General Manager of Schneider’s Flooring America Paul Deschenes once had concerns for his business' network security. He also needed a reliable service to take the headache out of IT.
However, when he connected with Dan Hernborg, a Pre-Sales Engineer at Usherwood Office Technology, he began to learn about solutions to these concerns.
The flooring and kitchen & bath remodeling company based in Vernon, CT had been working with a small IT company that was unable to deliver the service the business needed.
“When we needed something done, there was a slow response,” said Paul. “(..) we just didn’t feel that they were taking care of us the way we needed to be taken care of.”
With the growing number of cyber threats plaguing businesses today, Paul was also worried about the business’s cybersecurity posture.
They needed a new solution, and a new opportunity presented itself when Paul met Dan Hernborg, a cybersecurity expert, through the local networking group Connecticut Valley BNI.
“Like anything in this industry, it takes trust and understanding to get to know somebody,” Dan said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the years getting to know each other's businesses. He’s been to [Usherwood’s Glastonbury office] a number of times and understands how we take technology and security very seriously.”
Dan initially took a look at Schneider Flooring’s IT billing from their incumbent IT provider, as well as what the existing network physically looked like. What he found wasn’t exactly pretty.
Dan explained Usherwood’s network and cybersecurity risk assessment process, called the Odyssey Discovery. Paul decided to go through with one.
The Odyssey Process uncovered several details about Schneiders’ business network infrastructure. Dan found a few network components that were deemed “end of life” by manufacturers, meaning they couldn’t be patched or updated. This represented a significant cyber risk.
On the bright side, Dan determined that Paul’s fleet of computers was solid enough to keep, and all they needed was a bit of adjustment for adequate security. Because of his analysis of the business’ IT billing, Dan was able to make recommendations to help Paul sort out where his IT budget was going.
After moving forward with Usherwood as their IT provider, Paul was pleased with the level of service his business had access to.
“One of the really cool things is we have a whole team. Before we only had one person,” Paul said referring to Usherwood’s fully staffed IT team. He was also pleased with the cybersecurity training his staff has access to that offers education on the dos and don’ts of online safety.
It’s early on in the partnership with Usherwood for their IT, but Paul says he’s excited to see where the business relationship will take them.
“We’re already seeing changes, and I’m excited to see where we’ll be in another 6 months to a year, and to see what other things we can use Usherwood for to help the business,” he said.
Schneider’s Flooring started its IT journey with an Odyssey Discovery, which is Usherwood’s comprehensive network assessment. To learn what these evaluations entail, check out our blog: Understanding Network Assessments: What to Expect & Examples.
If you’re interested in getting a network audit to see how your business measures up, click the button below to get in contact with an IT expert like Dan.