It seems that if there’s one lesson that a successful business teaches us, it’s to evolve with technology but keep the core values constant.
John Eckstrom, President/CEO
CBE was started in Columbia, South Carolina in 1975 by two service technicians who wanted to provide outstanding service. At the time CBE stood for Columbia Business Equipment, but to solve the issue of geographic name constraints, the name was changed to Carolina Business Equipment.
John Eckstrom purchased the company 23 years ago. Even though CBE is now a pioneer in providing cutting-edge solutions that were unforeseen 40 years ago, one aspect has remained unchanged.
“We are keeping that original vision of outstanding service alive today,” says Eckstrom.
John Morelock, Director of IT Solutions
Today, CBE generates roughly $7 million a year in revenue. They have showrooms, offices and warehouses in Columbia, Florence and Charleston with a total of 42 employees. Sharp, Toshiba, and Oki are their primary equipment vendors, and their document management vendor is Intellinetics. They offer in-house managed IT services and have multiple software vendors.
CBE covers a little over half of the state of South Carolina with their print-based offerings, but with managed network services, they’re statewide, with nationwide capability. They are also the IT provider for the nation’s only television manufacturer, Minneapolis-based Element Electronics. Element’s production facility is in Winnsboro, about 30 miles from CBE’s front door. CBE can also boast to being the technology provider for what is arguably the minor leagues’ most technologically advanced park.
Kurt Beasley, CIO
CBE was one of the first dealerships to provide in-house managed IT services, and John Eckstrom has been invited to speak on the subject several times. ENX spoke to President Eckstrom, CIO Kurt Beasley and John Morelock who is in charge of CBE’s managed network services to see how business was doing, what was new and how they were progressing with managed services.
Let’s cut to the chase. How is business?
John Eckstrom: It’s going well. We’ve experienced steady growth year over year. We’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy profitability, even with all the growth that’s going on in the company.
How would you describe the changes to your business within the past five years? What is different about the business today compared to five years ago?
John Eckstrom: On the print side, probably the biggest thing is the new strategic alliance with Oki Data. On the IT side, we made some changes in our remote monitoring management software. We approach the marketplace the same way we approach our own house: It’s a constant assessment. You can’t just sit back and say, “We’ve got that one figured out.” You check the box and then move on because things are in a constant state of change. It’s hyperchange.
Tell us more about your customers and the different approach to them in regards to managed services.
John Eckstrom: Well, clearly we are in the SMB space. Anybody getting into this space will begin with the breakfix model. Then they’ll graduate to block of time. The next stage is the fully managed services aspect.
Like anyone else that is in MNS we have already gone through this migration. We’ve graduated to the point where the solution that we have, while scalable, is probably over the budget of very small users. Our typical user is going to be in the 20 to 50 node-sized range. That’s clearly our target group.
Kurt Beasley: One reason behind that relates to the level of service that you are able to provide to a budget. If a customer has a very low budget they kind of box themselves in to that break-fix mentality, rather than a more managed approach, which is going to include a backup system of some sort. That’s the kind of mandate we have before we take anybody on.
For instance, if they have a sizeable amount of data that can eat up that $250 to $300 a month budget, that’s not a suitable customer for us. That’s because one computer outage without the proper backup could cost thousands of dollars.
John Eckstrom: It’s important to know that when they engage us, they are engaging us as a leader for their IT department. We’re not somebody who simply works on their equipment. We are going to be the people who take full responsibility. That is a role that we are going to fill.
Do you standardize your hardware stacks when you provide the managed network services?
John Eckstrom: We don’t necessarily do the rip and replace, but we do have a standardized product set that we go to when it has to be done. Most engagements begin with a critical assessment of the client’s environment and I’ll let John Morelock speak to that.
John Morelock: We do a complete onboarding and assessment. We’ll explain to them the pieces that need to be replaced and the pieces that need to be upgraded. Then we’ll help create a timeframe over the next 90 or 180 days, so that they can budget it out.
Do you charge for your assessment?
John Morelock: If somebody wants an assessment before we do business with them, absolutely we charge for it. However, if someone takes that leap of faith and trusts that we’re going to do what we say we’re going to do, then that is part of the service we do during the onboard.
If someone wants to come on board and get an assessment, one of the guarantees we give them is that we will credit that back to them if they move forward with us on managed network services.
They can take that assessment and get a third-party approval or a third-party quote if they want. The nice thing is if they choose not do business with us and elect to pay for that assessment, they have a good incentive to come back to us because they have some investment in the game.
John Eckstrom: We’ve had the other side of that card presented to us before too. People came to us and asked us to provide a quote. With all the grace we could muster, we explained that we would not. It’s because we’d be putting our faith in the work that somebody else had done. We’re just not comfortable doing that.
John Morelock: There’s high value in having a trusted advisor. When we get that business, we become their virtual CIO. That means we don’t view these folks as just clients. We’re their technology partner. There’s a big difference in selling somebody gear and having a longterm relationship where you actually have a partnership.
How difficult is it to find the right kind of talent to manage your network services?
Kurt Beasley: I think many companies struggle to find good people. Initially, there’s a lot of give and take. You can bring somebody on who has recently graduated from a technological school, and they may have the latest technology skills, but they don’t necessarily have any application skills. Or rather, they don’t really know how to apply that in business. We’ve partnered with several tech schools and we have great relationships with them as well as some recruiters. A lot of the vetting has already been taken care of by those trusted partners who are in the recruiting business.
Let’s talk MPS. How is MPS going for you?
John Eckstrom: It’s going well, thank you. We consider ourselves very blessed. Clearly, it’s a byproduct of the relationship we have with a new supplier, Oki Data. This is not an Oki commercial, but I’m grateful for the relationship we have with them.
What segments of your business are growing the fastest?
John Eckstrom: The two management segments – print and network. That’s clearly where we see the opportunity for our greatest growth, too.
Is there a product or solution that you’re not currently providing, but you plan on providing in the future?
John Eckstrom: Our approach is to bring solutions to the marketplace that are applicable to the way business will be conducted. We’re very deliberate about who we bring in, so we’re focusing on our core competencies right now. There will be other things that come, but we are not going to be all things to all people when we’re not positioned for it.
How would you describe your company’s culture?
John Eckstrom: We have a true team approach that’s more than just talked about – it’s lived out. As a management team, we preach to the support group that every engagement begins with this question: “In the end, will it have amazed?” I don’t know if you’re a chess player, but I’m sure you’ve played. You know that when you play the game you don’t just take that next move. Before you take that next move you’re looking at the next one after that, and potentially the third one after that. Is that a fair statement?
Yes, it is.
John Eckstrom: When we go into a business engagement, particularly on the managed network side, we’re thinking two and three steps into the game.
Kurt Beasley: Internally, what keeps us focused and balanced as a company is we keep the proper perspective, which is God first, family next, and company third. We believe that if you keep those things in balance, you can’t help but be successful. You just will. That’s something that permeates through our company culture.
What would you consider your biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?
John Eckstrom: The recognition by ENX of course! Actually, we approach everything as an ongoing process as we continue to push to grow. We have reached several milestones and collectively, these are our biggest accomplishments.
You seem like you have an impressive consultative sales model going on.
John Eckstrom: Well, interestingly, I heard John Morelock in a team meeting this week talking about bringing managed services to the marketplace. He said, “I want you to think like a consultant, and I want you to act like a technician.”
John Morelock: It’s important that all of our team members have a holistic approach when they do these projects, because it’s not just the technology we’re supporting, it’s the users. Those users make up the company, and we’ve got to help them watch out for their bottom line.
Turning to the future, where do you see CBE in the next five years?
John Eckstrom: We’ve enjoyed good growth over the past two decades. We certainly expect that to continue for the next five years. We think we’re pretty good at what we do, but our systems take constant oversight in this environment of hypergrowth and hyperchange. While it is sound today we are always looking at different ways to do things. In short, this is called being proactive. We’re continuing to push down this managed services line, and it’s going to be fun as we not only ride the wave, but try to shape it as well.
John, you were an ENX Difference Maker and also BTA’s Volunteer of the Year. Please let us know how you felt about that.
John Eckstrom: What can you say other than honored? When you get recognized for anything like that you think, “How in the world did I deserve that?” I mentioned to Bob Goldberg I was quite certain there’d been some mistake when I was awarded with that Volunteer of the Year award for BTA, but Bob told me that it was well deserved and probably long overdue. This got me to thinking and it dawned on me that this was easy lifting because the stuff that I do there is just enjoyable. When you’re doing something part of a cause that makes a difference, it’s just fun. It doesn’t seem like work in a way.
