Reader Spotlight: Todd Creek, Dura-Tech Enterprises
A conversation with Todd Creek, Dura-Tech Enterprises
In this Reader Spotlight, Dura-Tech Enterprises CEO and ASCII Group member Todd Creek shares a little about himself, company, and the state of the channel.
Summarize your background/professional experience. I grew up on a farm and attended college where I earned a degree in mechanical engineering. I worked for a couple of years as a process engineer designing process lines and automation improvements for Monsanto before starting my own IT company. I have been working in the IT industry now for more than 23 years. Growing my business from a single one-man shop to now having 11 full-time staff and growing.
What verticals do you serve and what services and technologies do you sell? We service many verticals from education, financial, healthcare, and the general SMB. Our focus is on full managed services with Hardware as a service. Security is a main focus in our business as we have a Certified Ethical Hacker on staff and I have completed my certification as a Cyber Security Architect. We also specialize in IP Video Security and Licensed and Unlicensed wireless data link.
What vendor partners do you work with? HPE, HP, Cisco Meraki, Fortinet, Microsoft, and many other security solutions.
What is the best sales opportunity on your 12-to-18-month horizon? I believe security solutions and integrations, as well as full MSP services with HaaS, are going to be very strong opportunities for us in the near future. Everything as a service is key to the future as many owners are now understanding and interested in the pay as you go/grow solution.
What threatens that opportunity? A financial crisis where business owners drawback and hold resources due to uncertainty could have an impact.
What could accelerate it? As more security concerns and regulation start to take effect we will see more business moving toward and needing our MSP and security solutions.
What is the most difficult aspect of leading an IT service provision company? Managing staff and keeping staff trained and updated in the ever-changing technology solutions and security.
How are you attacking that challenge? I'm actively seeking training opportunities when available and encouraging staff to self learn as well. It is impossible to teach everything needed on new and emerging tech in the course or a normal business day and still service clients.
In the context of running your business, what apps/tools/utilities could you not live without? Our PSA, RMM tools, documentation solution are must-haves. We would not be able to scale and handle the number of endpoints we do without those tools and automation.
On the flip side of that, what would you be happy to do without? We do not have any tools that are not important to our business needs. We always evaluate and try several tools before committing to anyone.