MicroXpress Helps Classic Rock Fabrication Lower IT Costs 25%

Author Photo

written by craig beam posted on September 22, 2021

MicroXpress Helps Classic Rock Fabrication Keep IT Costs Low With A La Carte Services

Classic Rock Fabrication is a countertop manufacturing company. They work with kitchen and bath dealers in the tri-state area, manufacturing and installing high-quality countertops.

Download Our Complete Case Study Here

As a manufacturing firm with robust software and infrastructure needs, the Classic Rock Fabrication staff depends heavily on the availability of their systems. However, thanks to the experience and capabilities offered by their Director of Facilities, Ryan Tewell, they don’t require fully outsourced IT support.

That’s why they work with MicroXpress.

Classic Rock Fabrication

Classic Rock Fabrication Was Overpaying For Cloud Services And IT Support

Before Ryan had joined Classic Rock Fabrication, the company was working with a fully outsourced IT partner and cloud services provider. While this arrangement did provide them with the solutions and support they needed, it wasn’t an ideal arrangement. Their cloud platform was configured to their exact needs, and they were paying a high rate for such extensive support services.

“We had a lot of performance issues, we had a lot of user preference issues,” says Ryan. “I came on  board in 2017, and took IT over in 2018, and it was just one issue after another.”

When Ryan took over Classic Rock Fabrication’s IT management, it quickly became clear to him that they needed to find a new cloud service provider, and drastically scale back their IT spending. He knew that if they resolved their ongoing cloud issues, he could personally handle a majority of the Tier 1 and minor support issues that would come up on a day-to-day basis.

That’s when he called MicroXpress.

MicroXpress Offered The A La Carte IT Support Classic Rock Fabrication Needed

“I interviewed several different companies in the area, and MicroXpress came out on top,” says Ryan. “They were recommended by another partner of ours.”

In the process of looking for potential new IT partners, Ryan repeatedly ran into the same obstacle — most IT companies refused to offer a la carte services. They only worked on a fully outsourced management model, which provided a long list of services and extensive support capabilities, paid for on a per-user basis.

“You’re paying for a lot of stuff you don’t need,” says Ryan. “It was a lot more expensive.”

Given Ryan’s ability to handle most onsite IT issues, he knew that investing in a support model like this would be fiscally irresponsible. Classic Rock Fabrication didn’t need this level of support, and so, he kept looking for an IT company that would provide services matched specifically to the company’s requirements.

Thanks to a recommendation, Ryan got in touch with MicroXpress. He explained what Classic Rock Fabrication specifically required from an IT partner: Microsoft Azure services and management, in addition to five hours of tech support a month for support issues that he would escalate to them. The MicroXpress team was happy to oblige him.

“When we do have issues, if I can’t fix them, then MicroXpress will be able to fix them,” says Ryan. “So I set up a monthly retainer with them to handle those types of issues.”

MicroXpress Helped Classic Rock Fabrication Solve Their Cloud Issues And Reduce Spending By 25%

As mentioned above, one of the main reasons Classic Rock Fabrication was looking for a new IT support company was because of the issues they had been encountering with their cloud platform. In 2016, they had migrated to a cloud service based on its compatibility with the robust CAD software that their manufacturing processes relied on. Unfortunately, this cloud platform presented other performance and user-facing issues.

“We had a lot of user interface issues,” says Ryan. “Every morning our staff members had to set their computer up for the day.”

Despite ongoing efforts by Ryan and the cloud service provider to resolve these problems, they persisted. Every day, Classic Rock Fabrication staff members wasted their time resetting the specific preferences for their work.

“They had it locked down so tight that any changes you made would revert back,” says Ryan. “They could never figure it out, so no matter how many times I tried to get them to fix it, it still didn’t get fixed.”

Furthermore, as Classic Rock Fabrication’s business grew over the course of the pandemic, their cloud service bills grew as well. As of the beginning of 2021, it became inordinately expensive for Classic Rock Fabrication to use this cloud service. That’s why they switched to Microsoft Azure with MicroXpress.

“What led us to switch was the issues, not to mention that our price almost doubled in the first few months of 2021,” says Ryan. “We are saving a little bit of money now, but the performance aspect is where we’re really befitting. If I wouldn’t have switched cloud providers, I’d be paying 25% more this year.

MicroXpress Is Classic Rock Fabrication’s Committed IT Partner

With MicroXpress as their IT partner, this Classic Rock Fabrication can trust that their IT won’t fail them. When the occasional small issue comes up, all they have to do is place a call and talk to their familiar contact at MicroXpress to get it fixed. Similarly, when they need to start looking for a new IT solution, they know MicroXpress will handle it for them.

Skip to toolbar