NetMAX Customer Stories

IT Consultants: Today’s Technology Gatekeepers for Small Businesses

Summary

With limited resources and technology expertise, it’s not surprising that the best option for most small businesses is to outsource the creation and/or management of internal networks. For consultants and integrators serving this market, it’s a constant challenge to sift through vendor hype and select products that are not only cost-effective, but also simple to deploy and maintain. This case study examines how Colorado’s Dimensional Data Company, Inc. (DDC) has leveraged Cybernet Systems’ NetMAX™ server software to gain a competitive advantage and better serve small business customers.

Company Background: Dimensional Data Company, Inc.

DDC provides network consulting, turnkey network solutions and administrative support to small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) throughout southern Colorado. Founded in 1991, DDC specializes in designing and engineering computer networks – including local and wide area networks, certified premise wiring, customer computer assembly and corporate intranet and Internet installations. The company has extensive experience working with companies in the legal, medical, local government, finance, education, non-profit and point of sale markets.

The Gatekeeper

When referring to technology deployments, there are certain words and phrases that resonate well with most small business owners or managers. These include value, enterprise-class functionality, reliability, power and ease-of use. However, these words are being used by so many of today’s vendors that it’s hard for businesses to differentiate between the ones offering value and those just claiming to do so. Adding to the confusion is the fact that most small businesses lack the resources needed to deploy complicated networking equipment or to manage the complex systems and relationships associated with them. Most feel overwhelmed and powerless. To solve the problem, small businesses are turning to IT consultants and resellers in record numbers making them powerful gatekeepers for vendors serving this burgeoning market.

Identifying and Delivering Value

With a core competency in designing and deploying network environments, DDC prides itself on providing customers with the best products at the most competitive prices. The company recognizes that consolidating features and functionality into a single-server solution can make it easier for small businesses to deploy, manage and maintain a network environment. However, many products on the market that do this are both expensive and complicated to install, leaving consultants with few viable options for small businesses.

Until the mid-1990s, DDC had relied on Novell® Inc. to deliver server solutions to its clients. As it began servicing more small businesses, DDC recognized that the high prices associated with Novell equipment were driving most small businesses toward peer-to-peer networking instead of dedicated server solutions.

“For most small businesses, a dedicated server is usually more effective than peer-to-peer networking,” said Bill Salagovic, president of Dimensional Data Company, Inc. “With that in mind, we wanted to utilize the power and reliability of Linux for our small business server deployments. However, we found most distributions to be too expensive and too complicated for small businesses to administer. After evaluating products from Microsoft®, Red Hat, SUSE and SCO, we finally found NetMAX. It delivers real value and masks the complexities commonly associated with Linux, offering the ultimate blend of price, functionality and ease-of-use.”

The Solution

DDC was amazed to find that NetMAX is a simple, integrated Linux-based network server package that small businesses can easily use. Designed to provide the power and robustness found in true enterprise class server systems, without any of the complexity or cost, NetMAX taps the power and low cost of Red Hat Linux and related open source applications, wrapping them in an intelligent and flexible browser-based system. The product is extremely easy to configure and maintain – a basic server can be set up in as little as 15 minutes.

“NetMAX is pre-configured to provide file sharing, e-mail, web page serving, firewall security and much more,” mentioned Salagovic. “With a web-based GUI that provides simple, remote point-and-click management and monitoring of the server, deploying the product is a snap. Most end users are afraid of the administration aspect of file servers. The NetMAX interface is straightforward. And if needed, end users are able to follow along over the phone when setting up additional users or adjusting user privileges.”

The ability to remotely administer NetMAX is a huge advantage for IT consultants. Not only does it dramatically cut down on site visits, but it also enables companies like DDC to reduce the required number of support staff while increasing support revenues.

“We have more than 30 businesses currently using the NetMAX product, which equal approximately 90 servers in the field – and expect to have 30 more installed by the end of 2004,” said Salagovic. “Most have been up and running an average of two to three years, with the only downtime being for upgrades. Internally, we have been able to increase support revenues by 300 percent, without increasing the number of technicians.”

DDC is also a member of the NetMAX Reseller Program, which offers members dramatic cost savings, increased customer service and support, and a wide array of new sales and marketing tools. Designed to deliver premium access to the NetMAX product line at prices discounted up to 33 percent, the program helps resellers and consultants provide customers with low-cost, high-feature network server solutions.

“Bottom line: the NetMAX Reseller Program offers excellent profit margins on the products and helps us better serve our customer base by offering exceptional support and a wide variety of marketing materials,” stated Salagovic. “Cybernet seems to understand the needs of IT consultants and goes the extra mile to become a partner rather than a supplier.”

The Solution: NetMAX 5.0

NetMAX 5.0 Network Server Software is a Red Hat compatible Enterprise Linux Server software distribution that supports PC/Mac/Unix file sharing, e-commerce, e-mail, web traffic, desktop applications, security, network gateways and wireless access. NetMAX simplifies network setup and reduces the cost of administration with easy-to-use browser-based configuration management. With NetMAX 5.0 customers can simplify the network, mail and storefront servers without sacrificing upgrades, features or security. NetMAX is also available pre-loaded on powerful server hardware offerings from HP and Toshiba -- just plug, play and administer through a web browser.

NetMAX Professional and the entire line of NetMAX solutions are now available for download and as boxed products through Cybernet’s online store at www.netmax.com. NetMAX pricing starts as low as $231.

www.ddc-net.com
www.netmax.com

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