Client Conversation: Catawba Valley Health System

Thanks for meeting with me today. Would you mind sharing with us a brief overview of your organization? What does it do and how do you help people?

Sure. Catawba Valley Health System is a healthcare organization. We have a hospital and around 30 ambulatory practices. We’re independent—one of the few remaining independent hospital systems in North Carolina. I work in the IT department managing approximately 2,500 employees across those locations. I’m the IS Manager of Technology, responsible for server, network, security, and desktop support. I report to the Director, so I’m in a good place between strategic and operational responsibilities. I’m still involved in the day-to-day, but not just signing papers all day.

Awesome. So, you’re right in the thick of it. Let’s talk about your switch to US Cloud. In previous reviews for US Cloud, you mentioned hearing about us on a podcast. Can you walk me through your experience with Microsoft support and how that led you to make the switch?

We had Premier Support for a couple of years before they transitioned us to Unified Support. Honestly, the experience was never great. We have a strong internal team that knows our systems really well, so we rarely reach out to vendors. But the experience over the past few years has been frustrating. Last year, we submitted only three tickets, and each one took about 90 days to close. By the time we open a ticket, it’s usually because we’ve already exhausted our internal options.

The responses we received were often delayed, sometimes replying at 2 AM Eastern—outside our working hours. And we’d typically only get one reply per day. The communication was poor, and it was rare to get someone to screen-share and actually look at the problem. Written communication was difficult to understand, and we never once spoke with a native English speaker. That language barrier added to the frustration.

We submitted as few tickets as possible just to get by. The only reason we stayed on Unified was the proactive engagements, where we did get someone in our time zone who understood us clearly.

When I heard about US Cloud on the podcast—especially the mention of proactive support—I was intrigued. I did a little research and thought, “Maybe there’s a way out of this.” Microsoft is such a massive company that you’d expect world-class support, but our experience was the opposite.

That matches what we often hear—Microsoft makes great products but the support doesn’t match that level of excellence. After making the decision to switch to US Cloud, how was the onboarding experience?

It’s been great. We onboarded quickly. Once I told management that we’d not only beat Microsoft’s pricing but also get better support, they were fully on board. The account team and onboarding experience were excellent. Communication was fast and efficient—very different from what we were used to.

It feels like working with colleagues on my own team. Communication is natural, and your team feels like part of ours—not like a vendor across the world. We’ve submitted at least three tickets so far: two break-fixes and one proactive. It’s exactly as advertised. I kept telling my team it couldn’t be worse than Unified—and it’s actually much better.

The support technicians are knowledgeable, they respond quickly—often multiple times a day—and they understand our problems right away. We can jump into solutions and data gathering quickly. It’s a huge difference.

That’s a big shift—from three tickets in a year to three in a couple of weeks.

Exactly. I’ve been encouraging my team to use the service more often instead of waiting weeks to submit tickets. I’ve even got a backlog of small issues I’ve been researching myself, and I plan to start submitting tickets for those to get ahead.

With US Cloud, we can resolve issues faster, deploy faster—Microsoft had become a bottleneck.

That makes sense. Have you considered expanding access to more of your team?

Yes. Traditionally only our engineers submitted tickets to Microsoft. But now I’m considering opening access to our support desk as well. If they see an Outlook issue, for example, maybe they can open a ticket instead of escalating to the server team. I’d never put them through that with Microsoft—but with US Cloud, I would.

What would you say to someone in your position considering the switch to US Cloud?

I had lunch with someone recently who’s a reseller, and I told them—if they hear anyone complaining about Microsoft support, let them know there’s an alternative. Just a month ago, I didn’t know US Cloud existed.

It’s frustrating that people pay so much and get so little in return. I want more people to know that you don’t have to suffer through Microsoft support. I’d love to see more organizations switch, because from our standpoint, it’s a much better experience. You’ve earned our business.

So when you heard that podcast, you had no idea there was another option?

None. And that surprised me—I consider myself someone who keeps up with tech news, but somehow I missed it. There was some internal nervousness about leaving Microsoft, but we all agreed it couldn’t be worse. And once we learned that we could still escalate to Microsoft through US Cloud if needed, that sealed the deal.

Worst case, we try it for a year and go back—but at this point, there’s no reason to go back.

That’s great to hear. We do have an advocacy program for clients who want to share their story. Once you’re settled in, we can connect you if you’re interested. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just to reiterate that it feels like your team is part of ours. My team works remotely and communicates via Teams and email. US Cloud’s responsiveness and time zone alignment make it feel seamless—like you’re right here with us. That’s rare from a vendor, especially these days when so many big tech companies are trending in the opposite direction. It really sets you apart.

Thanks again for trusting us with your Microsoft support. Moving away from the vendor who built the product is a big leap, and we appreciate the faith you’ve placed in us.