How Do You Turn an Ocean Liner?

“The biggest thing is this idea that sometimes when you make a big transition, you may be ahead of your customers, and you certainly are ahead, I think in many cases, of your best customers, because they have their own ideas [about the future of your company],” Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365 said about how it shifted from selling software in boxes to software-as-a-service. And Microsoft wasn’t just asking customers to make this change. It also involved massive internal change … when you move to a new system like this, it completely changes how you do business.¹

Why Bryley Takes Pains

Years ago a consultant told me that to shift a business’ paradigm was like trying to turn an ocean liner. Seems about right.

Bryley was started in 1987. Over that time we’ve had to continually think and rethink what’s working and what’s no longer serving our clients. And out of that process of assessing and reassessing we’ve evolved. For example we went from designing and installing networks to being companies’ outsourced IT departments – the skills and tasks involved to successfully fulfill each of these roles is different. So we’ve adjusted staff and shifted our expertise. This kind of change is never easy.

That’s why when you’re considering Bryley as your IT provider, we make it a point to look out for the obstacles you’ll be facing in making the shift from how you’re currently doing things. Because we’ve seen and supported many organizations, we understand that every situation is unique, and so we tailor our onboarding process to help ease the change for you and your employees.

A Careful Onboarding Process Benefits Your Organization

First we take the time to understand your business so that we can propose and provide the right products, services and support to help you get your business where you want it to be. Possibilities include that your business becomes technologically outfitted and supported to explore the development of new products or new market opportunities. Or we can help you increase uptime, productivity and profitability.

Bryley also takes cybersecurity seriously. We work with you to identify and mitigate the most pressing security risks to help keep your business’ data safe and keep you up-and-running.

A good onboarding process gets your employees up-to-speed quickly so that they’ll need less ongoing training, which will save your business money long term. And we’ve found the better a business is onboarded, the quicker the relationship is fruitful – everyone knows the expectations, their roles and responsibilities.

Bryley’s Process: Toward Better Network Management

One of Garin Livingstone’s initiatives when he became president in 2021 was to make: “networking and security easier for clients to understand. Without the give-and-take of good communication, it’s easy to miss information that might make network management better for our clients.”

When we onboard clients Bryley conducts interviews and an assessment of your IT infrastructure. This helps us understand your business, its current network and identify any potential systems configuration issues.

Bryley will prepare a customized onboarding plan that addresses your specific needs. This plan includes objectives, timelines, access to and instruction in our support portal – as well as defining expectations for support. The plan also includes everything you’ll need from setting up your accounts to training your employees.

To help ensure a good transition, Bryley provides ongoing support throughout the process. We understand that entering into a new relationship with an IT provider can be time-consuming and involved. Bryley’s committed to making it as easy and stress-free as possible for you and your employees.

Respect for Your Confidence

We put an emphasis on successful onboarding, to get your relationship with Bryley off on the right foot. We’ve found when your employees are satisfied with the onboarding process, they’re more likely to stay productive, engaged and supportive. On the other hand, an IT paradigm change, when not handled well, carries the risk of damaging processes and alienating team members.

Which brings me back to the question: how anyway do you turn an ocean liner? Well, sales trainer Jon Schallert writes that he found a pretty close answer from a retired naval commander, who said it takes him three to five miles and about three to five minutes to turn an aircraft carrier (the world’s largest vessel). So turning an ocean liner is of course really doable – if you know what you’re doing.

And Bryley’s method behind our IT service’s growth of more than thirty-five years and its industry recognition is to honor the trust our clients place in us.

If you want to learn more about how Bryley manages the onboarding process toward a better IT paradigm for your organization, please complete the form, below, call 978.562.6077 or email ITExperts@Bryley.com.

^{1 Nov. 12, 2021 techcrunch+ interview [paywall]}