Flints balance each other as Computer ER expands services

By BILL SCHWANKE of Missoula.com

Craig Flint is the accelerator. Tristin Flint is the brake.
"She's the money (end)," Craig Flint said. "I'm the ideas (end)."

So far the combination has kept Computer ER of Missoula headed down the road at a fast clip, but not fast enough to force it off the road.

And that balance has been even more important since the business started its newest phase called managed services.

The two have been married for 11 years and are headed into their ninth year with Computer ER, a company they started in Missoula in 1999.

Tristin is the president and chief executive officer of CERNetworks, the umbrella name that encompasses both sides of the business. Craig is vice president and chief technology officer.

The business has maintained a consistent reputation as the community's best computer repair shop. And it's rapidly establishing itself in the managed services area as well.

They call their version RightNet.

The two have been implementing RightNet for about two years with most of their clients in Missoula.

"Basically what (RightNet) entails is us taking control and management of a customer's network infrastructure," Craig explained, "from servers to desktops to the switches and things like that so that that customer can spend their money and their time on being more productive in other areas."

Flint said Computer ER had always done a certain amount of managed services work by taking a proactive approach to their customers' networks. Now that there is an official title for it they can package and sell the service.

The new service isn't something that just happened. Both Craig and Tristin had attended industry workshops where they received training in managed services that piqued their interest.

"We saw that it was a successful business model," Tristin explained. "It would benefit our customers as well as us, and it was a no-brainer."

Craig added that it actually allows them to do more with less. Since they monitor their RightNet customers 24/7, they can head problems off by picking up on potential issues before they occur. The last thing computer- and network-dependent customers need is down time.

"We don't have to get that call at 2 . . . or 8 in the morning and have to scramble, cancel appointments and go take care of (it)," Craig explained. "We oftentimes know more about the customer's network and what's going on before they even know there's a problem."

That means they can either take care of a problem remotely or be at a business's front door waiting for them at opening time.

Before deciding to go full bore into managed services, about 75 percent of Computer ER's business was service and repair that, over time, led to warranty service and repair for companies like Sony, Hewlett Packard and Apple.

Now the managed services area accounts for about 60 percent of the business and a more profitable revenue stream. And the service area actually generates more business for RightNet.

"We can always count on viruses, spyware and kids to keep us busy (in the service area)," Craig laughed. "So if the networking and the managed services part ever decided to go away the Computer ER part would certainly keep us going and . . . keep us busy."

Tristin said it's common for a service job on a home computer to lead to a new relationship with that PC owner's business.

The Flints knew there were other Missoula companies offering similar types of services for small businesses, and that's why they decided to limit themselves somewhat.

"We do service and repair and we do business technology solutions," Tristin noted. "We don't do Web hosting. We don't do Web development. We don't do telephones.

"We don't do all that other stuff that everybody else does," she added. "We focus on what we do, and we think we do it really well."

Even though they've been full time in managed services for a relatively short time, the business already has garnered some national attention.

Craig's photo recently was on the cover of Ingram Micro's Channel Advisor magazine. That opened the door for him to speak at national conferences and do Webinars about the changes they've made in their business and the model they're using.

During a recent gathering in San Diego, one of Craig's quotes from the magazine article popped up on the screen.

Craig, left, and Tristin Flint: check out some new possibilities for their business, CERNetworks, localed in Missoula's South Center. BILL SCHWANKE/Missoula.com

"The guy just stopped on it to show other people in our business and . . . industry the positive things that we have found and how it's worked for us," he said.

The notoriety has been a bit of a surprise to the Flints, especially being from a low-population area like Missoula. It's also allowed them to attract large companies to take part in technology expos such as the one they recently hosted.

They're planning another in May 2008 that again will feature the large technology companies along with the Microsoft bus complete with all of its products.

The public will be invited to visit the bus and ask any Microsoft questions they might have on their minds.

The change has been a transition for everybody working at Computer ER - or CERNetworks - primarily in terms of mind-set. There haven't been huge personnel or equipment changes, but there are alerts and the need to respond to them.

"You're getting a ton of information," Craig said. "You have to learn what you need and what you don't need. And you spend possibly more time in front of a computer than you would going out to a customer."

One thing the Flints have emphasized, though, is the need to maintain what they call "face time" with customers. They still make it a point to visit all of them on a regular basis.

"It's more productive for us (and) it's less expensive for the client," Tristin said. "We don't have drive time, so we're able to get on top of (things) much quicker."

Craig described preparing for the conversion "a complete nightmare" in terms of deciding which managed services providers to go with because it's still a relatively new area and there are a lot of companies offering packaged monitoring services.

They wanted to be sure they picked the right one. Craig tested out a number of products with varying costs and capabilities, and they finally settled on Level Platforms.

They're using a hosted version of the product through their distributor - Ingram Micro - complete with a help desk in Buffalo, N.Y.

"Anything that happens, they take care of it," Craig explained. "We can bundle 24-hour-a-day help desk and network operations center, patch management - all of these different services - and an 800 number for our customers to call."

That means the Flints didn't have to add personnel in Missoula. If something reaches a critical stage for a customer they get a call from the help desk that tells them what's been done already and what else needs to be done.

All of this comes under a flat fee, not an hourly rate, for their customers. It comes to about 7 cents per hour per user. And everybody in Buffalo is certified in multiple areas so the Flints can be confident that their customers are getting the best service possible.

Tristin said they consider themselves to be in the small- and medium-sized business market, although when they attend conferences they call it the super small market. That covers businesses with 10 or more computers including servers, although they do have some under 10, most of which buy 24-hour monitoring only.

Learning and technology development are constants in their world, so the Flints are kept up to date by vendors on new things that can impact their businesses.

Tristin, left, and Craig Flint: have been married 11 years and have operated Computer ER for nearly nine years. The company has been expanding into being a managed services provider. BILL SCHWANKE/Missoula.com

"They are constantly in contact with us saying, 'hey, this is what we're doing, this is what's coming out,'" Craig said. "And they know what our focus is, so they only tell us what's happening in that space.

"It's like being in school every day," he went on. "We don't get any breaks or holidays because there's always new stuff to learn."

The Flints said the transition has been "excellent" so far and that customers are "really happy."

They recommend what their customers should do, but most of their clients can decide whether or not to take their advice. In some cases the Flints have carte blanche to do whatever they determine is needed, but they still let those clients know in advance what they're going to do.

Do they like the pace at which their new services are growing? Yes and no.

"I'm all for going full speed ahead," Craig (the accelerator) said. "I sometimes learn as I do, but I like the pace of where it's going and it's moving pretty quickly, but in a good direction.

"Had (we) had this hosted service . . . two years ago we would be through the roof right now," he added. "It would just be incredible, the amount of growth we would have seen."

Craig said Tristin (the brake) prefers the slower, more methodical growth pace.

"And we're still speaking," they agreed.

Most of their new customers come through referrals. Tristin does a lot of social networking through the Missoula Chamber of Commerce and the local businesswomen's network and also pounds the pavement in search of new clients.

Although world domination is a goal of Craig's, the two agree that it would be nice to be in a position financially where they can take time off when they want to and live comfortably without having "Robin Leach over at our house every day," as Craig put it.

The business has room for a large amount of growth because of the way it's set up and changing.

"It's becoming more hands-off for us and for the customer," Craig said, "(and) I think that it's just gonna start turning automatic. Once the customers' networks are under control - and we see this through managed services - we'll be able to help them obtain new product and make their businesses better, faster, more profitable."

"Instead of spending money on reactive type service, they can take that labor money . . . and put it toward something new that they can implement that'll make their business more productive," Tristin chimed in.

Another key is how the Flints hire their own employees.

"We hire people people," Tristin noted. "A lot of technicians are non-people people. You still want to have that person-to-person contact. You still want to know that someone is helping (you) out.

It goes back to having built their business by being hands-on and not selling customers things they don't need.

"In this size of a community we have (to have) integrity," Tristin said. "We're not going to sell people something they don't want. We have to see them at the grocery store, and we feel that's more valuable."

Click here to listen to the entire interview with Craig and Tristin Flint of Computer ER and CERNetworks.