How did Orbis Solutions Inc. (OSI) get started and why?
“Kelly and I were sitting together enjoying a cigar as we often did on a Friday afternoon (we believe in no-change Friday’s). As we listened to and watched a neighbor, a so-called computer guy (“one-man band”) working out his garage, and desperately trying to support a small IT organization here in town, we know at this point that we were up to the challenge of bringing mature IT services and support, with proactive monitoring tools, to small-and medium- sized businesses. We knew the businesses in town were ready to switch from their unsatisfactory IT providers to one that would help them excel through IT. We knew these folks would eventually be raving fans of Orbis!”
What is your background Sean?
“27 years ago I actually started in sales. I worked for a software company in a mall that had a policy that allowed employees to take on software. Others occasionally took on a game, but I made it a habit taking home two or three pieces of software every day, install them, learn about them, and then return them to the store. After about a year their regional VP came by and noticed that I had taken home almost 800 pieces of software in one year, (That was the end of that policy!).
From there I was recruited to work at one of the largest computer hardware companies in the nation where I continued to learn and expand my knowledge about IT. Due to my aptitude and hard work, I became their government sales manager and their learning center manager. As a learning center manager I worked with computer instructors and worked on gaining computer certifications.
Today, I’m an IT professional with 27 year’s of experience: I was the CIO of a national retail organization, vice president and director of IT for large hotel casinos, and certified in CISSP, MCSE 4, 2000, 2003:S+M, ITIL, VMware CVP, CNE 3, 5, G, Symantec Systems Engineer, IBM, HP, Dell, and much more.”
What is your vision for OSI?
“I’m going to answer this question from the bottom up. People have told me that I built the company backwards, that I should have gone out and gotten customers and just figured it out to care for them; then get the tools and the education training to build a business. We did the exact opposite. We took the first year to work and configure our proactive monitoring tool to do exactly what we wanted it to do. Then we configured the help-desk solution and client access portal to generate and monitor tickets, and so we could work out all the bugs. Only after we were confident that we could handle any IT issue for anyone, did we advertise for new customers. In the time we became the only Semantic Gold Partner in Nevada, and one of only 5% of partners renewing worldwide. Now here’s the real answer:
Our vision is to provide excellent support and service and everything a large, full-service IT company offers, but at a fraction of the cost. Orbis Solutions helps our clients identify efficient ways to use technology and improve old processes, while generating new business opportunities through more effective IT solutions. We do this by focusing on a company’s custom needs, and implementing only the technology required to achieve their business goals.”
What motivates and inspires you?
“What motivates and inspires me is very much my vision for Orbis. From a business perspective what motivates me is to build an organization that provides the best IT service, to turn customers into “raving fans,” and continue to grow so we can continue to add teammates to the Orbis family.”
What’s the story behind the services you offer? Why do you offer these services?
When Orbis Solutions started we mirrored what Dell was doing with their three-metal services, but ultimately this only equated to hours of coverage. It’s important that we do our best to always say “yes” and to provide total IT care. I’ve joked about this in the past, but customers rarely see the difference between computers, credit card machines, commodes, etc. All they want is for someone to take care of their IT, get it done, and get it done right! (By the way, we don’t actually work on commodes!)”
What makes you different from other MSPs?
“I believe what makes us different is our raving fans. We achieve this through our people, policies and procedures, and tools. We have a sense of urgency to quickly work on the a service, something others just don’t do today.”
