Business Spotlight: The Network Builders

Despite a tumultuous economic climate, JMark Business Solutions Inc. had a stable year in 2009. The Springfield-based managed services provider was recognized as one of five finalists for the Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year award and listed No. 137 out of 1,200 in Nine Lives Media Inc.’s annual MSPmentor survey. The survey ranks managed services providers worldwide.

Although the company’s revenues stayed flat in 2009 at nearly $5 million, the managed-services portion of JMark’s business grew more than the industry average, says JMark President and CEO Thomas H. Douglas.

According to Service Leadership Inc., an advisory organization for information technology service providers, the 2009 median growth rate for managed service providers was 8.6 percent. Douglas reports his company’s managed services growth at more than 30 percent.

“Producing such results usually indicates not only scalable quality but also a better than average ability to generate leads and close sales outside of the referral loop,” says Service Leadership CEO Paul Dippell. “This is one of the most difficult skills for a managed services firm to develop.”

JMark offers remote network management, monitoring and troubleshooting, hosted servers and server management, and computer hardware and software products, support, and backup. The company, which uses primarily Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft products, manages more than 3,000 devices for clients with networks ranging from eight to 300 computers, Douglas says.

“We become the IT department for organizations that either don’t have an IT department or have an IT department that is in need of additional assistance in order to take care of all the computer infrastructure,” adds Douglas, JMark’s majority owner with partners Doug Deetz, Brenda Blades, Kerry Douglas and Max Roweton.

Ollis & Co. has chosen JMark as its IT arm.

“It becomes overwhelming when you start connecting people from home, hooking up high-speed Internet, and you have all the various programs and applications that we use on a regular basis,” says President and CEO Richard Ollis. “What (JMark) did improved our productivity dramatically, as well as reduced the time spent trying to work through that when we’re not experts.”

JMark provides flat-fee network management services based on the number of devices in a network. Douglas says JMark’s business model aligns the company’s interests with those of its clients.

“Our customers want a healthy network so they can operate,” Douglas says. “We want a healthy network, because if it’s broken, we have to spend a lot of time on it.”

Douglas contrasts the flat-fee managed services system with the break/fix model, in which a service provider gets paid for work on a malfunctioning device. JMark was founded in 1988 as a break/fix company with two employees in Cabool, but now less than 10 percent of its business falls into that category.

Douglas says JMark’s infrastructure allows remote access and fast response times to client networks as far away as Texas and Colorado. Working out of the company’s 15,000-square-foot high-tech facility in The Place at Jordan Creek, JMark’s 41 employees are trained to understand the business needs of their clients with the goal of building long-term relationships.

“People first, technology second,” Douglas says. “Sometimes, the best technical solution isn’t always the best business solution.”

Doug Pitt, co-owner of ServiceWorld Computer Center, which also provides business network solutions and support, seconds the notion that people are an important part of success in the industry.

“It comes down to relationships,” says competitor Pitt. “You provide a good service, it’s easy to get that message spread. But if you provide a less than satisfactory service, it goes the same way.”

In a difficult economy, service and relationships are more important than ever. According to Douglas, businesses that are trying to cut back expenses are reluctant to update their computer equipment. This means more service work for JMark employees.

Tight budgets also mean that businesses tend to be more inclined to outsource their IT needs. “They can hire us cheaper than they can pay somebody on staff,” Douglas says.

In 2009, JMark’s sales force – combined with the 2008 acquisition of competitors NetWorks Inc. and NetManage Inc. – was able to capitalize on this trend.

“The sales team is a lot of the reason that we’ve continued to grow despite the (downturn in the) economy,” Douglas says.[[In-content Ad]]