Palm Beach Computer Network Support

DedicatedIT, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie’s premier network support company, is very proud to be a sponsor of the 34th annual Shamrock race.

We will be streaming live video during the race. Tell your friends and family who don’t want to get up early and drive over to John Prince Park on March 14 to visit this site to keep updated with your status.

Live TV : Ustream

Who is DedicatedIT?

Aside from being avid runners and triathletes ourselves (we even have an Ironman on staff), DedicatedIT provides network support services to South Florida small businesses with 10 to 150 employees.

We specialize in the following fields:

• Attorneys / Law Offices – Firms with 10 to 50 employees
• Engineering and Planning – We know how to keep CAD systems running
• Manufacturing and Wholesale – Firms with locations throughout the world

We are different because:

• Unlimited-use agreements with no hourly billing.
• We monitor your systems 24x7x365 for small problems and fix them.
• We show up when we say we will.

If you are a small firm that fits into any of these classifications, please take a look at our most popular support plan and then give us a call.

DedicatedIT will be indulging its artistic side this weekend at the 16^th Annual Lake Worth Street Painting Festival being held on February 20^th and 21^st. This event is the country’s largest with more than 200 street paintings and covering more area than any other festival of its kind in the United States.  It’s a non-profit event that provides scholarships to graduating Palm Beach County students and supports other community art projects…. and it is just a great way to get out and enjoy the South Florida air.

Computer Network Support Company is a Sponsor for 3rd Year

This will be the third year that DedicatedIT has been one of the “square” sponsors. A “square” is the space allotted to each artist to create a chalk painting on the pavement. DedicatedIT is bringing in Marty Riley, a Missouri artist, to produce an original art work again this year. This is Marty’s 3^rd year being DedicatedIT‘s artist.

[We think the Midwest winter has something to do with her decision to head south each February at the request of her nephew, Adam Steinhoff, President and CEO of DedicatedIT.]

Several streets in Lake Worth will be closed for the event to allow artists to use the pavement as their canvas.  This allows everyone to walk around, view the artwork in progress and have a chance to meet and talk with everyone. Besides the interesting artwork, there will be strolling musicians and as many street side cafes as you would find at a good-sized county fair. Bring the whole family… even the dog. This weekend’s weather should be perfect: not too hot and no rain in the forecast.

Meet Your Network Support Engineers

Stop by the DedicatedIT square on Lake Avenue, between L and M Streets in Lake Worth, between 10 AM and 6 PM on Saturday and Sunday to watch Marty create art for DedicatedIT.

Introduce yourself to the folks from DedicatedIT. We look forward to putting names with faces.

Feel free to give Adam Steinhoff a call on his cell phone. His cell phone number is 561-719-6079. He will be happy to provide directions (in addition to frosty beverages when he sees you).

Lots of Photos

Here are some photos from previous years:

2008 Lake Worth Street Painting Festival Photos

2009 Lake Worth Street Painting Festival Photos

Computer Network Support and Managed Services Pro

I was delighted this morning to open up the online edition of ChannelPro Magazine and find that DedicatedIT was featured in the “Pricing Managed Services Like the Pros” article.

Not only is it nice to see your name in print, but it’s very flattering to be called a “Managed Services Pro” by a well-respected magazine like ChannelPro.

I guess that taking a leap of faith and deciding to perform only Managed Services (and not hourly, break-fix work) for our clientele is beginning to pay off. It has allowed us to focus and become  “pros” at what we do.

Was DedicatedIT the only Computer Network Support Company that Had Difficulty Pricing Services?

No. The article says that DedicatedIT was not alone in not really knowing how to price our services. What we were doing was so new, there really weren’t any playbooks or other companies from which to to copy.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Most newcomers to managed services struggle with price-setting. Adam Steinhoff found it easy. “It was probably a little too easy,” chuckles Steinhoff who is president and CEO of DedicatedIT, a managed services provider in West Palm Beach, Fla. He just arbitrarily chose figures that sounded low enough to attract customers but high enough to earn a profit.

Read the full article on pricing computer network support for managed services providers.

Palm Beach Computer Network Support

DedicatedIT, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie’s premier network support company, is very proud to be the presenting sponsor of the 2009 Classics by the Sea 5K/10K race.

We will be streaming live video and providing a twitter feed with runner information during the race. Tell your friends and family who don’t want to get up early on December 19th to visit this site to keep updated with your status. [live feeds are at the bottom of this page]

If you have not registered for the race, it’s too late to register online. However, race-day registration will be open at the event. Arrive early to ensure enough time to get registered and ready for the race.

Who is DedicatedIT?

Aside from being avid runners and triathletes ourselves (we even have an Ironman on staff), DedicatedIT provides network support services to South Florida small businesses with 10 to 150 employees.

We specialize in the following fields:

• Attorneys / Law Offices – Firms with 10 to 50 employees
• Engineering and Planning – We know how to keep CAD systems running
• Manufacturing and Wholesale – Firms with locations throughout the world

We are different because:

• Unlimited-use agreements with no hourly billing.
• We monitor your systems 24x7x365 for small problems and fix them.
• We show up when we say we will.

If you are a small firm that fits into any of these classifications, please take a look at our most popular support plan and then give us a call.

Race-Day Live Feeds

The race was completed and the live feeds were a hit. We consistently had over 35 people watching them, with a peak of 90. Not bad for a first time test.

For posterity’s sake, you can get to the archive of the Twitter feed from the race, here: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23pbrr.

Happy Square Dance, Brown Shoes and Lemon Cupcake Days

While doing a search for Holidays in 2009 to make sure that I did not miss any special holidays, I realized that there are many more November and December holidays than Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Years. [The full list is below.]

Onsite Network Support Services

Because the staff here at DedicatedIT is feeling extra generous toward our clients this year, we are saying Happy Holidays to you, our clients, by providing two hours of onsite support at NO CHARGE. You can use this time for support, upgrades, new installations – anything. [This applies to any DedicatedIT Core or Core+ client.]

Just let the accounting department know that you are requesting your two free hours as a credit and which invoice to apply the credit to, and we’ll make sure you are taken care of.

Thank you very much for being long-term clients. It means the world to us.

Full Holiday List for November and December

November:

• Deviled Egg Day: November 2
• King Tut Day: November 4
• Saxophone Day: November 6
• Forget-Me-Not Day: November 10
• World Kindness Day: November 13
• Operating Room Nurse Day: November 14
• Clean Your Refrigerator Day: November 15
• Button Day: November 16
• Electronic Greeting Card Day: November 17
• World Peace Day: November 17
• Occult Day: November 18
• Absurdity Day: November 20
• National Adoption Day: November 21
• National Cashew Day: November 23
• Square Dance Day: November 29

December:

• December 1: World AIDS Awareness Day
• December 2: National Fritters Day
• December 4: Wear Brown Shoes Day
• December 7: National Cotton Candy Day
• December 8: National Brownie Day
• December 10: Human Rights Day
• December 12: Poinsettia Day
• December 13: Ice Cream Day
• December 13: Violin Day
• December 15: National Lemon Cupcake Day
• December 16: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
• December 17: National Maple Syrup Day
• December 19: Oatmeal Muffin Day
• December 21: Humbug Day
• December 24: National Eggnog Day
• December 27: National Fruitcake Day

South Florida Business Leader Magazine

Business Leader Media announced the Top 100 South Florida Small Businesses list for 2009, today. [Editors note: 2009 results are not officially up yet, but the list is below.]

In order to be selected, the small business must have less than 100 employees and do the majority of its business in South Florida. Each company’s revenue growth, business achievements and community involvement were also taken into consideration.

South Florida Computer Support

We are proud to announce that DedicatedIT has been selected as one of the Top 100 South Florida small businesses this year. We are the only Palm Beach County computer and networking support company to make the list.

“I’m humbled. Being selected to this presitgous list helps validate that DedicatedIT is one of the premier computer support companies in South Florida. I want to thank our clients and, most of all, our staff for helping land us on this list. We couldn’t have done it without you.” – Adam Steinhoff, DedicatedIT’s President/CEO

Aqua Marine Partners Awarded

Not only did DedicatedIT make it to the list, but one of our clients, Aqua Marine Partners, did as well.

Congratulations, Andy. We look forward to seeing you here again next year!

South Florida Small Business

Congratulations to all of the companies list below. We are happy to be in a list with you.

Here is the list in all its glory:

•         A Joy Wallace Catering Production & Design Team
•         AAJ Technologies
•         AJR & Partners
•         Allied Kitchen and Bath
•         Appelrouth, Farah & Co. PA
•         Aqua Marine Partners
•         Aspen Air Conditioning, Inc.
•         AutoInto, Inc.
•         Bales & Bales PA
•         Balsera Communications
•         Bayshore Solutions
•         Bernstein Osberg-Braun & de Moraes
•         Big Brothers Big Sisters of Martin County, Inc.
•         Bitner Goodman
•         C & C Insurance, Inc
•         Castle Wealth Management
•         Certified Green Partners
•         Commcare Pharmacies
•         Coral Ridge Country Club
•         DATACORP
•         DedicatedIT
•         Deli Lane Cafe & Tavern
•         Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP
•         Diversified Administration, Inc.
•         Document Nation, LLC
•         Dyadic International, Inc.
•         E Sciences, Incorporated
•         EXECUTIVE PRINTERS OF FLORIDA
•         Express Travel
•         Eye Desire Eye Care
•         Global Response Corp.
•         GM UNDERWRITERS
•         Goldstein Law Group
•         GSD Contracting LLC
•         Habitat Restoration Resources, Inc.
•         Haifa General Contracting LLC
•         Hujber Law Group
•         Iberia Tiles
•         International Consulting Group
•         It’s Your Party Events, Inc.
•         J I Kislak Inc
•         JAMPRO Building Services & JAMPRO Demolition
•         JBG Communications
•         Kaye & Bender P.L.
•         KPA Promotions
•         KRAA Security
•         Kreps DeMaria Inc.
•         KUSTER COMPUTERS
•         Landlubbers Raw Bar and Grill
•         Law firm of Zimmerman & Associates
•         Law Office of Kravitz & Guerra, P.A.
•         Leesfield & Partners
•         Lime Fresh Mexican Grill
•         Link Construction Group
•         Logistical Outsourcing Inc.
•         Magaya Corporation
•         Marin and Sons Inc.
•         Mario’s Air, Inc.
•         MediaVue Inc MVI solutions
•         Meg Green & Associates
•         Meridian Partners
•         MetalWeb Networks, Inc.
•         Miami Children’s Museum
•         Millenium Limo
•         Museum of Contemporary Art Inc
•         NewCom International
•         Now Hiring You, LLC
•         Nu Info Systems, Inc.
•         Ocariz, Gitlin & Zomerfeld, LLP
•         Office Gap, Inc
•         Office Interiors International
•         Palindrome Consulting, Inc.
•         Palmetto Truck Center
•         Patriot Risk Management
•         Pierson Grant Public Relations
•         Printit4less.com
•         Provenance Wealth Advisors
•         QuinnCom Inc.
•         R.J. Behar & Company, Inc.
•         Realtor Association of Greater Miami & Beaches
•         Retail Technology Experts
•         RV Sales of Broward
•         RYPLIN INDUSTRIES, INC.
•         Safety Source International Inc
•         Sharpton Brunson & Co.
•         Simmons & White, Inc.
•         Stress Free Corporate Housing
•         Sunbeam Development Corporation
•         The Haggard Law Firm
•         The Weinbach Group, Inc.
•         Thornton Construction Company, Inc.
•         TransMedia Group
•         United Data Technologies
•         Van Kirk & Sons, Inc.
•         Vanderbilt Bay Construction
•         Victoria & Associates Career Services, Inc
•         WCS Lending, LLC
•         Winningham and Fradley Inc
•         Young At Art Childrens Museum

Adam Steinhoff from DedicatedIT will be a guest on the Business 360 radio show hosted by Rob Jager on October 22, 2009 at 2PM [edit: Eastern].

Adam and Rob will be discussing growing businesses from very small (<5 employees) to small (5-15 employees). Adam will draw on his experience moving from a 5-person to a 15-person firm and some of the mistakes he made along the way.

Tune in to the show on W4CY’s website.

[edit: The show was a great success and actually, rather listenable]

Listen to the show

Rob and Adam talked about:

• Differences between running a three-person company and a five.
• Revenue growth for the sole purpose of revenue growth.
• Too many plates spinning with no plan on how to hand them off.
• Understanding that YOU may not be the leader you need.
• Hiring people better than you.

If you liked the show, let me know. If you hated the show, also let me know. I’m considering doing a weekly show like this. I am interested to know whether you think it will be worth my time.

Article for the South Florida ALA

The South Florida Chapter of the Assoication of Legal Administrators (ALA) asked DedicatedIT to pen an article for their October 2009 Newsletter. You can download just the text here.

We touched on two of the biggest trends in the IT industry right now: Cloud Computing and Managed Services.

Here is an excerpt:

What does cloud computing mean to your firm?

Imagine walking into your firm tomorrow and being able to reclaim the space that those noisy, pain in the ass servers and networking equipment take up. Never needing to hire an IT company to come out and perform maintenance on your servers again. No need to pay for the electricity to RUN those servers. No need to beef up your air conditioning systems to keep all those delicate machines happy. Never having to pay Microsoft for their latest email server ever again. And, very likely, having better performance and fewer problems. That is what cloud computing promises.
Cloud computing is sold very much like electricity from your power company – you pay for only what you use and you really don’t care how many power poles, transformers, generation plants and linemen they have to use to get you your power. You just want it to work when you turn on the light switch.

Download just the DedicatedIT technology portion of the article.

What do managed services bring to your firm?

You’ll have a technology partner watching over your network and doing what is best for your company. Many of the little annoying problems that your employees have can be fixed without you watching the bill-o-meter clicking away time and material dollars. Your managed service partner will fix the little problems before they become big ones that can put you out of business for hours or days. You’ll have a team of people ready, willing and able to respond within an hour if there is a problem. Many times, with managed services providers, these features come at no additional charge.

Download just the DedicatedIT technology portion of the article.

It Pays to Find the Right Partner

ChannelPro Magazine, one of the computer network support industry’s most respected publications, ran an article about DedicatedIT this month. They liked what we had to say so much that they decided to have us sit in for a podcast as well.

From the article:

“We look for companies that value customer service as much as we do and that have the flexibility to make smart decisions on the fly rather than slavishly sticking to standard operating procedures. And above all, we look for companies that deliver on their promises.

Selecting partners is more art than science. You can study a company’s financials and market position and Website all you want. Ultimately, gut instinct is what counts. One of my employees sums up, very nicely, the key question we ask about potential partners: Do they walk like us and talk like us? Often, we find the answer in little things, like how fast they reply to emails. We get back to people pretty quickly around here. A company much slower in replying probably wouldn’t make a good partner for us.”

Network Support Companies Should Partner Smartly

The article is about how DedicatedIT picks companies in which to partner, with a specific focus on how we chose Zenith Infotech. They are one of our primary and most important partners, but the advice still works for other partnerships or industries as well.

This article delivered lots of calls and emails to Adam Steinhoff’s inbox asking for more information. One of them came from Jeff Weinman of Computer Dimensions. He asked:

…..a new type of partnership for both of us as this will be their first formal partnership agreement.  We are going to work together to create an agreement.  After reading your comments about all of the partnerships you have and continue to develop, I thought I’d ask about how your typical partnerships are setup.

My initial thought is to find a way for both sides to capture recurring revenue based on a small percentage of the contracts that come from referrals on either side.  I have many thoughts both for and against this type of arrangement.  From your experience, what has worked well for you?

If you don’t mind sharing a few thoughts, it would be greatly appreciated.

How a Smart Networking Support Company Partners

Adam Steinhoff recommended the following to Jeff:

I tackle this in, what I think, is a very easy approach: I do NOT put agreements in place.

I partner with companies who:

1. I am happy to pass business ‘just because’, and I know that they regard us the same way.
2. I know will take very good care of my clients and the relationships that I have built.
3. Have products and services that overlap minimally with our company.
4. Are as aggressive in responding to new referrals as we are.
5. Can pass me just as much business as I pass them.
6. Benefit from me just as much as I do them.

And, especially, receive NO money for referrals to/from us. This way, I can look my clients in the eye and say “I have no monetary stake in this decision. I am referring you to XYZ because I feel it is the best decision for YOU.”

Cisco Wants me to Give Away iPods

Cisco wants me to call up CEOs and other members of executive teams and beg them to have a meeting with me. When they won’t, I’m supposed to offer them a box with an 8GB iPod Nano and a cool little USB Cisco video camera.

I’ve never really been good at following rules or begging for meetings, so I have decided to do this promotion a little differently. Let’s see if this works better.

Get me a Meeting and I’ll give YOU an iPod

Instead of begging CEOs to sit down for a meeting with me, I’d rather my current clients and contacts (YOU) do some introductions for me. And, because you are sticking your neck out for me, I’ll give you the iPod and the Cisco video camera, instead.

A perfect person/company to meet with would look like the following:

• CEO or executive-level person
• A company with 75 or more computer-based employees
• Highly dependent on computer systems, yet they constantly have problems
• Have remote offices and are considering video conferencing and other unified communications solutions
• PCs in the company are getting old and they need a cost-effective solution for replacement
• They need to talk about business continuity solutions now that it’s hurricane season
• Have an internal IT staff, but are looking to outsource to reduce costs and improve service levels or their internal staff needs an extra set of eyes and/or expertise in a specific area like virtualization.

If you set up the in-person meeting with an executive in South Florida, with three of the seven bullet points above, and the executive actually attends the meeting, I’ll send you the 8GB iPod Nano. That is assuming that I still have one left – I’ve got five of them.

What’s in it for them?

Besides meeting with one of the premier technology thought leaders in South Florida, I’ll offer any serious executive a network assessment worth $1000.

Here are my Meeting Promises

• The meeting will last no longer than an hour, unless your contact wants me to stay longer.
• If your contact isn’t sufficiently amused or informed by the 15 minute mark, they can give me the boot.
• We will discuss anything that is on their mind in regards to IT, and I will offer to help where possible.

If you have a good contact that you think could be a good candidate for a meeting, please contact Adam Steinhoff (asteinhoff@dedicatedit.com / 561-491-5725).