LA County’s Largest Child Service Agency, The Sycamores, Selects CenterBeam to Manage I.T. Infrastructure

SAN JOSE, CA - August 16, 2005

Today, CenterBeam announced that The Sycamores, one of Los Angeles County’s largest child service agencies, has selected CenterBeam to manage its IT infrastructure.   The Sycamores was founded in 1902 and delivers comprehensive support services to more than 2,100 children every year. 

Founded as Pasadena’s first orphanage, The Sycamores supports thousands of children through a network of comprehensive services including a residential treatment center, community-based group homes, nonpublic school, state-certified community school, school-based mental health services, wraparound/aftercare services, transitional living programs, foster family and adoption agency, and a family resource center.  CenterBeam is responsible for managing The Sycamores’ computers, servers, network, common applications and email. 

The Sycamores’ vice president of operations and chief financial officer, Kathleen E. Clayton says, “I depend on CenterBeam for objective, expert advice.  Whether one of our case workers will need help with accessing a laptop application over the weekend or we need to update our five-year IT strategy, CenterBeam stands ready to provide support—and does so in a cost effective manner. CenterBeam works for me."

“One of CenterBeam’s seven corporate values is ‘teamwork,’ ” said Kevin Francis, CenterBeam’s president and chief executive officer, “And we’re proud to be on The Sycamores’ team.  The agency’s focus on helping people resonates with CenterBeam’s corporate mission and we’re delighted we can be of help.”    

The Sycamores is dedicated to providing the highest caliber of mental health services to children and families and is one of a handful of behavioral health care organizations in California to be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  The Sycamores has grown very quickly under the leadership of senior staff.   William P. Martone is The Sycamores’ president and chief executive officer.  Mr. Martone joined the agency in 1994 and brings to The Sycamores more than 30 years of experience in the treatment and services for children, adolescents and families.  Mr. Martone also serves as the president of the American Association of Children's Residential Centers.  Kathleen Clayton has overseen finance, human resources, information management and plant operations at The Sycamores since 1987.  Recently, The Sycamores was profiled on National Public Radio for its work on childhood bipolar disorders. 

CenterBeam’s success regularly attracts the attention of important opinion makers such as leading IT industry analyst Gartner.  Gartner has published a case study on the CenterBeam service and cited CenterBeam’s innovative approach when the firm named CenterBeam one of the “Cool Vendors” in IT management.  A book by Cisco Press, The Business Case for Virtual Business Processes, includes a case study of CenterBeam as an example of how companies can use IT outsourcing to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and focus on their core business.  Most recently, the prestigious KIRA award was presented to CenterBeam for its achievement and to Kevin Francis for his industry leadership.

About CenterBeam, Inc.

CenterBeam is an award-winning North American-based IT outsourced services company that delivers more than 49,000 services daily for mid-sized clients in sixteen countries across four continents. Founded in 1999, CenterBeam pioneered the application of quality management techniques to IT and currently earns a 97% client satisfaction rating as measured by Quality Resource Associates. CenterBeam's Total Satisfaction Guarantee and month-to-month contracts make the company unique among IT outsourced services companies. CenterBeam is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and can be reached at 408.750.0500 or www.centerbeam.com.