My name is George Johnson, and I started Bee Networks in February 2008. I had been the technology leader for two IT support companies here in Lubbock, starting back in 1998. For 10 years I loved my job, and loved helping my clients, but there was always this one little problem. A dark under-belly of IT support, that always nagged at the back of my mind.

 

The problem was an internal conflict between being a good employee, and a trustworthy IT advisor to my clients. You see, I got to like my clients. I considered their networks like my little babies and was extremely protective of them.

 

To give you an idea, one night in 2001 there was a giant security alert. A new virus was out, and it was infecting servers left and right, and no one knew where it was coming from, or how to stop it. I was scared! This unknown super virus wreaking havoc, and wantonly destroying servers, I started shutting them down. I shut down probably 40 servers that night. So in the morning, dozens of companies (even Texas Tech Federal Credit Union my biggest client at the time) were completely down, effectively out of business.

 

By morning some geniuses (seriously geniuses) had figured out how the servers were being infected, and how to stop it. The short version is shutting down all my clients servers wasn't an easy decision, but it did keep them from getting the "Code Red" worm that infected nearly half a million servers that night. Now I didn't tell you that to brag, but to illustrate the commitment I felt to my clients.

However, I also was committed to the company I worked for. They were my friends, and people I spent more time with than my own family, and herein lies the crux of the conflict...

 

Sales people.

 

It's not that our sales people were evil, or in even slightest way mean. As a matter of fact I liked them very much, and wanted them to be successful. But their success was so many times in direct opposition with being me being a trustworthy advisor to my clients.

 

 To give you an example; Say the Cisco rep pays a visit to demonstrate the newest VPN concentrator. A “must have” for any company that wants to provide remote access to their employees. And there's a tremendous spiff (bonus to sales people) for every unit sold this month. So the sales people hit the streets, and call every client to tell them about this amazing new, “got to have” magic box.

 

Now you get the picture. I didn't want to ruin a sale. But I didn't want to give my nod of approval, selling my clients something they didn't need. This scenario played out dozens of times every year, and became almost unbearable. One day I decided to express my concern to the CEO, and the response I got knocked me back into reality. George, they are not your clients. They are the company's clients. She was right of course, I'd been looking at it all wrong. But how can this be? I'm a good guy, and I want to do what's right... there has to be a better way!

 

Well now you know the secret, dark, underbelly of IT Support, and why Bee Networks exists today. We imagined Bee Networks more like an accounting firm, where technicians are really trusted advisors. We removed commission bias, by not having sales people, and letting our clients purchase hardware directly. Whichever supplier has the best price.  That allows the technicians to recommend the products they have used, are familiar with, and trust.

Directly below, you'll see a few more ways Bee Networks is different, and I believe each one is a good way to treat customers. That's our story.