Treystar
Founded 1969
Southwest Michigan-Based
www.Treystar.com

Located in Portage, Michigan, Treystar real estate investment company is busy at work developing and managing properties found within the greater Kalamazoo area. As a way in which to conduct their business, Treystar has set in place four core values for the 13 members of their staff to ground their day-to-day activities in:

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With escalating technical problems, however, fulfilling these core values and even accomplishing basic tasks became difficult. Technology should be an advantage, not a burden. In order for Treystar to try and truly “be the best” that they could be, Controller for the Financial Department, Deanna Rothe, noticed that changes needed to be made.

Deanna Rothe
Controller & Technology Manager

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Having no IT person on staff, Deanna had to inevitably fill two roles and work with their MSP to try and fix whatever problems came their way. Instead of focusing on value added activities, Deanna would find herself on the phone multiple times a week with the helpdesk trying to walk her through the system issues. Rather than fixing the root issues, “band-aid” methods were used to get by, which lead to more issues and wasted time troubleshooting. Because Treystar was a smaller company than many of the others their MSP served, they did not feel as though they were getting the focus they needed.

Recognizing that they needed to make changes such as acquiring new equipment, a new server, upgrading business software, etc., Treystar decided last summer to make a transition in their IT operations.

Deanna explains their decision further, saying,

“When we sat down and interviewed potential service providers, Newmind, Michael Jefferies and the team, actually really got what we were talking about. We had let them know what our core values were. We talked about our proven processes, our customer service, our passion, and our focus. And he really got it and was able to let us know that Newmind really gets it as well.”

Rather than looking to quick “fix-its” as a solution, Deanna said that Newmind actually let them know right away what they thought was needed rather than what they thought Treystar wanted to hear. Newminders realistically told them that their system was not going to last, what to do to change things, and when to do it. After providing the IT guidance they were looking for, Deanna said Treystar finally found what they needed,

“And it turned out to be Newmind..there is someone in that seat now that gets it, wants it, and has the capacity to do it. Newmind did and you guys have proven that too,”

she said.

With Newmind’s suggestions, Treystar brought in new workstations and servers. Though those are still in early implementation stages, Newmind is handling everyday troubles associated with their current server before the switch occurs. Rather than going through all of the tedious processes it took to receive help from their former MSP, Treystar can now call or email Newmind to handle the problem. Deanna added that her and her team members “feel important now.”

Before, Deanna was the one who had to spend the time to fix the issues herself, a task which would take about four hours out of her week! Since the transition to Newmind as their MSP, she doesn’t have to worry about taking care of those problems anymore. She explained,

“We can call you and let you know when something’s wrong and you can get it done. I didn’t have that confidence before.”

Now that Newmind is handling their IT issues, Treystar is able to focus more on operating their business. No longer having to spend around four hours a week troubleshooting issues, they can take on more special projects. Not only is their productivity positively affected by the change, but Deanna says she is now more accessible to her team.

She wrote,

“Thanks to Newmind – especially Ryan, Luke, and Steve – for helping us to manage the IT part of Treystar so we can concentrate on other parts of the “operating system”!! We don’t worry so much about the technology any longer knowing it’s in good hands. We are enjoying our partnership.”