible resourcing models – highly skilled talent at the drop of a hat supplied by Hamilton Barnes.”
- George Barnes, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
With decades of experience in the network technology space, Tom joined ePlus five years ago to spearhead a field of engineers across the midwest region of the US, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Chicago. In 2020, he needed urgent support to find high-calibre talent to fill network engineering roles in Minnesota.
Knowing how scarce top talent is in this region, Tom needed support to persuade passive candidates to join his growing team.
“The biggest challenge we always have is around finding high-calibre IT resources. If you're a really good IT engineer or architect-level engineer, you're probably not sitting at home hoping the phone rings and somebody's calling to offer you a job. There's a pretty good chance you already have a job because these people are in high demand in our industry, and there’s very little unemployment.
We have to do what's called a pull, right? That means you have to pull a good engineer away from what they're currently doing and get them to come and join your team. That's harder than you think because people get comfortable when they like what they're doing. They may have bonuses they will collect in five or six months, so they're not in a hurry to leave.
Plus, there's a risk, right? If you're already in a current position, you know your teammates, you know your boss, and you know your project load. The fact that you're still there means you're probably relatively happy.
So leaving and joining another organisation is risky because you don't know what you will get. So I can blow all the smoke about how great my organisation is and why you want to come and join me. But, at the end of the day, it's still a leap of faith for that individual to join a new company.”
- Tom Marsnik, Director Post Sales Engineering – Central Region
With an internal recruitment team having to share their time between other hiring priorities across the business and Tom's limited capacity to search for candidates himself, Tom needed a trusted external network recruitment agency to take the pressure off his hands.
“It's important that I have partners like Hamilton Barnes who can do all of these things for us because it’s a long and time-consuming endeavour to find high-quality engineers.
These hiring challenges often come up out of the blue, and there are times when I need an engineer right away. So, it's a mad dash to try to find the right person, and I don't have time to do it. My internal recruiting team does what they can, but their net can only be cast so far. So you need an agency like Hamilton Barnes to support you; they've been great. I get great candidates from them."
- Tom Marsnik, Director Post Sales Engineering – Central Region
We Delivered Genuine Network Recruitment Expertise
In 2020, Tom was referred to us by another hiring manager who knew we’d supported placements in the US. With this trusted recommendation, Tom reached out to us and began a working relationship with our US Senior Vice President, Antonio Costa.
Antonio is Hamilton Barnes’ first-ever hire and played a significant part in helping us expand our presence in the US and launch our office in Austin, Texas. When Tom and Antonio had their first call, it quickly became clear to Antonio that ePlus had major hiring challenges in attracting talent in the niche market of Minnesota.
Understanding the challenges ePlus was facing and the types of candidates they were looking for, Antonio got to work immediately to find a solution that met the client's needs. Antonio used his contacts within the network space and tapped into our extensive pool of network professionals. Within 24 hours, Antonio had sent candidates to Tom for him to review.
Throughout the partnership, Antonio liaised with Tom, providing potential hires with him and scheduling interviews with the top candidates he was keen to meet. Tom provided feedback on each candidate and informed Antonio of the people he wanted to onboard into his team.
“I jumped off that call with Tom with an understanding of what he was looking for. I think a lot of other agencies would spend the day trying to research what networking is or what particular vendors are.
I think the benefit of Tom coming to us is that we know the network engineering recruitment market; it’s what we do day in and day out. We had candidate pools ready because we have worked with other tech companies in that same region. After 24 hours, we had candidates sent over to Tom.”
- Antonio Costa, Senior Vice President
It’s safe to say that Tom was extremely pleased with the solution Antonio and his team provided.
“There are two things I must say about the service Hamilton Barnes provided. Number one, the quality of the candidates I received was higher than what I got from anybody else, even my internal recruiting team. Secondly, how quickly Hamilton Barnes responded. When I tell them I need a certain type of engineer, usually within the next day or two, I already have one, two or three resumes on my desk. That, to me, is invaluable.”
- Tom Marsnik, Director Post Sales Engineering – Central Region
56 Network Professionals Placed Over the Last Decade
The decade-long partnership between ePlus and Hamilton Barnes has seen us place 56 candidates into network jobs, with 33 into contract roles and 23 into permanent positions.
Since 2020, Antonio has worked with Tom to help place three candidates into permanent network jobs. These placements include two network security engineers and one network engineer. One of these hires has been with ePlus for three years.
As ePlus is a value-added reseller selling products such as Palo Alto firewalls, Meraki switches, USC power, and data centre gear, they required high-level talent capable of installing, configuring and troubleshooting their products for their global client base. Tom highlighted how we found the people capable of completing successful installs, which has helped build trust with their customers.
“The value I can get by having really good engineers from Antonio’s team is that not only were the hires capable of completing successful installs, but now our customers trust us. They like our engineers, and they want to use them again. So, ultimately, what the hires have done is help keep our customers happy, which helps drive future business.”
- Tom Marsnik, Director Post Sales Engineering – Central Region
Based on the services and solutions he received, Tom expects the relationship between ePlus and Hamilton Barnes to continue.
“I'm just a small snippet of the placements Hamilton Barnes has supported with ePlus. They've done many placements with us, and I’ve been a part of three, so I'm in a pretty small segment. From what I know, it's a very strong relationship, and I certainly expect it to continue.”
- Tom Marsnik, Director Post Sales Engineering – Central Region
Looking ahead, the relationship between Hamilton Barnes and ePlus remains strong. Since supporting Tom on three permanent placements, Antonio has helped ePlus fill a vacancy they had open for seven months. In just two weeks, Antonio and his team had filled the position. We certainly expect to remain by the side of ePlus for any of their future network recruitment needs.
“We're still maintaining and building on the relationship with ePlus. They’re a longstanding client of ours who have been with us practically since day one. So, I definitely see us working with them on many more projects in the future.”
- Antonio Costa, Senior Vice President
We’d like to thank Tom and ePlus for supporting us with this case study. We’ve built an excellent relationship with them over the last ten years and look forward to supporting them for hopefully the next ten years and decades to come!
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The value I can get by having really good engineers from Antonio’s team is that not only were the hires capable of completing successful installs, but now our customers trust us. They like our engineers, and they want to use them again. So, ultimately, what the hires have done is help keep our customers happy, which helps drive future business.
I'm just a small snippet of the placements Hamilton Barnes has supported with ePlus. They've done many placements with us, and I’ve been a part of three, so I'm in a pretty small segment. From what I know, it's a very strong relationship, and I certainly expect it to continue.
We're still maintaining and building on the relationship with ePlus. They’re a longstanding client of ours who have been with us practically since day one. So, I definitely see us working with them on many more projects in the future.