GRIT: Since we’ve been working with you for 15 years, I’d like to take a second to go back a little, if you can remember that far. I have a hard time remembering that far sometimes, but we’ve been through quite a bit since we first partnered. I’d like to start by asking about when you started working with us. It actually wasn’t GRIT at the time, it was Fisher.

Client: Yep. It was Greg at the time.

GRIT: Can you remember what some of the biggest challenges or frustrations you were facing were at that point?

Client: Definitely. When we first called Greg in, we were hosting our own Microsoft licensing on our in-house server. A friend of one of the employees would come in and help us manage and set it up, and I have no IT background whatsoever. So I needed to find someone to help me. We hosted everything and had a minimal network. As we got more employees, we started to see the demand on the network grow. We’ve always been small and have stayed small, but everything we started buying had to be hooked up to the network, including Wi-Fi and all of that.

That’s when we decided that having a friend of an employee wasn’t enough IT support. It was becoming too much of my job to figure out what we needed now and how to fix it, from small things like printers not working that day to implementing new technology or installing a new scanner or other equipment.

So that’s when I called Greg. He, Arvin, and a third gentleman whose name I can’t remember came in and told us they could support us remotely and really help our infrastructure. Greg and the team helped us manage all the Microsoft licensing. Then, as technology advanced, we moved everything to the cloud, so I didn’t have to put in new servers. Over time, they’ve changed everything from us holding it in-house to a lot of cloud-based support.

GRIT: Awesome. Can you remember what clicked for you, what the deciding factor was that told you working with GRIT was the right path?

Client: It was how much time it was taking out of my day to research and work in an area I’m not skilled at. Everyone has a skill set, and to best manage your time, you give that work to the person with those strengths. Talking to Greg and the team helped me understand that there was no way I could keep trying to manage this all myself. Back then, Google wasn’t as big as it is now, and answers didn’t come as quickly, so it took a lot of time and research.

Even now, you see AI at the top of Google, and it can give me a basic answer, but I’m not going to trust Google. I’m going to trust a company I’ve worked with and respect, one we’ve built things with together. I want to make sure my company’s information is safe and secure and that my employees are constantly productive. I need a person behind that to help me make decisions and answer my specific questions. When I’m struggling with something, I rely on GRIT to point me in the right direction more than I rely on the internet.

GRIT: 100%. That’s great to hear. I do that myself. I can get an answer from Google, ChatGPT, or Perplexity, but it’s been shown that they’re sometimes wrong, and you can’t always trust everything that’s there. But we can trust people we’ve worked with for a long time. I totally get that.

Going back to the early days again, where was the impact on your organization? In terms of your ability to serve your clients and run the lab at that point, was there anything impacting you? Was it just taking up your time, or you not being available, or were there other things going on that were really impacting the business?

Client: The way our business model is set up, our infrastructure affects only the employees, not our clients per se. So it was about the employees’ productivity: getting their information and data, storing it, and collaborating. GRIT set up a server for us, and we started hosting instead of everyone saving their information on their individual computers, which is what they were doing.

GRIT: Oh, my goodness.

Client: Yes. At first we only used the server to host email, but then we started using it to host our actual data. That’s really when photographs changed to digital, because our business did photographs. It used to be 4×6 and 35mm film. As our technology developed, we needed much more data support and more storage. GRIT made it easier for us to access that and to decide on the best way to store it. Initially we had paper files, and then we started doing computer and tape backup. You helped us implement backup, since I didn’t have much before then. GRIT helped us realize that not only were we building this infrastructure, we also needed to make sure it wasn’t lost.

So I’d say that in the beginning, GRIT helped us find ways to store our information and collaborate as a team, even before technology advanced to where it is now. Today it’s pretty common to share information and access it remotely, but when we first hired you, that wasn’t common to us. We couldn’t see what technology was coming, because it wasn’t as easy to find.

GRIT: Gotcha. That’s good. Would you say there were some risks early on, like downtime or compliance risk?

Client: I wouldn’t say we had too much downtime. I think you did a good job of planning and making sure we knew what to expect from each project, because with every project there’s a little bit of downtime. But I’ve never had an issue with anything you implemented that had us down for a long period. You’re usually within the time frame we’re told it will take. When you’re switching over servers, you do it all behind the scenes and then bring it into the office, and it goes right. I can’t ever think of a time I was frustrated because we were down.

GRIT: Right. So the proactive approach helps: letting you know when things need to be updated, scoping the projects, planning ahead, and going through the timeline from start to delivery. That obviously helps streamline things and resolve a lot of potential headaches.

Client: Yes. And there are all the monitors you have on our system and network. Back in the day, when the cable line went down, you were always aware of it, and we’d talk through how it affected our business. Did we need to be back up in one hour? In four hours? For our business model, being down for four hours isn’t a big deal, though in a store or a doctor’s office it might be. But you always brought these things to our attention and let us know you could help if we needed it.

GRIT: That’s one thing I like about what we do, the forward thinking. When I started working with Greg and GRIT, one of the things I liked was that we’re not just here to fix things when they break. We have a plan, a roadmap for keeping people in compliance and maximizing uptime, but also for maximizing their investment, because this stuff definitely isn’t cheap. I think that proper planning is why we have such long-term relationships with a lot of our clients. We’ve been together for 15 years, and it’s wonderful to see. In the industry you typically see higher turnover, within a couple of years or so, but switching providers is such a headache. I can’t imagine doing that multiple times over five years, especially in IT. So I’m happy this relationship has worked so well.

Client: Since the first time I made the decision, yes. There were a few bumps in the road when you went from Fisher to GRIT, as any company has while working things out. But I worked with Frank Senior, who was great as my account rep. I’d just call him, say “Frank, get on it,” and it helped you as much as it helped us, because it helped you understand what GRIT needed in order to work out the kinks. It fed both of our businesses, really.

GRIT: I think that’s a partnership. You’ve got to receive feedback, you’ve got to listen, and you’ve got to be present. Not everything in business is going to be hunky-dory, and you’re going to have a little of that at first, but that’s where growth happens, on both ends. We’ve got a good team and good people, and I think that’s one of the biggest things going for us: the quality of people we bring into the organization. They have great attitudes. They might not have all the technical skills immediately, but you can teach that. It’s the soft skills that really matter, like leading with empathy and being proactive.

Going back over the years, is there anything that stands out, like some of the bigger projects or changes we’ve worked on together?

Client: I’d say our RAID system and our data backup to the cloud. Those are large projects for us because we’re data heavy. And the VPN, which I know is small on your end, but obviously helps us immensely. Making those decisions was important because our RAID system is so expensive and is the crux of our business. We had to make sure the financial decisions were sound.

In the IT world, people ask how long you keep equipment. I used to keep a server for a long time, beyond what most people would, because I like to get the most out of my money. You’ve done a great job of respecting that. You haven’t tried to get me to spend more than I need to, but you’ve also made sure things are expandable and work within our company goals.

GRIT: Gotcha. Speaking of those goals, have there been any key upgrades or projects around the server, cloud, or cybersecurity that have made a difference for you?

Client: Honestly, it all makes a difference.

GRIT: Fair.

Client: Every decision we make with you has a huge impact on what we do day to day. I look at it as one of the most important parts of my business, because it keeps my employees productive. We have people out on the road who are very data heavy, so they need to remote in. We can’t have them carrying this data into the field, so they have to be able to access their software, their email, and the server. Every aspect of it matters, and security is the biggest issue in today’s society. You’ve always been ahead of the game on keeping up with that.

One of my favorite things is you bringing Dashlane into our world.

GRIT: Oh, you’re awesome. You’re running Dashlane. That’s perfect.

Client: Yes, and having that in our wheelhouse makes a huge difference, because keeping everything secure is a non-stop issue.

GRIT: That’s obviously a big topic for you. Talking about Dashlane, password management, and cybersecurity as a whole, what stands out to you as the ways we’re helping you stay ahead of the curve? What are your concerns, and where are we providing a solution?

Client: In our office, we’re really good at using the same password over and over.

GRIT: You and most of the United States.

Client: Since Dashlane was implemented with most of the staff, there are still some people who struggle with using it. But I love that it creates security. It creates my passwords for me, and I’ve learned to trust that I don’t actually need to know my passwords. Having a separate password for every program you log into keeps things safe, because if someone finds one password, they won’t get into every aspect of your work.

You also manage the firewall in our building, making sure no one is trying to tap into it. We have data in the building that we back up to, and that backs up to the cloud. Even if someone gets into the building, that doesn’t mean they’ll get into the cloud. If security were ever bypassed, we could still shut it down and get back up and running from the cloud data by rebuilding the server. Knowing my information is in multiple places with high levels of security is a comfort to me.

And I’m small potatoes in the business world. A lot of large corporations can easily implement all of this, so how do you do it as a small business and keep it affordable and effective? You’ve done a great job of helping us figure that out, because that’s not my strength, it’s yours. I need your team to help me make those decisions.

GRIT: Absolutely. We’re happy to do it, and I’m happy to hear we’ve been doing it well for a while. Looking ahead, what would you say you value most about the partnership today?

Client: The day-to-day support. For all the little things that happen in a day, I can just make a phone call or put in a ticket request on the computer, and it’ll be handled. Not all needs are immediate, but some are, so having hands-on support always available is great. I don’t think I’ve ever called and not had someone answer the phone, which is wonderful, because sometimes I feel really needy and wonder whether someone will always be there.

GRIT: Yes, we will be. We have that in place. We’re a live answer, so we’re always going to be there. As the company grows, as Safety Engineering Laboratories grows, how do you foresee us continuing to support you in the future?

Client: Just keep me ahead of the game on technology. You’ve done a wonderful job. Sometimes our software is older and runs machines we need to keep using, and you do a great job of running old software on new technology and helping us figure out the licensing. I think it’s about keeping the environment secure and available as it continues to change. As we’ve seen, every time technology changes, you need more space, more data, and more storage, yet the hardware gets smaller. We just need to make sure we’re always ahead of that, or on top of it, so my network is always up and running.

GRIT: Absolutely. It’s very important. You may have already touched on this, but what keeps you coming back and saying you’ll continue with us, hopefully for another 15 years?

Client: Your reliability and trustworthiness. Your support desk staff understand the questions we’re asking, and if they can’t figure something out, they know when to elevate the ticket. And the courtesy matters. It really helps that the reps answering the phone are happy.

GRIT: Absolutely. It makes a difference knowing they like their employer, which I know they do. GRIT is a great company to work for.

Client: Every one of your staff who comes in here is always happy and cheerful and loves working for GRIT. Your office atmosphere is a lot like ours, with the same camaraderie and understanding. You spend most of your day with the people you work with, so you should respect each other and enjoy it. Seeing that in your staff allows us to continue to work with you. If you call in and someone is grumpy or short with you, you don’t want to call them for help, and you’re a help desk, so we’re calling you for help. Having that positive attitude is important, along with constant feedback on where you are in the process. We like that the communication is there: Did we fulfill what you asked? Do you need anything? Is there closure? Asking for feedback is helpful for us.

GRIT: Awesome. We definitely continue to do that, because we really want to make sure we’re doing the right job. Would it be safe to say you’d recommend GRIT to another technical company like yours?

Client: Definitely. Yes. Every day.

GRIT: Why is that?

Client: With 15 years of experience working with your company, you’ve always been reliable. I’ll use the same words again: reliable and trustworthy. You’ve worked for our best interests as much as your own. We’re all in it to make money, but you help us find the best direction to put our money. I think we’ve just appreciated your support overall. I’m trying to think of a more eloquent way to put it.

GRIT: That’s good. That’s all good. This is just a conversation, so that’s not a problem. We’ll land the plane here. I have one or two questions left. If you were to describe your experience with GRIT in one or two sentences, what would you say?

Client: It’s been well worth my money. It’s been a great company to work with, whether it’s the staff or the technology you’ve implemented here. It’s just been easy to work with you. I haven’t felt like the relationship is a chore. I get the answers I need when I need them.

GRIT: I think that’s good enough, and I think those are very key and important. I need to feed that into ChatGPT and let it tell me what to say, and I’d go, “Yes, this is what I want to say.”

Client: Oh my goodness, that’s awesome.

GRIT: Any other final thoughts or comments on the relationship over a decade of working together?

Client: Keep it up. Keep growing. Keep ahead of the technology curve, or stay on top of it. And keep the work environment you have for your staff.

GRIT: Mhm. I’m glad to see the next generation, because they’ve handed it over to the next generation, right?

Client: Yes, it’s great to see that it has been successful, and we believe in that. We’re going on our third generation here in the next five to 10 years, so we like to see the transition and the family atmosphere you have, both in your work environment and your work ethic.