When Neil Medwed, president of advanced-technology solution provider Preferred Technology Solutions, in Richardson, Texas, was called upon to provide point-of-sale (POS) support for more than 40 retail and fast-food clients at a local airport, his first order of business was to conduct a needs analysis. What he uncovered wasn't very encouraging.

"We found that they were not being supported for their needs," says Medwed. "The prior support organization did not have the depth or breadth of knowledge, the certifications or the abilities to meet the challenge."

A Challenge the Size of Texas
The sheer size and scope of the airport POS account was daunting. With close to 100 terminals to service, the contract required Preferred Technology Solutions to provide technical support for an overwhelming number of clients, as well as for different POS system models, varying software terminal types, and separate computer systems located in strategic areas where managers worked.

In addition to all of this, there were many printers to troubleshoot and a variety of customers to deal with, all of them under performance pressure and needing immediate assistance. "If cash registers can’t ring up food, drink and concession sales, they’re out of business,” says Medwed. “We knew we needed a partner and we knew who to turn to — Ingram Micro."

Extraordinary Measures
With this account, the Ingram Micro Seismic Help Desk took on something that isn’t typically listed on a line card. Right away, technicians worked with Preferred Technology Solutions to get documentation on the various technologies in need of support, compiling research and educating the support specialists.

Preferred Technology Solutions helped to create the methodology and procedures necessary to facilitate the learning curve. Both the Seismic team and Preferred Technology Solutions staff worked together to compile the required documentation. Once the information was assembled, Seismic Help Desk experts spent hours getting acquainted with the wide variety of equipment in need of support.

"Anytime you start a new service or work with a new partner, you need to expect a few hiccups at first," admits Medwed. But as call volumes increased, so too did the positive customer feedback. "This contract brought some challenges that Ingram Micro Help Desk technicians hadn't dealt with in the past, with technologies and specific needs that they weren't used to dealing with off the bat. The great thing was that Ingram Micro's associates were willing to do the work necessary to help our customers. They were quick to expand their knowledge base and think outside the box in order to make the customer happy and ensure the technology was working," he says.

New Opportunities
Without Ingram Micro Seismic Help Desk, it's doubtful that Preferred Technology Solutions would have been able to provide the level of support necessary to address the client's needs. "Would I have accepted this contract without Ingram Micro Seismic on our side? I couldn't have justified the incredible amount of resources it would have taken me to accomplish the same job that Seismic did," says Medwed. "The cost would have been exponentially higher for us to attempt a project like this on our own."

And the success won't end there: According to Medwed, the expertise that his company developed while working on this project with Ingram Micro will provide even greater benefits for customers who need similar support down the line.

"It's allowed us to get new business in markets where otherwise we wouldn’t have had a chance," he says. "Ingram Micro Seismic Help Desk allowed us to support this particular client where a majority of others couldn't, and allowed us to focus our engineering forces on more strategic and high-priority projects. The success we enjoyed had an impact on our overall profitability and operations with a reduced business risk for our clients."

Overcoming the Past
Previous experiences with other managed services providers had been less than satisfactory, but Medwed says he's learned from past mistakes. "About four years ago, we tried to get into managed services and purchased a solution that made a lot of promises, but didn't follow through," he says. "That mistake cost me $40,000 in hard costs and about $100,000 in soft costs." Because of this, Preferred Technology Solutions cast a cautious eye on the managed services landscape and was reluctant to make the same mistake again. "When the Seismic offering was first introduced, Ingram Micro came to me and said 'Neil, trust in us and we'll make sure you're successful this tims' - and they've done everything in their power to make sure we are successful, to this very day."

Ingram Micro Seismic Help Desk is just one ingredient in the bigger managed services recipe for Preferred Technology Solutions; they found it was much easier, and smarter, to allow Ingram Micro Seismic to handle their services business in order to focus their resources on higher-level engineering. "Having the complete Ingram Micro Seismic Managed Services solution enables us to invest our resources in higher-level engineering instead of on lower-level tasks like help desk," Medwed says.

Overall, the entire experience has been a remarkable one for Preferred Technology Solutions. "If I was giving advice to peers, as I have many times in the past, I would tell them that you can try to do it all by yourself if you really want to, but my suggestion is to do the smart thing and embrace Ingram Micro Seismic as a complete solution," he says. "You’ll save time, money and a lot of headaches, and at the same time you’ll have the luxury of investing that money you're saving on growing your business."

"It's all about the business model. In today’s world, there are many different ways to do business. One way is to have a large number of field techs and a small number of engineers. With the help of Ingram Micro Seismic, our business model allows us to employ a larger number of engineers who can focus on high-level projects, which means we need fewer low-level technicians."

Medwed took a gamble on Ingram Micro Seismic, and after the success he's enjoyed so far, he’s glad he did. "With the level of executive support and talent Ingram Micro invests in developing their managed services portfolio, our practice evolves as Seismic evolves. Ingram Micro is committed to managed services, they're committed to Seismic, and they're committed to my success. That's what I needed," he says, "and that's a true value."

Overcoming the Past
About Ingram Micro Seismic Help Desk Our Help Desk Support Team is dedicated to our partners’ success and we work with each client to learn the technology unique to each customer. We provide the knowledge base and experienced technicians to fully support the equipment, technology and systems our customers depend on each day.

Find out more at http://ingrammicro.com/seismic

About Preferred Technology Solutions
Preferred Technology Solutions is a leading advanced-technology solutions provider, specializing in local and wide-area networking and a member of VTN. They also specialize in infrastructure solutions and support with a strong virtualization and managed services practice.
Visit them at www.preferredtechnology.com.