![](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/CBE-logo-3.png\"){kind=logo}
It seems that if there\u2019s one lesson that a successful business teaches us, it\u2019s to evolve with technology but keep the core values constant.<\/p>\nIt seems that if there\u2019s one lesson that a successful business teaches us, it\u2019s to evolve with technology but keep the core values constant.<\/p>\n
![\"John-Eckstrom-photo\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/John-Eckstrom-photo.png\")
John Eckstrom, President\/CEO<\/p><\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are keeping that original vision of outstanding service alive today,\u201d says Eckstrom.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/John-Morelock-photo.png\")
John Morelock, Director of IT Solutions<\/p><\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
CBE covers a little over half of the state of South Carolina with their print-based offerings, but with managed network services, they\u2019re statewide, with nationwide capability. They are also the IT provider for the nation\u2019s only television manufacturer, Minneapolis-based Element Electronics. Element\u2019s production facility is in Winnsboro, about 30 miles from CBE\u2019s front door. CBE can also boast to being the technology provider for what is arguably the minor leagues\u2019 most technologically advanced park.<\/p>\n
![\"Kurt](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Kurt-Beasley-CBE.png\")
Kurt Beasley, CIO<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u2019s managed network services to see how business was doing, what was new and how they were progressing with managed services.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s cut to the chase. How is business?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0It\u2019s going well. We\u2019ve experienced steady growth year over year. We\u2019ve been fortunate enough to enjoy profitability, even with all the growth that\u2019s going on in the company.<\/p>\n 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?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: 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\u2019s a constant assessment. You can\u2019t just sit back and say, \u201cWe\u2019ve got that one figured out.\u201d You check the box and then move on because things are in a constant state of change. It\u2019s hyperchange.<\/p>\n Tell us more about your customers and the different approach to them in regards to managed services.<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0Well, clearly we are in the SMB space. Anybody getting into this space will begin with the breakfix model. Then they\u2019ll graduate to block of time. The next stage is the fully managed services aspect.<\/p>\n Like anyone else that is in MNS we have already gone through this migration. We\u2019ve 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\u2019s clearly our target group.<\/p>\n Kurt Beasley<\/strong>: \u00a0One 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\u2019s the kind of mandate we have before we take anybody on.<\/p>\n For instance, if they have a sizeable amount of data that can eat up that $250 to $300 a month budget, that\u2019s not a suitable customer for us. That\u2019s because one computer outage without the proper backup could cost thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0It\u2019s important to know that when they engage us, they are engaging us as a leader for their IT department. We\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n Do you standardize your hardware stacks when you provide the managed network services?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: We don\u2019t 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\u2019s environment and I\u2019ll let John Morelock speak to that.<\/p>\n John Morelock<\/strong>: \u00a0We do a complete onboarding and assessment. We\u2019ll explain to them the pieces that need to be replaced and the pieces that need to be upgraded. Then we\u2019ll help create a timeframe over the next 90 or 180 days, so that they can budget it out.<\/p>\n Do you charge for your assessment?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Morelock<\/strong>: \u00a0If 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\u2019re going to do what we say we\u2019re going to do, then that is part of the service we do during the onboard.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: We\u2019ve 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\u2019s because we\u2019d be putting our faith in the work that somebody else had done. We\u2019re just not comfortable doing that.<\/p>\n John Morelock<\/strong>: There\u2019s high value in having a trusted advisor. When we get that business, we become their virtual CIO. That means we don\u2019t view these folks as just clients. We\u2019re their technology partner. There\u2019s a big difference in selling somebody gear and having a longterm relationship where you actually have a partnership.<\/p>\n How difficult is it to find the right kind of talent to manage your network services?<\/strong><\/p>\n Kurt Beasley<\/strong>: \u00a0I think many companies struggle to find good people. Initially, there\u2019s 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\u2019t necessarily have any application skills. Or rather, they don\u2019t really know how to apply that in business. We\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk MPS. How is MPS going for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0It\u2019s going well, thank you. We consider ourselves very blessed. Clearly, it\u2019s a byproduct of the relationship we have with a new supplier, Oki Data. This is not an Oki commercial, but I\u2019m grateful for the relationship we have with them.<\/p>\n What segments of your business are growing the fastest?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0The two management segments \u2013 print and network. That\u2019s clearly where we see the opportunity for our greatest growth, too.<\/p>\n Is there a product or solution that you\u2019re not currently providing, but you plan on providing in the future?<\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0Our approach is to bring solutions to the marketplace that are applicable to the way business will be conducted. We\u2019re very deliberate about who we bring in, so we\u2019re 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\u2019re not positioned for it.<\/p>\n How would you describe your company\u2019s culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0We have a true team approach that\u2019s more than just talked about \u2013 it\u2019s lived out. As a management team, we preach to the support group that every engagement begins with this question: \u201cIn the end, will it have amazed?\u201d I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a chess player, but I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve played. You know that when you play the game you don\u2019t just take that next move. Before you take that next move you\u2019re looking at the next one after that, and potentially the third one after that. Is that a fair statement?<\/p>\n Yes, it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0When we go into a business engagement, particularly on the managed network side, we\u2019re thinking two and three steps into the game.<\/p>\n Kurt Beasley<\/strong>: \u00a0Internally, 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\u2019t help but be successful. You just will. That\u2019s something that permeates through our company culture.<\/p>\n What would you consider your biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0The 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.<\/p>\n You seem like you have an impressive consultative sales model going on.<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: Well, interestingly, I heard John Morelock in a team meeting this week talking about bringing managed services to the marketplace. He said, \u201cI want you to think like a consultant, and I want you to act like a technician.\u201d<\/p>\n John Morelock<\/strong>: \u00a0It\u2019s important that all of our team members have a holistic approach when they do these projects, because it\u2019s not just the technology we\u2019re supporting, it\u2019s the users. Those users make up the company, and we\u2019ve got to help them watch out for their bottom line.<\/p>\n Turning to the future, where do you see CBE in the next five years?<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0We\u2019ve enjoyed good growth over the past two decades. We certainly expect that to continue for the next five years. We think we\u2019re 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\u2019re continuing to push down this managed services line, and it\u2019s going to be fun as we not only ride the wave, but try to shape it as well.<\/p>\n John, you were an ENX Difference Maker and also BTA\u2019s Volunteer of the Year. Please let us know how you felt about that.<\/strong><\/p>\n John Eckstrom<\/strong>: \u00a0What can you say other than honored? When you get recognized for anything like that you think, \u201cHow in the world did I deserve that?\u201d I mentioned to Bob Goldberg I was quite certain there\u2019d 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\u2019re doing something part of a cause that makes a difference, it\u2019s just fun. It doesn\u2019t seem like work in a way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems that if there\u2019s one lesson that a successful business teaches us, it\u2019s to evolve with technology but keep the core values constant. 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. \u201cWe are keeping that original vision of outstanding service alive today,\u201d says Eckstrom. 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\u2019re statewide, with nationwide capability. They are also the IT provider for the nation\u2019s only television manufacturer, Minneapolis-based Element Electronics. Element\u2019s production facility is in Winnsboro, about 30 miles from CBE\u2019s front door. CBE can also boast to being the technology provider for what is arguably the minor leagues\u2019 most technologically advanced park. 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\u2019s managed network services to see how business was doing, what was new and how they were progressing with managed services. Let\u2019s cut to the chase. How is business? John Eckstrom: \u00a0It\u2019s going well. We\u2019ve experienced steady growth year over year. We\u2019ve been fortunate enough to enjoy profitability, even with all the growth that\u2019s 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\u2019s a constant assessment. You can\u2019t just sit back and say, \u201cWe\u2019ve got that one figured out.\u201d You check the box and then move on because things are in a constant state of change. It\u2019s hyperchange. Tell us more about your customers and the different approach to them in regards to managed services. John Eckstrom: \u00a0Well, clearly we are in the SMB space. Anybody getting into this space will begin with the breakfix model. Then they\u2019ll 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\u2019ve 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\u2019s clearly our target group. Kurt Beasley: \u00a0One 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\u2019s 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\u2019s not a suitable customer for us. That\u2019s because one computer outage without the proper backup could cost thousands of dollars. John Eckstrom: \u00a0It\u2019s important to know that when they engage us, they are engaging us as a leader for their IT department. We\u2019re 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\u2019t 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\u2019s environment and I\u2019ll let John Morelock speak to that. John Morelock: \u00a0We do a complete onboarding and assessment. We\u2019ll explain to them the pieces that need to be replaced and the pieces that need to be upgraded. Then we\u2019ll 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: \u00a0If 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\u2019re going to do what we say we\u2019re 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\u2019ve had the other side of that card presented to us before too. People came to us and asked us to provide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1643],"tags":[137,2656],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19374"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19410,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19374\/revisions\/19410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"carolina-photo\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/carolina-photo.png\")
<\/p>\n