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Author: Craig Zimmerman, IGS, International Government Systems, Inc.
Click here, to read the pdf version of this article
20 years ago, the rock band Rush released A Show
of Hands. The Rolling Stones rolled out Steel Wheels – later
dubbed Steel Wheelchairs by some who thought Mick, Keith,
and crew were better suited to rocking chairs than rocking
Veterans Stadium. Oh, and Milli Vanilli gave the world Girl
You Know It’s True.
When Bobby Ahearn of IGS Systems, Inc. (www.decparts.com)
was listening to classic bands like the Stones two decades
ago, he was also busy founding what was to become
Digital Equipment Corporation’s go-to shop for parts and
service. Back then, IGS’s playing field – high-end computer
equipment resale and repair – was shared among 30 or so key
players and around 15 notable manufacturers. In the niche
today, there’s about ten times the number of manufacturers.
And half the number of resellers.
When asked for the reasons that some resellers have survived,
and even thrived, like IGS has, during the last 20 years,
while some dropped off the map, Bobby likens it to the music
business: even though thousands of bands have come along in
the time IGS has been in business, he’s still listening to Mick
and Keef, Geddy and Alex, and the like because there’s just
something about their formula that stands the test of time.
So what is it that separates the resellers who stay on the
charts – the Rolling Stones of the business – from those who
flare up and then, thankfully, disappear, like the Milli Vanillis?
For one thing, they don’t lip-synch – these shops do all
their own stunts, to mix a metaphor. And the biggest reason?
The resellers that have held the stage for decades and played
to SRO crowds have learned to dance with them what brung
them.
Satisfaction
Bobby Ahearn of IGS Systems knows what Mick Jagger
knows: ultimately, all your success rides on just one thing –
giving your customers what they want. And what they want,
more than anything, is service.
“There’s no question in my mind that it’s what we’ve cut our
teeth on from Day One: it’s service excellence,” Bobby says.
“It’s getting back to a customer in a timely fashion. It’s understanding
their needs.”
For Bobby Ahearn and the other resellers who’ve continued
to dominate the DEC/HP/Compaq niche, the foundation of
service is communication, which, like everything else, has
changed markedly in the last two decades.
“It’s communication today that’s the issue. Back then, it
was fax machines. It was a lot easier to manage. We’re bombarded
today with IMs and emails and faxes and telephone
requests. We’re a 24/7 organization. There are people that are
here on call 24 hours a day,” Bobby says, noting customer expectations
regarding response time. But while technologies
like email and instant messaging have ramped up the speed of
communications, they’ve also shrunken the world, making it
necessary for top resellers to brush up on their social studies.
A work in progress is also how Bobby characterizes his
company and the rest of the resellers that have lasted in his
niche. For these companies, continuing success requires near
constant reinvention to meet the needs of changing markets
and customers. Those who’ve managed to grow have, in addition
to listening to their customers, learned to put their eggs
in more than one basket – in IGS’s case, 39 more.
Bobby puts it very plainly: “You have to be diverse in our
world today or you die.” A big part of that diversity comes
from being a multivendor supplier who, rather than focusing
all its efforts on a single product line, cultivates partnerships
with manufacturers across the market. While IGS’s partnership
with DEC runs deep, they also supply parts from IBM,
Sun, NetGear, and around 40 other top manufacturers.
A successful reseller also spreads its business across the
public and private sectors in hopes of weathering the inevitable
ups and downs it will encounter over decades in the IT
equipment business. That’s what IGS, for example, has done
from its beginnings.
“We started it in 1990 as a repair facility, doing component
level repair on DEC and Compaq products, primarily mid-range minicomputers. We’re what they call a legacy midrange
repair facility. We focused primarily on the government, military,
NASA. We were mission critical.”
Speaking of repair and flat-out technical know-how, Bobby
says, “We’re not in the hanger business. If you sell clothes
hangers, when they get there, they’re clothes hangers. But
this is extremely high-end, extremely complicated hardware.
When you’re in the used equipment business, you’re not selling
pre-packaged, from-the-manufacturer product that works
when it gets there. You’re selling product that has revision
level issues. They have engineering changes throughout their
lives.”
To deal with those changes, resellers have to not only continually
study their product lines and the inevitable flood of
revisions, upgrades, and introductions, they need testing facilities
and procedures in place that can handle both current
technology and large volumes of legacy product from multiple
manufacturers. While this has always been key to survival, it’s
even more important as corporations move to lop off everlarger
portions of their 21st century operating budgets.
“The Fortune 500s, the Fortune 100s of the world, they can’t
afford to have 30 different vendors,” Bobby notes. And they
can’t afford downtime, either.
“In the used and refurbished equipment world, how do you
know it works when it’s getting where it’s going, and if you’re
drop shipping it from who-knows-where?” Bobby says. “They found a need for being able
to qualify those resellers that have stocking inventory.”
The final song of the set for resellers like IGS is attitude.
Just like the Stones are never too rich to come back onstage
and play at least one encore, a top reseller never rests on its
laurels.
“We certainly are not irreplaceable,” Bobby notes. “You
think you’ve got a skill set that can’t be replaced?” Not when
he’s got 15 men and women who “can give me a good run for
my money.”
Time Is on My Side
Whether your business is rock and roll or chips and DIPs,
you get to be a perennial crowd favorite by finding out what
that crowd needs and then delivering the goods, year after
year, decade after decade.
And once customers find a reseller they can groove on, they
should hang on. “Do your homework,” Bobby Ahearn advises.
“If you’ve got a good relationship with a qualified reseller, hold
on to them. They’re a valuable commodity.” |PSO|
Get the MAX from your VAX!
Get the MAXimum from your existing VAX investment through Compaq's continued commitment to the VAX range
of computing products.
As you are no doubt aware, Compaq has announced the end of the VAX platform.
COMMITMENT
Compaq recognizes that for many of our customers, there will be extensive and long term support
requirements for their investments in VAX. Because we value all of our customers in North America, IGS Systems Inc., will continue to
fulfill your VAX equipment needs. The option to buy quality - remanufactured products is designed to protect your initial IT
investment by ensuring the availability of Compaq branded equipment long after the manufacturing cycle has ended. Compaq will
continue to service VAX at least until 2010 and will continue to enhance Open VMS for VAX indefinately.
VAX PRODUCTS
We recommend that you contact this reseller for your used equipment needs.
IGS Systems, Inc.
Telephone/Fax:
Tel: 508-866-1171
Fax: 508-866-6868
Toll-Free
1-888-DECPART
(1-800-332-7278)
For futher information on obtaining VAX systems:
Visit: http://www.decparts.com
Contact Bobby Ahearn CEO; Bobby@decparts.com 508-866-1171 x 235
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