BRG's success depends on the ability to collaborate with project teams comprising multiple internal and external stakeholders. 

 

Berkeley Research Group, LLC is a leading global strategic advisory and expert consulting firm that provides independent advice, analytics, authoritative studies, expert testimony, investigations, and regulatory and dispute consulting to Fortune 500 corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, major law firms, and regulatory bodies around the world. 

For clients that require a unique combination of industry and technical expertise to overcome strategic, operational, and analytical challenges, Berkeley Research Group offers a distinctive business model that focuses on connecting clients to not only the right internal experts, but also a global network of affiliated firms, universities, and individuals that possess a range of specialized knowledge in a variety of disciplines. 

At the center of this model lies the ability to effectively collaborate with and quickly build project teams comprising multiple internal and external stakeholders. 

“We needed a technology solution that would simplify our communication processes both within our teams and with our external partners and clients,” said Kevin Hamilton, a managing director of BRG’s Healthcare Performance Improvement team. “We were sending dozens of emails a day back and forth—asking questions, making updates, sharing documents. Even simple edits required finding the latest version of a document and then sending the revised document back through email. This process only worked as long as no one else made changes at the same time. It was inefficient and time consuming.”

As a company that prides itself on its expertise, entrepreneurialism, and powerful network, BRG required a sophisticated, highly scalable, and accessible collaboration platform that employees, affiliates, and clients could use across specialties, projects, and borders. 

To keep pace with the industries they serve and to maintain their competitive edge, the BRG expert teams looked to cutting-edge technology. Hamilton’s team took up the challenge of finding a transformational tool that would give experts the ability to securely collaborate on projects, approve documents, share knowledge, or simply access important files in real time, regardless of location. 

Before implementing Huddle, team members could find it cumbersome to finalize a deliverable. Instead of collaborating and working on a document simultaneously, each team member had to take turns providing feedback, then email yet another version of the document to the team. The team was soon grappling with version control, not to mention cluttered inboxes. It became evident that BRG needed a solution that would enable its experts to work together seamlessly, without unnecessary process delays.

 

“Some employees had experience using SharePoint; however, when we researched it, we found it to be resource intensive to set up and not particularly useful for the type of collaboration necessary for our business."

 

BRG sought a secure, efficient, and universally accessible cloud document collaboration tool. They found Huddle.

“We researched a number of different solutions,” said Hamilton. “Some employees had experience using SharePoint; however, when we researched it, we found it to be resource intensive to set up and not particularly useful for the type of collaboration necessary for our business. We also experimented with another solution, but found it too focused on social collaboration and not enough on document collaboration. We wanted something that not only combined aspects of both of these systems, but also was easy to use, intuitive, and secure. This is exactly what we found with Huddle.”

Internal Efficiency, External Accessibility

BRG now uses Huddle to securely share often-sensitive project information with teams located around the world. Huddle has enabled BRG to accelerate its processes without having to rely on traditional slow-moving communications and review processes. As a result, the company has seen tangible business benefits, all the way to the bottom line.

Huddle is currently used across several industry teams, and BRG plans to scale Huddle out to additional groups, including clients and industry partners where relevant, making it even more ubiquitous within the organization.

 

"With Huddle, we can produce end results faster than ever."

 

“Many employees at BRG use Huddle every day, and it has become a critical part of the way we function.” said Hamilton. “In the future, we foresee Huddle serving as a huge value-add for client relations, helping to facilitate active collaboration by allowing us to fully understand client needs and enabling us to offer them the best possible service. Huddle will open a portal between our two organizations so that we can deepen those relationships.”

BRG is headquartered in Emeryville, California, with offices across the United States and in Asia, Australia, Canada, Latin America, and the United Kingdom.