When Maureen Strehl bought Compudance in 2009, she spent more time dealing with hardware and software issues than she planned to. The Bergen County-based businesswoman decided to start looking for a better solution. Superior Technology Solutions was on her radar; and since then she”™s gone from skeptic to believer when it comes to  “cloud” computing.
“I have 700 customers who buy my proprietary software for their dance and gymnastic businesses,” said Strehl, “but the applications I was dealing with were time-consuming. On top of dealing with IT problems, I knew if I wanted to stay competitive in this economy I had to find a way to help me focus on my business, not on becoming a technician.”
Superior”™s SAS70 certification (Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70) was what drew Strehl”™s attention to the Pearl River business. “I have very sensitive information on my system and I didn”™t want to chance anything happening to it. I was initially skeptical of ”˜cloud”™ technology. It just didn”™t feel right not having all my hardware at my side; they created one application for me to try to see how I”™d like it. It convinced me it was the way to go. I have more time to focus on my clients and less worry. It was a smart move for me. Right now, I have 30 people on the new application. I am working on getting all 700 of my customers on it.”
That kind of testimonial brings a smile to John Luludis, president of STS (superiortechnology.com) in Pearl River, where the company, a spinoff of Berwyn, Pa.-based D.F. Young, is based. Luludis has spent his career in high-level automotive applications and logistics and was tasked with bringing cloud technology to small and mid-size businesses by Wes Wyatt, CEO of D.F. Young, to the New York metropolitan marketplace.
“The goal is to help companies meet the challenges of their particular software needs by creating applications that streamline their needs, not burden them. Although technology is moving ahead rapidly, there is a void in this sector of the industry. We fill that void by crafting software tailored specifically for our clients”™ business to make things easier and more cost effective.”
Luludis has attracted nearly 300 customers since moving to Rockland in 2005, enough to justify expanding the technology database center from 1,500 to 4,000 square feet. He”™s also working with potential clients who “have a fear factor over turning their IT and hardware over to another location” by helping them to overcome that fear. “It is economical and keeps business running 24/7, 365 days a year. There is no ”˜down time”™ ”“ generators kick in the minute power goes out, so companies are always in touch with their system 24/7, every single day of the year.”
Luludis says the company”™s SAS70 certification has helped win it customers with critically sensitive information, particularly banks and accounting firms, whose applications and data need to be protected from hackers.
“But you don”™t have to be a bank or an accounting firm to want to have that kind of security for your business. Companies are becoming more and more comfortable with outsourcing their IT systems. …it is economical, does not make them dependent on an IT specialist to solve their immediate problems, because automatic backup protects them from having those problems.
“Cloud technology and software solutions tailor-made for a particular business is a different scenario than what many small companies have become accustomed to ”“ the closet or room filled with hardware, shopping for programs they try to make fit with what they need and waiting for someone to come and make repairs if the system goes down; but it”™s technology that is here to stay and is growing because it doesn”™t go down,” Luludis said. “There is redundancy in it, so the backup automatically kicks in. In today”™s global marketplace, and even in the local marketplace, there”™s no time for ”˜down time.”™”
One thing Luludis says he hasn”™t forgotten ”“ “There are still people behind the software and hardware. We maintain a face-to-face relationship with our clients. We don”™t want anyone getting a message to leave a voice mail or sending a text message. Companies want to know there are real people working with them as a business partner ”“ it seems to be becoming a lost art as technology booms, but it”™s an essential part of a good working relationship.”
