Guest blog post by Kevin Kay, founder, Willows of Easley

When it comes to technology, I just want it to work.

Technology is essential for every small business – but we’re not in a position to have an ‘IT Department’ dedicated to helping us manage our network, set up a workstation or troubleshoot a technical problem.

Every day it seems like there’s a need to upgrade our software, or there’s a new gadget that’s critical for running our business. I see value every time we invest in technology, but we can’t afford to jump on every new tech trend as soon as it enters the market.

Just recently we took a leap. We decided that we wanted several new Apple products (I’ve been a happy MacBook owner for a while now) and I went to the Apple Retail store to talk to them about it. Apple has in-store associates just for SMBs (who knew?) and I spoke with them about what I was looking to do and they outlined a plan to make it happen.

• Phase 1: Data Transfer – We were an all PC business and we had nearly a decade of data that we needed to transfer over to new Apple workstations. I brought in our old PC’s and had Apple transfer everything over to our new iMacs.
• Phase 2: Configure QuickBooks – This was the biggest hurdle that we had to overcome and it wasn’t something that Apple could help us with at the retail location. We needed to update our QuickBooks software without losing our data. The software was so old, that we had to upgrade to QuickBooks 2009, before we could update to QuickBooks 2012. We needed an outside expert that could help us – and Apple referred us to OnForce Services – who worked closely with us to help solve our problem.
• Phase 3: Time Capsule – Once everything was set up, we wanted to be sure that it was backed up so that we wouldn’t lose anything. We purchased an Apple Time Capsule and tapped OnForce Services again to help with set up and configuration.

Our data transition in-store went great and we were equally impressed by the quality of service delivery from OnForce Services. The technician who came on-site was able to diagnose the problem and get our new and improved QuickBooks system up and running – and set up our Time Capsule so that we were covered in the event of a system failure.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I have a business to run and I’m not interested in setting up work stations or researching how to correct a computer or network problem. The process through Apple Retail and OnForce Services was quality all the way; it was quick; and it fit my budget.

I’m confident in Apple products and, because of the quality experience that I had with the service delivery, I’m confident about OnForce Services. I plan on working with Apple Retail and OnForce Services again in the future.