One truism that can hurt any business is, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Often, over time, we work in systems we’ve grown used to, sacrificing potential productivity for familiarity and comfort.
That’s what Tom Jarry, Director of Engineering, recently encountered with a mid-sized manufacturing client with about 50 employees.
“We completed a Technology Optimization Roadmap (TOR) for the client and found a number of issues,” he relates. “One of the key problems we uncovered was that they had equipment that had aged past the end of its useful life and was starting to fail. That equipment, in turn, was running core business systems. In the bigger picture, it meant that their network was running at about one-tenth of the speed that it should have, which was obviously reducing a range of efficiencies.”
Another issue is that some of the legacy system applications were written by people on their staff, resulting in proprietary databases that created potential conflicts. With the knowledge resident in a single or a couple of employees, that institutional intelligence was liable to walk out the door if they did.
“Those home-brewed solutions don’t pass what we call the ‘boss test,’” Jarry says. “One employee might know the application inside-out, but without a team to support it, you’re setting yourself up for problems down the line.”
Finally, another problem revealed by the TOR was that the client was working with multiple providers. They had two different vendors for security services, another back-up, etc. It’s simply hard to align several vendors and systems. And, again, one employee might know how to work with all those providers, but should they leave, you’re in trouble.
A Holistic Solution
In response to those findings, Cooperative Systems put together a long-term, comprehensive recommendation including refreshing their end-of-life hardware and building a total IT solution—including everything from desktop management to security software, multifactor authentication, and backups—centrally managed by Coopsys.
“From the client’s viewpoint, we were a one-stop shop, packaging everything they needed and letting them to focus on IT from only a production needs perspective,” Jarry says. “They no longer have to keep track of various IT componentry and have gained the peace of mind of knowing that their systems would always be up-to-date and that it would consistently be running at 100% capacity. And the staff responsible for those issues in the past were now freed up to focus on their core job functions.”
While the implementation is just in the initial stages, the client is already seeing the benefits of a streamlined tech stack and systems in increased overall productivity.
Each Client Need is Unique
Jarry points out that, while the solution described above was appropriate for and tailored to this client, there is no “one-size-fits-all” in Cooperative Systems’ approach.
“We understand that we sometimes have to make compromises or work with existing limitations,” he explains. “There are times when a client wants to make legacy hardware last a little longer or needs more runway to invest in a new system or components. In those cases, we can take certain steps, like extending warranties and upgrading software as stopgap solutions. Sometimes, clients simply need more time to educate themselves. Whatever the need might be, not everyone wants to rip the bandaid off immediately, so we make allowances for that. At the end of the day, our goal is to give clients a technology infrastructure that serves their business goals, so that’s what guides our recommendations.”
Connect with us today to learn more about how Cooperative Systems can optimize your manufacturing firm’s technology and cybersecurity posture.