[OPLINLIST] Library-aware IT/computer/network support companies

[Chad Neeper]

This may be weird coming from me, but is anyone using a really good local
Ohio area IT company that really seems to know libraries? I was recently
talking with the local IT guy from one of my libraries and he wasn't able
to find a local-ish company that seemed to really know the special needs of
libraries. (Ok...Yeah, that probably sounds weird too. Short of it: I
encourage competitive quotes. There's more than one solution to every
problem!) He was able to come up with a company in the Dayton area, but the
quote was rather generic and we didn't get the impression that they'd
worked with many (any?) libraries. They kind of shot from the hip and had a
general sense of the goal, but maybe not a firm idea of how they planned to
get there or how long it would take to get the configuration exactly right.

I only take on one or two new clients in any given year and I like to have
a good IT company I can refer the other libraries to. In the past, I've
referred to MT Business Solutions. I've accidentally taken a few of their
clients away over the years, but I've generally liked what I've seen of
their IT work. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago they decided to get out
of the hands-on "break/fix" business in favor of the more lucrative remote
managed services work (think businesses/organizations with hundreds to
thousands of computers). They've been shedding small to medium sized
clients, which is a category where a lot of libraries fall. I've been
watching for another company ever since.

So, I'm curious if anyone has an IT company they've been working with for a
while that seems to have a really good grasp on libraries. I'm *NOT*
interested in the company that has that one "expert...really knows his/her
stuff" tech that you always ask for or secretly hope is the one that gets
sent out to fix the server. Whether it's a big IT company or a small one,
it has to be the whole company or process. I'm interested in the whole
start-to-finish...from sales quote to installation and ongoing support.
That one IT guru might be the world's best tech, but the sales guy quoting
the job also needs to know that your patron computers should be isolated
from your staff computers and that buying a product like Deep Freeze
actually saves you a boat-load of money in the long run. That's the company
I'd like to know more about and be able to refer to.

So if anyone is working with that IT company...one that understands
libraries, I'd love to know the name!

(I'd ask on OPLINTECH, but we're all geeks over there and we tend to do our
own IT work. Plus, we all tend to watch OPLINLIST too, I think.)


Thanks,
Chad

______________________________
*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in libraries and
schools*
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