BDPNetworks Newsletter - Issue #14
September 14th, 2007
Welcome back!
Welcome back to the BDPNetworks newsletter! It has been an extremely busy year for us so I thought I'd take a moment to briefly recap who we are and what we've been up to lately. Here's a little history of how we've gotten to this point...
A short history of BDPNetworks, LLC
I started the company in 2001 because I was frustrated by the quality of Information Technology support available for smaller businesses & organizations. Many companies' IT systems were barely functioning--but I believed properly designed & managed IT could be a competitive advantage for even the smallest organizations.
In 2001 I joined the Greater Seattle Business Association.
In 2002 I started offering contract-based network management. This really kept us on the ball: we were no longer simply "consultants:" we were contractually obligated to keep our customers up and running. Regular network maintenance visits were the key to keeping these critical systems functioning smoothly.
In 2004 we moved from using part-time contractors to hiring full-time engineers. We then implemented the first version of our e-mail & web-based helpdesk support ticketing system, along with an online network documentation repository. These tools dramatically increased the efficiency of our engineers & sped up problem resolution.
Later in the year, we joined the Better Business Bureau.
After an exhaustive undertaking which began with searching for the most advanced network management platform, we partnered with N-Able in 2005. They now provide us with the most sophisticated and secure network management tools available. N-Able also helped us build new, more comprehensive service plans. At this point, "managed service," which we have offered since 2002, started to gain traction industry-wide.
At the end of 2006 our new service plans were in place: these leading-edge proactive management plans are an extremely comprehensive way to maintain, manage, monitor, catalog, support, secure and optimize all of your critical business IT systems. They also include on-going high-level business consulting. Response from our customers has been extremely favorable. Productivity is up across the board and downtime has nearly been eliminated.
This year, we joined the MSPAlliance, a professional association of managed service providers.
In June we celebrated our sixth anniversary.
In July we opened our first "big" office--a 2300-square-foot location in Georgetown. We are extremely excited about this because it gives us a really firm foundation for growth and will hold all of our ideas over the next several years.
BDPNetworks, LLC Today
I'm really proud of how far we've come in a relatively short amount of time. We now have capabilities and a scope that extend far beyond all but the largest IT consultancies. Our efficient and capable engineers handle nearly anything thrown at them, yet each possess the rare ability to explain technical issues in human terms. We are committed to bringing you fast, friendly service that's better and more cost-effective than hiring your own IT staff. (And for larger companies with an existing IT staff we have plans that will dramatically increase your existing staff's efficiency and capabilities!)
Throughout this journey I've felt the overwhelming sense we could always be doing more: a constant feeling of "we're just getting started." This fall we'll be exploring new collaboration tools, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems while enhancing and solidifying our existing infrastructure management plans.
In the new office, we're building a NOC (network operations center) to better handle network outages as quickly and efficiently as possible. We're also building a conference/seminar room and will be offering free "How To" classes to our contract customers.
We've come a long way with limited resources, but we are not yet satisfied. We can always be better at something, so the journey ahead will be even more interesting and exciting than what we've accomplished so far.
To all of our customers I want to say "Thank you," for helping us see this vision come to fruition. Our long-term partnerships with our customers have contributed greatly to our success, and we will continue to stop at nothing to make sure you receive the most responsive, comprehensive network support available anywhere.
-Brian Place, President / bdp@bdpnetworks.com
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