The Case for Being a “Smaller Company”

Here is an email we received earlier this month:

It's great to hear from your clients you're doing a good job, especially so effusively. Naturally, I wanted to know what had prompted Eddie to send this email of "unsolicited praise".

In my case, satisfying my curiosity coincides with carrying out some of my responsibilities. Part of my tasks at Messaging Architects is to keep in touch with our clients, find out how they’re using our email security and archiving solutions, provide them with the occasional direct line to product management or our CEO, get a sense of how the overall relationship is going, demonstrate how companies can mitigate email risks through real-life case studies. Through these contacts I’ve met some really interesting people, as well as gained insights on collaboration in business, government and education.

So I called Eddie Parker and asked him. He was ready with his answer: our products are really helping him do his job well; he actually used "awesome" when describing the technology. But it is what he said next is what prompted me to write this post: Eddie couldn't say enough about the quality of client care and support he has been getting from Messaging Architects for the past 5 years. Every time he had a product upgrade, the Support team would call him proactively and do the upgrade for him. In Eddie’s own words, "Not once did I have to follow up with your support guys, they were the ones following me. And I am always very impressed by their level of expertise and knowledge. It’s a big differentiator."

In the case of Clinton City Schools, 3 technicians support 3600 end users for everything IT: from whiteboard and projection support to video surveillance and security management; from VOIP and telephony to network and desktop support; from email and switches to storage and file servers. Receiving such client care as part of the standard SLA is a big deal for the organization. He concluded our call with "We're pleased, you have a happy customer and we’re ready to share it with everyone." If you want more details, read the Clinton City Schools case study.

The chat with Eddie reminded me of a comment from Jason Piazza, Director of Network Services at Deer Park ISD, whom I interviewed for a case study I published recently. Jason, too, highlighted the superior client care, the personal touch, and the flexibility of the service he received.

Here's what he said: "Working with Messaging Architects was really a benefit to us because we felt taken care of… We always had access to engineers who were very knowledgeable on email management and archiving issues. I liked the training at the end that provided additional insights and free advice on the Exchange management that were beyond the scope of the migration project. And I appreciated the suggestions from the Messaging Architects Exchange expert on fine-tuning our system. It’s not something you often get from the large software vendors."

Another happy client, T.J. Russell from ISD #318, Grand Rapids, MN, is featured on our website: 'The excellent product and superb support are a win-win for your customers."

I can go on, but I think I’ve given enough evidence for us to agree that:

• Messaging Architects' engineers are providing high quality service to our clients.
• Messaging Architects' engineers are flexible and easy to work with.
• Messaging Architects' engineers are highly experienced and knowledgeable beyond the scope of the products they support.

I can safely say I am speaking on behalf of all my colleagues when expressing the pride and satisfaction we share for getting the job done: helping our clients be successful.

Moreover, the big differentiators clients notice, appreciate, and talk about, such as the personal touch, the extra advice, the proactive human interaction, are - at least partially - related to the fact that Messaging Architects is not a "monster technology company," to quote Jason Piazza again. When you are a small, organically grown, privately held organization obsessed with putting the right people at the right place on the bus, it’s not surprising the clients get the right travel experience. It’s not rocket science…

Isn't it a bit paradoxical then that the "caution" industry analysts attribute to our company is that we are “a smaller organization”? It’s not the technology, the sales model, or the client care and support; it’s the size. I hear it regularly because the other hat I wear at Messaging Architects is that of Analyst Relations.

And so I want to end this rather long piece making the case for the "smaller companies" - especially after Nortel, Chrysler, Lehman Brothers... At Messaging Architects, we've been through a few bubbles and ups-and-downs, but we're still here – with innovative solutions, enthusiastic employees, and most important of all: a growing army of Raving Fans.

I think that's a pretty good place to be.

PS I am dedicating this post to my colleague, Stephanie Greenshields, who was relentless and instrumental in setting up the standards of what has become our "big differentiator": exceptional client care and support.

– Roumiana Deltcheva