10 Years of R2i: Reflections from our founders

When we began R2i, it was a new experience for all of us. We each brought different expertise to the project. Benoit had worked in technology and sales for 17 years and had a deep understanding of customers’ needs around financing, leasing or purchasing, updates, configuration, and more. He became our client executive and system architect.

“At that point in my career ten years ago, I enjoyed my work, my industry, and my clients,” says Benoit. “But a small voice inside was calling me to consider something new. I wanted to take on new challenges and push myself, to build something that would make a mark in the IT world.”

Tamara worked 29 years at IBM in technical presales working with large customers on exciting projects. She worked on site and was truly an extension of her customers team. Ten years ago, she retired from IBM and was looking for her next chapter.

“I am honoured and privileged to be part of the founding team [of R2i] and still loving it 10 years later!” says Tamara.

Finally, Frédéric brought expertise in system migration. He knew exactly how to consider a customer’s constraints and maximum system downtime to optimize maintenance and migration.

“Ten years ago, when the opportunity arose to start a business with these two passionate experts, I didn’t hesitate a moment before jumping into the adventure,” says Frédéric.

Together, we complement each other and create a complete team for our clients. So one day in 2014, we launched R2i. A company specializing in the cloud, and working with many IBM products, with the goal of helping Canadian businesses set up their IT infrastructure and the desire to change the way IT is done for the benefit of clients. We added 3 more members to the team and started the journey with 6 collaborators.

The first year was difficult. We needed to earn the trust of our clients, and with large enterprise clients, that can take time. But with our reliable quality service, we built that trust and our contracts started multiplying.

As Tamara says, “Never letting a customer down and our deep technical skills are responsible for our outstanding growth and loyal customers. Because we work closely with our customers on a regular basis we know their people, their environments and are an integral part in moving projects forward and solving problems.”

When we began designing our cloud computing environment, we had deep experience on what customers need in terms of robustness, flexibility, and price. Benoit’s vision was to build a cloud computing environment that was robust and secure enough to impress large enterprises, but also affordable enough for smaller companies that could not usually afford such a robust environment. While building that solution, we kept in mind our experience of transitioning clients to the clouds, and made sure that transition to our cloud would not require changes to their operations or applications.

Our cloud infrastructure saved costs for our clients, but that is not the only client problem we tackled. The first R in “R2i” stands for “Resources”, which encompasses the expertise of the people at R2i. It can be difficult for our customers to find candidates with the specialized expertise they need. R2i becomes an extension of their internal team for technological questions, projects, or training. It was important for us to build an internal team that not only had the experience but the background to understand customers’ realities. Each employee contributes experience, ideas, and expertise that serves our clients every day.

As we grew in the market, we grew as a team as well. It was a learning experience all the way. We quickly discovered that the key to R2i’s success would be our values. While we have larger competitors, our unique values and commitment have allowed us to stand out and to give our clients better service and results than they can get anywhere else.

Over time, R2i focused on six essential values that define our team and our customer service.

Excellence

Our goal is always to offer the highest quality service while respecting the rules of internal compliance. Excellence has become R2i’s number one value, because excellence is the foundation of everything we offer.

Listening

As our teams and client list grew, we realized that listening was the key to success in all areas. We listen to our clients, listen to our teammates, and respect everyone’s contribution and expertise.

Transparency

R2i is all about honesty, frankness, and transparency, both with our clients and within our teams. Reliable and honest information is the foundation of trust.

Accountability

We all take responsibility for our roles, which has let R2i grow into the success it is today.

Have Fun

At R2i we truly enjoy what we do, and over time I’ve realized how important that is. A positive attitude and enthusiastic energy makes everything easier and more successful.

Never Let a Client Down

This is the heart of R2i. We are all people who are naturally inclined to help others, and we commit to giving every client the best service.

With these values to guide us, R2i has grown over the past ten years to open three offices and five data centers in Quebec and Ontario, with a team of more than 65 experts. Just last year, we rebranded our public, customizable, Canadian cloud, naming it Edwin after Buzz Aldrin, the famous astronaut and explorer. We look forward to helping more clients explore the cloud and reach new heights with Edwin.

We are so proud to see how the company has grown in the last ten years, and especially proud of the incredible team that has worked so hard to bring us here. We are excited to continue providing high-quality IT services to our clients for decades to come.