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Information technology (IT), including software applications and network infrastructure, is more than a simple cost of doing business or a “necessary evil”—it is vital in order to run a successful electrical distributorship and a key asset for all businesses. The more efficient and secure IT performs, the more effective employees will be and the happier customers will be.
More often than not, it is more cost efficient and safer to hire an IMARK member service provider like Scantron Technology Solutions (STS) than to try to do all IT work in-house. Imagine the number of employees needed to maintain system security and network availability, keep track of toner and print fleet assets and install new equipment. Technology is constantly changing and it’s nearly impossible for the average business to keep up. That’s where STS comes in.
“At the end of the day, you just want to get back to serving your customers and growing your company,” said Cathy Pickoski, senior vice president of STS. “We understand that and do not feel that IT should be a barrier to your success or that robust IT programs are just for large organizations.”
STS employs IT experts who manage networks, data communications, security, disaster recovery, email and print management. They are readily available to ensure that clients and their employees have maximum system uptime in order to continue processing orders, looking up prices, processing payroll and serving their customers. In general, smaller IT service providers struggle to support a business’ entire IT environment. Businesses soon find their needs outpace what these smaller IT service providers can offer, resulting in the need for multiple vendors.
IMARK Group members can leverage STS for hardware maintenance on servers, computers, printers and scanners. Some IMARK members employ STS to manage their entire IT infrastructure, including network security, help desk tasks, backup services, hardware maintenance and project work like a system upgrade or software switches.
When a business experiences partial or complete downtime, it’s important to have the right technical resources available to get systems back up and running. STS can also help with smaller IT issues that cause business owners headaches, such as password resets, lost files, inability to print and email issues. All of these problems have a negative impact on employee productivity, customer satisfaction and profitability. The STS team is dedicated to keeping systems running properly and employees productive.
STS provides scalable solutions that can support the single-location distributor with little or no technical expertise, as well as the enterprise distributor with hundreds of locations and an internal IT staff. “Our goal is to ensure that our customers have the support and resources that they need to conduct business with limited or no disruption, regardless of their size,” said Kim Larsen, vice president of managed IT services at STS. “They just want to know that when they have a problem, they call one number and have a knowledgeable person handle the issue quickly.”
STS has provided both small and large businesses with complete end-to-end IT services and support offerings for more than 40 years. These services include infrastructure consulting, managed IT services, managed print services, hardware maintenance and lifecycle services. IMARK Group members receive reliable and trusted support, as well as upfront and backend discounts.
STS is part of the iconic Scantron brand, which provides testing sheets that are evaluated with Scantron scanners. The company has more than 22,000 customer sites across the country, many of which are distributorships. Currently, there are two case studies that feature IMARK Group members on its website at harlandts.com.