So what is Terrapin Networks all about?
As a fully functioning Virtual IT Department, we have provided quality business IT support and services for organizations throughout Northern and West Michigan since way back in 1990
Our game plan is a simple one, but you won’t find it used very often: Any small business, non-profit, or municipal organization has the same technology needs and requirements as a big company. Big companies and organizations have their own IT Departments to deal with the technology. When you engage Terrapin Networks that’s what you get for your outfit: a fully featured and managed Virtual IT Department.
Our Tech Services Team has over 80 years’ experience providing professional IT support services: We have subject matter experts in everything from network services and infrastructure; to rapid response and desktop support; and to all the centralized and automated proactive services such as network monitoring/alerting and spam filtering and protection. And we do it all with predictable costs through our Terrapin T-Net subscription support plans.
We support all types of businesses and organizations: for-profit, non-profit, and municipal / governmental. Our basic account size is 4-5 workstations/users on the small end to 75-80 workstations. Most are between 8 workstations and 60.
Why use us for your business technology support?
We simplify the process of getting technology to work hand in hand with your organizational goals, but in a very different way than what you are likely used to. How so?
Most IT support firms are based around the concept of “reactive support”: If you have a problem, or need something done, you notify them and they react. It’s pretty sloppy, way after-the-fact by design, and to be blunt: very old fashioned. Reactive support is part of the equation, but only part.
Our process is very different. Here is a snapshot of how it works:
First of all, as mentioned, we are based on bringing the power of a fully complimented Virtual IT Department to your firm. A proper IT Department is structured with different sub-departments and specialties, as follows:
- Technology Consulting and Strategy: It starts with your Virtual IT Director, Tim Gillen. He meets regularly with your management team to craft a game plan for the technology that is part of running your organization. Planning, overall strategy, and budgeting is defined and agreed to in a way that makes sense.
- Network Administration and Support: It then moves on to our Network Admin Team to implement the agreed upon business technology plan in a methodical manner. A special feature of working with Terrapin Networks is our team of Dedicated Network Administrators. This is an experienced and certified network engineer who gets to know your system inside and out and stays in close touch with your organization regarding ongoing tech needs. This feature is a real jewel for us that our clients give very high marks to. Another bonus is our Project Coordinator, a technical manager who coordinates everything so the project or major upgrade completes on time and with expectations met.
- Reactive Support: Rapid response support is handled by our Ready Desk Team. We see our primary job requirement is to keep your staff working, and that’s what our Ready Desk is there for: rapid response to day to day problems – what is known as “reactive support” in the tech world. The Ready Desk Team also handles common desktop support issues and project support. We have implemented very high-tech remote support capabilities and the Ready Desk Team makes efficient use of these tools to make “quick work out of it”.
- Proactive Technology Management: Behind it all is our sophisticated automated monitoring, alerting, and support tools. We set things up in such a way so that the network will keep an eye on itself and report any problems to us. Now that’s staying on top of things!
Note what is missing: No traditional “account manager”, whose job it is to “sell solutions”. We don’t “sell” – we advise, strategize, and recommend, always with a “partner” mentality. We don’t care about what the solution is, only that we jointly find one that makes sense for your outfit. So there’s no end of the month phone calls asking “are you ready to move forward?” – no quotas, nothing sales-based.
We Break Down Business Technology in to Two Parts:
- We work to align the business technology with the organization’s overall goals
- We make it so the leadership and staff of an organization do not need to worry about the technology, or that it is properly “aligned”
At all times, the technology must support what the organization’s mission and plans are. Technology is always subordinate to this mission; the technology never stands on its own.
Business technology is really about the staff, as it exists solely so the staff can get their work done and support the mission of the organization.
We understand that technology expertise must combine with communication and logistics to allow business technology support to be the seamless partner for your organization that you require. We have put the pieces and personnel in place to make it happen – and we do, every working day (and many non-work days, too!).
One of our secret weapons is our dedicated Help Desk – see here for details on this rather unique approach to business technology support.
