What's smaller than small? Try a Start-Up.

Start-ups are often created to respond to an opportunity in the marketplace and entrepreneurs utilize speed and focus to deliver high-quality customer experiences. They are agile and sine they are small they can change direction at a moments notice. 

Unfortunately most small business owners have difficulty in the early stages of their venture.  There are new legal requirements, HR laws, accounting and IT needs that are stacked upon sales, support, marketing, operations, production and all the other irons in the fire.  No one understands this better than TenacIT. Even though most start-ups don’t have the luxury of full time in-house IT support and management, TenacIT is built to fill the gap, providing consulting services specifically designed for start-ups.

The early days of TenacIT were no picnic and we learned some very valuable lessons.

1. We didn’t even know what we didn’t know to get started. 
2. There are resources out there that specialize in helping startups like yours fill in the knowledge gaps.
3. There is no need to wing it.  Someone out there is willing to help.

TenacIT’s Start-up services were created to help fill in the technology gaps that you may have in your new venture. 

And before you get concerned that we are going to bill you more than you have saved up to start your venture, our initial consultation is always FREE.  We will help you plot and plan, and when the opportunity arises, help you move from start-up to small business.

Our hope is that your new adventure becomes a highly successful company that we can boast is a TenacIT client.

A technology roadmap may not be needed by every new start-up, but what it provides is an opportunity to organize and budget for the various stages of your company so that you are not surprised by the technology changes that WILL occur. 

Rapid growth calls for not just hardware, and software purchases, but software licensing, cell phone reimbursement implications, wifi expansion, office network retrofitting, conferencing issues, etc. 

Software development, regardless of whether you are planning to use an Agile or Waterfall methodology requires a clear organization of thoughts so that you can clearly define objectives and goals for your development team. 

At the end of the day, a technology roadmap will help you move forward with confidence and purpose while avoiding costly mistakes. It will help you align your IT projects with your strategic priorities, plan for the long term, and define your needs and priorities before making an investment.

TenacIT can provide guidance as we work with you to create a comprehensive roadmap for your start-up.  Let us help your start-up:

1. Identify strategic objectives.
2. Plan for the future.
3. Define your functional needs and priorities.
4. Measure the cost.
5. Establish realistic timelines.

No one like budgets.  Not even accountants like budgets. Employees see them as constraints on operations.  Accountants see them as rules no one follows.  Executives see them as mundane and irrelevant tasks that their boss is making them do.  CEOs see them as everyone’s “wish list” and just wish everyone would stop trying to spend every dime the company makes. 

Regardless of your position on the matter, budgets serve entrepreneurs with a unique insight into the success or failure of their business.  

Unless you are a technology start-up, founded by a CIO who has worked for small and large companies alike, you are probably wondering about the IT budget of your new company.  Do you buy laptops, desktops, or virtual machines for your staff?  Do you buy servers, or rent space in a data center?  Should you choose AWS, Azure or Google for your cloud solution and how much will that cost you per month?

All of these questions can be answered with a little leg work.  You can call around yourself, and talk to all of the service providers that you Googled, or perhaps TenacIT can help.

Setting up the laptop that you just bought from Dell is simple enough.  You follow the prompts, and your done.  Right?

What about your second work station?  What about your domain email system?  How will you connect and collaborate with your employees?  How will you communicate with your customers?  Where will you store all of the files and orders that you generate?  How will you secure it all?

How are you going to pay for it all?

These are just a sample of the questions that keep new business owners up at night.  Trust me, we know.

Fortunately TenacIT has been there.  Not just ourselves, but with our clients as well.

While some of these may seem daunting, they are just a small part of our wheel house.  TenacIT Initial Start-up Infrastructure will sit down and discuss what you “Need” vs what you “Want” vs what you “heard from a buddy.” We will help your company start with the bets foot forward without worrying too much that everything built will need to be torn down as your company grows. 

Don’t waste time and money.

Don’t spend more than you absolutely have to.

Don’t over complicate your business.

Let TenacIT be your sounding board and advisor. 

There is nothing more important than having a technology resource that can help when things start to go south on you.  One of the worst feelings in the world is calling a Managed Service Provider (MSP) in the middle of a crisis. It is kind of like going to buy a car, when the sales guy knows you are in a bind.

That’s where TenacIT can help.

With TenacIT’s IT Support Resources for start-ups, we are keenly aware that you are under stress and need your systems up and running NOW.  But being a start-up we know that finances may be a little tight.  If you find yourself in a bind, and need a little “understanding” that compensation may not happen right now…give TenacIT a call and let’s see what we can work out.

Fix now…we’ll work stuff out later.

MOST companies around the world do NOT need a full time CIO/CTO/CISO.  They might need one every once in a while, but it’s rare.  With TenacIT’s vCIO services, your new start-up can get executive level IT experience without the executive level costs.

Our vCIOs have decades in the technology industry.  The best thing, they all speak the language of Business.  A TenacIT vCIO is looking for that return on investment in every decision and can help guide your team in understanding why certain technologies may or may not be right for your new company.  

If you need to higher your first IT manager but don’t want your help desk support person “vetting the technical prowess of their new boss”, then have one of our vCIOs fill that gap.

If your next client meeting or investor presentation needs to have a representative from the “Technology Team”, then take a minute to get a TenacIT vCIO up to speed so we can help.

Dell, HP or Apple?  Laptops, Desktops, or virtual PCs?  AWS, Google or Microsoft? 

You can literally spend MONTHS doing research on every piece of hardware, software and service trying to determine which one will work best for your company.  OR you can sit down with your TenacIT Start-up advisor who will not only be your sounding board, but will also be your advocate in negotiating prices.

Some decisions are simple enough.  Some are nearly irreversible.  Don’t make the same mistakes that we have seen other companies make simply because they were unwilling to ask for guidance.

TenacIT has strong relationships with industry-leading IT vendors that we are willing to support.

We will engage with IT vendors on your behalf in order to eliminate IT from one of the many things you have to worry about. TenacIT’s Vendor Management Services include:

• Domain name hosts
• Internet Service Providers
• Data centers
• Managed cloud service providers like AWS, Microsoft and Google
• Software providers like Microsoft, Adobe and others
• And any other technology related providers we can define

Don’t waste time and money re-inventing the wheel. Don’t make the mistake of taking half-measures, forcing your growing business to limp along ineffectively for months or years.

TenacIT will help you negotiate the best deals possible and help you avoid technology mistakes and issues with our proactive managed IT services for small businesses.