Technology Consulting Group has partnered with a trusted third-party managed IT service provider to help Stanford workgroups scale to the cloud. Onix provides cloud engineering, architecture, and devops support, with staff members working side-by-side within TCG. This gives us the capability of taking on the large, sophisticated projects while still providing a local presence.
Onix is based in Cleveland, Ohio and is comprised of talented technologists distributed throughout the United States. Their lead engineer associated with our team is based in Northern California. They have worked with TCG on a Stanford project associated with National Institutes of Health, and with another University client to rearchitect infrastructure used to deliver online classes.
TCG fully manages the vendor relationship with Onix; they can be understood as an extension of TCG. We hold their work performance expectations to the same high standard. TCG provides them access to on-campus resources, sponsors their SUNet IDs, and provisions VPN access and two-factor authentication. We help ensure their success by helping them navigate the campus environment. There are no separate agreements and no differentiated billing associated with Onix, either.
TCG and Onix
- What is the main benefit of TCG's engagement with Onix?
- TCG can now take on larger, more complex projects that might exceed our skills or capacity to deliver. Clients also benefit from ensured project continuity whenever our internal staff changes. This helps ensure your project will continue on time.
- How much does Onix charge?
- There's no separate charge; TCG bills clients the same hourly rate as senior TCG engineers, via the same Oracle Financials platform on campus. See the Time & Materials rate page under the Design & Development heading.
- Can Onix work on cloud projects that contain high risk data? What about protected health information (PHI)
- TCG has a Master Service Agreement with Onix, but we have not yet executed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Therefore, until we have a BAA with Onix, they cannot work on projects with PHI or HIPAA-related medical information.
- How do I engage with Onix? Are they on campus?
- Onix is fully remote. As with TCG staff who work remotely, the key tools are the same: Zoom for video conferences and screen-sharing; Stanford Slack for communications; Google Shared drives or Box for collaboration. We use Stanford workgroups for provisioning access to online resources and SAML-based authentication for cloud account access.
