Review our case studies from a few of our retail & wholesale clients:
Specialty Electronics Wholesaling
Situation
The client had arrived at a crisis—having not only lost its largest customer, but having also failed to retain satisfactory internal IT staffing. The client turned to 612 Network as a possible resource. Our diagnostic/discovery process confirmed that their business had strong fundamentals. In desperation the client also entertained a proposal from a so-called “national” IT competitor. The proposal served as a useful means for the client to compare our “perfect fit” partnership with one of the industry’s larger competitors. As the client explained, their proposal was for a monthly “fixed fee.” Behind vague headline promises, the client found a number of red flags raised in the proposal’s fine print. A few examples: the vendor was permitted to bill for time above that allowed in the fixed fee “without the customer’s prior approval;” if the vendor felt, “at its sole discretion,” that the client was “abusing its contractual rights,” the vendor was able to “restrict the amount of support it would provide;” etc., etc.
Outcome
Choosing 612 Network over the competing vendor, the client’s owner ultimately concluded, “Fortunately we made the choice we did, because what we needed was someone with the understanding and flexibility to go with us through the ups and downs of our difficult journey—not someone who would constantly tie us up with all kinds of bureaucracy and trivial contractual issues.”
“612 Network worked shoulder-to-shoulder with us through every phase. When we encountered cash flow problems—they lengthened payment terms. When our investment dollars were squeezed, they again and again found ways to temporarily “work around” IT capital spending. When we began evaluating every one of our vendors—after our assessment process was completed, they remained the only surviving vendor. I think that says it all.”
Stove & Fireplace Retailing
Situation
The client is a leading upper Midwest full service specialty hearth dealer. Long dissatisfied with its outsourced IT support, it finally contacted 612 Network. With 612 Network’s “perfect fit” partners there is never a one-size-fits-all. “Perfect fit” has different dimensions unique to each client. The relative simplicity of this particular client’s network has not required extensive IT capital or labor investments.
Outcome
After the updating of its server, and implementation of Office 365, the system has been running smoothly. As the company owner has explained: “We had been frustrated for years with what seemed to be our only options for IT help. It was like being on a merry-go-round. Companies seemed not very cost conscious, incompetent, or both. 612 Network changed all that. They don’t just do the safe and easy things, like always selling us new equipment. They recently purchased 10 Windows 10 workstation upgrades, which were refurbished machines saving us more than 30%. They didn’t need to go the extra mile here, but they explained that current versions of cloud based Windows are less demanding—not as taxing on hardware—thus no longer requiring us to buy new. This is the kind of thing, in my opinion, that makes for what they call a ‘perfect fit’ partner.”