From "Higgeldy Piggeldy" to truly Managed IT

 

Ad Hoc IT was the name of the game until it simply wasn't working anymore. Sound familiar?

 

 

Why is this familiar to you (and so many others)?

Small and midsize businesses, whether in the same vertical or not, share similar troubles when it comes to Managed IT. Most often, managing IT needs within the company falls on one person's shoulders (do you feel the weight of the world on yours?) or jumps from firm to firm when promises can't be kept.   

The solution?

If you're unfamiliar with IT, suddenly managing your entire company's IT can feel overwhelming. Christopher knew he needed some help (despite having some definite IT know-how) but every firm he hired fell flat. What he really desired was a partner. Someone to see his business for the individual entity that it was and to help him create a game plan for how to operate securely and successfully.

 

 

Paying His IT Dues

If anyone has been through the ringer with IT firms and broken promises, it's Christopher. After multiple ad hoc IT helpers, he decided to hire a firm, only to find out one thing: their employees were also ad hoc!

"It turned out to be one guy with a bunch of 1099 subcontractors who would occasionally answer a phone."

He needed some continuity and ad hoc or not, he had already outgrown the firm anyways. He needed a change. So, he started looking for one and found BEMO, on the recommendation of a friend. 

When I asked him why he chose BEMO, he told me this:

"It was a combination of services offered, flexibility, support and I was very happy wth the fact that it seemed to start off as cybersecurity and then morphed into IT and I liked the cybersecurity focal point being primary."

Still, they compared IT firms from across the nation because hey, when you're shopping for a partner, you want the best. They most needed help with the adoption of Microsoft products and had a less than stellar response. In the end, it was BEMO vs. a local company.

While both firms were able to do what he wanted (migrate to the cloud and create a cybersecurity strategy) it seemed the cost kept growing with the local firm every time he dug into the details.  Still, he wanted to be sure he picked the right firm. So, a friend gave him a piece of advice: always go with the firm with the lowest commitment time. That was BEMO.

 

 

Life Post-Managed IT

With transitioning from a Mac shop to PCs and then aiming to move completely to the cloud, Chris's business was in for a significant cultural change but one he knew they needed in order to be secure. What he didn't know was coming, was COVID (did any of us?!). So instead of just moving his company to the cloud, he was shifting to a 100% remote company seemingly overnight. 

"I would not feel comfortable setting us up for a 100% remote situation without substantial managed IT. What's nice about the situation we have with you guys is that I'm not worried about where my employees are putting their Dell or Lenovo down to work. It's as simple as that: secure and operational."

Cybersecurity

In addition to managing his IT stack, Christopher also wanted to make sure his company was secure. When I asked him how it's felt working on cybersecurity policies together he said:

"As the CEO of a company that has participatns data on it, really happy. There are some things coming down the pike legislative-wise for our industry that when they finally get implemented, with all the products we've got going with Carol and Bruno (of BEMO) we're going to say 'Yea, been there, done that, got the tshirt. We are way ahead of you.'"

Still, is cybersecurity that big of an issue?

Yep. 

"Somebody left the back door open but the important thing is, we didn't know. You knew."

Bruno, our CEO, called Christopher immediately and within 20 minutes, the issue was resolved. Because of the policies set in place, not only does Christopher feel safe and secure but he feels ahead of the game, that he will be ready for any legislative changes that come his way. 

 

How much will your IT cost? Check by clicking below 👇

 

 

Putting the Tools to Use

A wise man once told us, "Legally, can I do my own root canal? Yes! Should I? No!" Actually, that wise man was Christopher, elucidating that:

"Anyone with a credit card can go and buy Microsoft E5 licenses, but I don't know what to do with it! The tools exist for us to DIY, MacGiver it but we don't know what we are doing. You know how to set the tools up to protect us and we're not having to worry about it. I almost want to tell our CFO to just mark your fee as 'insurance'."

 

The Wrap-Up

When I asked him how his overall experience has been with Managed IT "Absolutely wonderful. I keep trying to tell everyone to stop messing around and just call Bruno."

His only BEMO critique? He wants a BEMO "all-access pass like at Disneyland!" so he can always be first in line! Fair enough, Christopher 😉