Going Beyond IT Support

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

Sometimes IT support professionals forget to look beyond the fire.  Customers call us onsite to resolve an issue and expect the issue to be resolved quickly and efficiently.  Most of us are successful if that’s the mission.

Unfortunately, that shouldn’t be the whole mission.  I try to take the opportunity to juggle a little bit when I’m putting out the fires, adding another task.  Learn a little, share a little.

A network engineer or IT support technician should take some of the downtime that is part of the job (reboots, anyone?) and build a rapport with the customer.  Tell them what you’re doing, ask them a little bit about their profession.  You will be surprised at what you learn.  Often, I’ve found that learning a little about the business I’m working for opens the door to ideas on how technology (my field) can make their field more efficient.

What’s your mission as an Information Technology professional?

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Moving the Business to College Hill

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

I’m pulling up the tent stakes on my IT consulting company, Proper Technology Solutions and moving to a new office in the College Hill neighborhood of Wichita.

Office Park Plaza is located at 4601 E. Douglas in Wichita in the heart of the Douglas Design District.

Office Park Plaza

Office Park Plaza, 4601 E. Douglas in Wichita

I will be providing support for the new office complex and also providing in-house IT services to the tenants, both physical and virtual.

We’ll be hosting our first event in the new office on April 21st, from Noon-2pm, a Lunch-And-Learn course entitled Office 2010 – Business 101, covering basic features of Office 2010 for non-technical users.

For more details or to reserve a spot, call Proper Technology at our new contact information below:

Proper Technology Solutions, LLC
4601 E. Douglas
Wichita KS  67218

Office: (316) 337-5628
Fax: (316) 337-5531
After Hours: (316) 210-7112

 

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Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas Roundtable

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

The Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas (SITAKS) will be hosting its first Workforce
Development Roundtable discussion from 3:00 to 5:00 PM April 28th at the Lawrence Regional
Technology Center.  I’ve been asked to attend as a representative of my school and am looking forward to attending.  SITAKS is designed to help grow the technology industry in Kansas.  Drop by their website for more details.

As a network consultant in Wichita, KS I look forward to the opportunity to meet with other technology businesses and educators throughout the state with the goal in mind of developing the technology skills required to help Kansas become a premier IT workforce.

I’ll post updates as the date approaches, and a summary of the event following.  If you have any questions on this or any other topic, feel free to call me at Proper Technology Solutions, LLC (316) 337-5628.

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Staff Meetings Help Reinforce Drive

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

A simple staff meeting on a regular basis can help reset and refocus employees on their mission.  I attended a staff meeting at the college and found that going in, I was only prepared to sit through a tedious lecture about metrics and goals.  Instead, I found myself reinvigorated and more focused on the goal of my organization.  Education, specifically in my field, Information Technology, is one that requires a teacher to be focused, and this meeting served to remind me of why I do it in the first place.

As an IT support consultant in Wichita, I help small businesses use their technology effectively every day.  As an IT instructor, I teach my students to use the tools at their disposal to do the same task.  Every day I am asked questions that I am unable to answer, and every day I push back on the student and bring them into the world of the information technology consultant.

“I don’t know the answer to that.  Let’s find out together.”  Powerful words.  To some, admitting that they don’t have the answer, or a fear of not knowing the answer is anathema.  It’s also one of the reasons people are unwilling to teach, or leave the teaching profession quickly.

Technology support is always about not knowing the answers.  I make sure my students know that the daily life of an IT support person is filled with not knowing.  It’s the solving that makes the job satisfying, enjoying and successful.

IT professional aren’t expected to know the answers.  Finding the answers is our job.

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IT Solutions in Wichita KS – Spring Cleaning

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

So Spring Break is here.  My kids are off school and everyone is taking it easy.  I’m not taking it easy, though.  As usual, I’m working with small business in Wichita, providing Information Technology support and services.  Over the past two months, I’ve learned a lot about providing consulting services for the market.  Business leaders, especially in small shops are looking for stability as well as efficiency.  Getting a company to change from one IT solutions provider to another is difficult, even if you can show significant reductions in cost.

I’m thinking about providing a transition buffer.  Some free services to help overcome the learning curve businesses associate with transferring to a new consultant.  We try not to bill for anything that we consider a ‘learning curve’; things we should already know, or that their current Information Technology firm already knows.  Putting this in clear terms may help.

If you’re looking for options to help lower your IT support costs in Wichita or surrounding areas, give us a call at Proper Technology Solutions at (316) 337-5628 or our after hours support line at (316) 210-7112.  Our customers are enjoying high-level IT service at lower rates.  Let us find out how we can help your business.

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Information Technology in Wichita – Small Market

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

Every time I think that Wichita is a large market, with over 450,000 people in the metro area, something comes up that makes me realize it’s a small world.  As an Information Technology consultant, I meet other computer repair professionals from other organizations in town.  Whether it is to collaborate a project or whether I’m called in to assist on an issue, I try to keep track of the people that I meet, either through LinkedIn or through other channels.

I try to tell my students that the IT community in Wichita is actually relatively small.  People who you work with today will be people that you see again.  As a consultant, I’ve run into several ex-coworkers that are either in the IT department of one of my clients, or running the IT department at the same shop.

The same goes with people in general.  I was at a gathering of an organization the other night that I belong to and was talking to a gentleman that I’ve talked to numerouse times in the past.  The conversation took a particular turn and I found that he was the brother of a girl I worked with over fifteen years ago in Wichita.  So it’s not just IT, and Wichita isn’t the big market some might think.  Fortunately, it’s a big enough market for some things, while still a small enough market to feel like you can become a part of a family.

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Wichita IT Support for Small Business

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

So I’ve been working on building the new business with some successes and failures along the way.  The successes are that we have a few network support customers in Wichita under our belts.  We’re providing solid services and the customers are happy.  They’ve seen their bills lowered, getting more quality work for a lower cost.

The failure so far is in spreading the word and convincing new customers that they can save money.  I’m hoping as I become more familiar with certain small business owners, they will realize that they can significantly reduce their own IT support costs while keeping a high level of service from competent and qualified networking professionals.

If you know any small business owners that are reluctant to call their IT consultant for fear of high costs, have them give me a call at (316) 337-5628 or our after hours support line at (316) 210-7112.  We can schedule a free onsite visit to discuss our services and evaluate their current network.

We’re skilled at all levels of Information Technology support and can help them reduce costs by having lower service charges, fewer issues and replacing software with annual support costs with inexpensive or free solutions without any loss of productivity or efficiency.

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Information Technology: Education Ongoing

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

There are some fields where education is continuous.  Information Technology is no different.  The knowledge you gain as a computer tech requires constant renewal, learning new operating systems, applications and the interaction between the two.  Over the past few years, we’ve been faced with XP transitioning to the seemingly aborted Windows Vista, then directly into the  de facto standard Windows 7.

Apart from the desktop Operating System, IT consultants are faced with the back-of-house improvements, from Small Business Server 2003 to SBS 2008, now SBS 2011.  Information Technology is a rapidly changing field.

Facing the constant changes in the consulting world are difficult and require the IT professional to constantly hone skills.  The misunderstanding is in what happens to that old knowledge.  Far from becoming obsolete, it becomes a bedrock of sorts, providing a tech with the ability to not only support legacy (read: old) technology, it allows the tech to have background knowledge.

A person who has been a network engineer or consultant for many years has a wide base of knowledge, especially in the interaction between the operating system and the application that will provide benefits over the long term.

For IT consulting in Wichita KS, call Proper Technology Solutions at (316) 337-5628 or our after-hours support line at (316) 210-7112.  Let us show you how we are helping our customers lower their IT support costs while still maintaining that standard of excellence that comes from a depth of experience.

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Computer Tech Turns Plumber

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

So the computer tech branched out this weekend, replacing a broken faucet in the bathroom.  Far from advanced networking, plumbing sometimes appears to be advanced as well.

The story starts with my 8-year-old coming to me, upset because he can’t turn the water off in the bathroom.  His analysis was correct in the fact that the handle was in the ‘off’ position, yet the limited supply of hot water to our house was still gushing full-blast down the drain.

Being the resident plumbing expert (tone:sarcasm), I proceeded to turn off the hot water valve under the sink.  Funny, though.  When it was on it was fine, when turned off, it leaked.  So much for being able to procrastinate on the repair job.

As a computer consultant, I approached the project rationally.  Instead of replacing the cartridge in the old faucet, we would simply replace the entire faucet and buy a replacement cartridge down the road to be able to use the old faucet in another location.  After purchasing said items, demolition began.

Logically, there are  only a few connections required to remove the old faucet.  The one thing I don’t have to deal with (much) in the IT support field is rust.  Most hard drives don’t fail because they are rusted to the connectors or have mineral deposits gumming up the write heads.

Some considerable banging and cursing later, the sink was repaired and I think I made a personal best of only having to visit Lowe’s twice to complete the project.  The valves are replaced, the faucet is repaired.  All in all, I’m pretty pleased with it.  Am I going to give up my day job as an IT consultant in Wichita KS?

Not very likely.

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Building a Business: IT Support in Wichita KS

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Kevin Peterson

So we are building a company providing IT support in Wichita KS.  There are quite a few of them in town.  So what sets Proper Technology Solutions, LLC apart from the crowd?

  • Customer Service -  Proper is committed to customer service.  We look for ways to make the IT support process easier for our customers.  By providing quick service by qualified, certified network support professionals, we seek to lower our customers’ costs while minimizing downtime
  • Quick Response – Our low lead times for services get our technicians onsite quickly to support the information technology needs of our customers.  Generally, we can be onsite in a few hours, not a few days.
  • Low Support Rates - Our hourly service charges start at $70/hour.  Compare our IT service rates with other enterprise support companies in Wichita.  You’ll see that we’re 40-50% lower hourly and offer the same levels of expertise and certifications employed by our competition.
  • NO Minimum Charges - Most network support companies in Wichita charge minimum fees, especially for onsite service.  We’ve eliminated these fees because we’ve seen small business owners wait while a system is down, ‘saving up’ tech work until they can justify the usual two-hour minimum service charge.  Our technicians bill in 15 minute increments.  That’s the only minimum our customers will see.
  • Personal Service – Our name says it all.  Professional support, Personal service.  That’s Proper Technology Solutions.  Let us be your personal provider.  If you’re looking for that ‘go-to’ person for IT support, look no further.

Give us a call today at (316) 337-5628 or our after hours and emergency support line at (316) 210-7112 to schedule service.  We can come in to your business and evaluate your needs and will never try to sell you more technology than you need to be efficient.

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