May 5, 2016
Strategy: Moving Forward
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Chris Bowen
“Holston IT keeps our network running smoothly, freeing us to focus on serving our clients.”
For the past 28 years, Cumberland Marketing has provided businesses with innovative solutions to help them stand out from the crowd.
At CM, our team of creative sales professionals works hard to uncover new ways to communicate with your audience. Encompassing a wide range of marketing and creative services, including promotional products, we constantly strive to take your brand to the next level.
Cumberland Marketing works with clients on a national scale including: Century Link, Eastman Chemical Company, NFL, Levy Restaurants, Tempurpedic, and ETSU, Domtar.
151 E. Main Street
Kingsport, TN 37664
423.378.5823
www.cumberlandmarketing.com
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by Chris Bowen, Owner, Cumberland Marketing
Before working with Holston IT, there was no forward thinking regarding the support of our network. The people who worked on our computers were flying by the seat of their pants, putting out fires all the time. They would come to our office and only address whichever problem was most visible at the time.
That is the complete antithesis of the way our network is managed now. The approach Holston IT has taken is innovative: they created a culture of no problems. The Holston IT team worked to get our system to the point of operation where there were no breakdowns, and since then they’ve been working to maintain that status. This has absolutely been a cost savings to us. We are more efficient in our operations, and there is less downtime.
I love the fact that Holston IT is constantly monitoring our network. They catch and fix small problems before we’ve even noticed them. In the business equation, the value of that is priceless.
Technology is critical to our business operations. We’re very service oriented, and prompt email communication is a key part of our service to our clients. We juggle lots of deadlines. We are very connected to our customers and to the community at large, and much of that communication is via online resources. We can’t afford to be off the grid for a minute. Knowing that our network is secure and reliable frees us to focus on serving our clients.
Our technology isn’t an expense, it is an investment. To compete in business at this time, you have to be superior in technology and IT. You cannot afford to wake up every day and be running from behind with problems, breakdowns, and bugs. If you are not fluid and smooth from an operational standpoint, then you’re dead. In business today, there’s two groups: the quick and the dead. You have to be quick, and IT enables you to have that speed of movement.
The biggest benefit Holston IT brings to Cumberland Marketing is their strategy: I call it a “moving forward strategy.” They are putting thought into how to have us up and operating efficiently. I pay a flat fee to Holston IT each month. From my standpoint, if I never see them, that means they have done their job extraordinarily well. This relationship works to both of our advantages. They are working very hard to keep our technology running so smoothly that we rarely need to call them. When we do call them, their response time is excellent.
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