Case Studies
Powering Ahead: How Encino Energy Scaled Overnight with Strategic Technology Support from Thrive
In the high-stakes world of oil and gas, Encino Energy stands out as a technology-forward energy company leading the way in the Utica Basin. With a strong foothold, they rank among the top producers in the US. But behind the scenes, it’s not just the flow of oil and gas that fuels Encino Energy, it’s data. Technology has always been a keystone of the company’s operations, from ruggedized laptops in the field to self-developed, cloud-based applications that drive efficiency across operations.
Their infrastructure was carefully built from the ground up, guided by a cloudfirst philosophy and a deep understanding of the need for agility. But even for a tech-savvy organization, growth comes with growing pains. When Encino Energy skyrocketed from 26 to 250 users overnight following a major acquisition, they needed an IT partner capable of keeping up with their expanding demands.
Ambitious Growth, Real Challenges, and the Turning Point
That overnight expansion into a $2 billion company tested Encino Energy’s operational limits. The local Managed Service Provider (MSP) that once served their smaller operation was no longer equipped to handle the pace, complexity, or sophistication that Encino Energy required. The subsequent MSP partnership brought some stability but fell short of delivering the high-quality service Encino’s leadership expected. As Jay Ostertag, Senior Manager of IT Systems & Support, put it, “We ended up getting some of what we needed, but not quite what we wanted.”
The real turning point came in 2022, when Encino Energy engaged Thrive’s security team for a comprehensive network assessment. What began as a standard security scan turned into a pivotal moment, “They helped us come up with a plan to enact those improvements, and that began the drive with Thrive to become more of an MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) for us,” Ostertag recalled. Choosing to invest in a security assessment demonstrated how Encino Energy’s leadership not only valued cyber protection but also recognized the strategic benefits of partnering with experts who could keep pace with their vision.
Impressed by Thrive’s capabilities and approach, Encino transitioned them into a broader role, where Thrive earned their business through a formal RFP process for additional managed services. “We negotiated to where we needed to be pricewise, and since we already had the relationship, it made sense to expand our partnership with Thrive.”
Six Weeks to a Strategy-Forward Future
Transitioning to a new MSP typically takes months. Encino Energy didn’t have that kind of time. With a six-week runway, Thrive launched a fully functional help desk that was usable, and trusted, on day one. “That was our biggest problem with the previous MSP, our end users just would not use the product because they were not satisfied with it,” explained Ostertag.
This time, Encino led a coordinated marketing effort to rebuild trust with their internal users. Messaging was simple but powerful, “We heard you.” That was the subject line of the first email sent regarding the move to Thrive. Empowering users with easy access to support via phone calls or a desktop icon for service requests led to a dramatic turnaround in perception. With help desk adoption growing and first-call resolution rates improving, the volume of internal escalations and, as Ostertag described them, “shoulder taps,” dropped significantly. “It’s been a very successful run this go-around with Thrive as our MSP compared to the previous.”
Beyond support, Thrive became a strategic partner, helping Encino implement playbooks, conduct knowledge transfer, and expand visibility through the ServiceNow platform. Their accessible, data-forward portal gave Encino Energy the ability to manage tickets, assets, and service delivery from a single pane of glass. “It was night and day compared to what we previously had dealt with.” As Ostertag noted, “This was one of the easiest transfers from one MSP to another I’ve ever been involved with.”
Long-Term Impact and Trusted Partnership
With over 500 users and a small internal IT team of 24, Encino relies on Thrive to handle everyday support tasks so internal staff can focus on higher-level projects. “That’s a reason why we need Thrive,” said Ostertag, “to be able to handle things that we either don’t have the manpower to do, or quite frankly, the stuff we don’t want to do.”
Thrive doesn’t just react, they check in regularly to ask what’s working and what could be better. That ongoing collaboration has led to better documentation, knowledge transfer, and smarter use of tools. Encino now leverages Thrive’s services for asset lifecycle management and a configuration database, giving them better visibility into what equipment they actually have. “That was huge, especially as we spun up our security program,” Ostertag said.
Encino’s technology environment is complex and fast-moving. Thrive’s ability to adapt and support that has been key. “We use tools that show us down to the minute how much money and oil we’re producing,” said Ostertag. “Metrics are big. Thrive gives us the visibility we need to manage operations at that level.” With Thrive by their side, Encino Energy has the consistency, capacity, and confidence to keep scaling without slowing down.
“By giving end users more confidence in the results they’ll get, and different ways to reach support, we’ve changed how IT is perceived across the company.” – Jay Ostertag, Senior Manager of IT Systems & Support, Encino Energy
About Thrive
Thrive delivers global technology outsourcing for cybersecurity, Cloud, networking, and other complex IT requirements. Thrive’s NextGen platform enables customers to increase business efficiencies through standardization, scalability, and automation, delivering oversized technology returns on investment (ROI). They accomplish this with advisory services, vCISO, vCIO, consulting, project implementation, solution architects, and a best-in-class subscription-based technology platform. Thrive delivers exceptional high-touch service through its POD approach of subject matter experts and global 24x7x365 SOC, NOC, and centralized services teams. Learn more at www.thrivenextgen.com or follow us on LinkedIn.