Broadview Networks receives Best in Business Practice Honours

Broadview Networks has used a strong commitment to customer relations management and investing in employee knowledge to become one of Canada's leading providers of service, support and products in the field of computer networking.

EBS - Microsoft's Mid-Market Server Solution

In November 2008, Microsoft is launching the Windows Essential Server Solutions products. This family of products includes the popular Windows Small Business Server 2008 solution, as well as a new entry in the Mid-Market space called Windows Essential Business Server (EBS).

Windows Server 2008 Backup

Windows Server 2008 introduces several major changes to the way administrators will interact with the backup and recovery operations in their networks – notably that NTBackup is retired, and along with it, support for tape is removed from the native operating system backup functions.

By Bob Armstrong
May 2008

Going from one client to more than 300 in seven years isn’t something that happens by accident.

Winnipeg IT firm Broadview Networks has used a strong commitment to customer relations management and investing in employee knowledge to become one of Canada’s leading providers of service, support and products in the field of computer networking.

“Our customer relations management isn’t just about tracking sales calls,” says David Reimer, manager of sales and marketing and one of three partners in the firm. “It’s about service. We do regular calls to find out how things are going and if there’s an issue, we bring it to senior management.”

Company president Michael Orloff, who helped to develop Broadview’s initial CRM system, points to colour-coded printouts in which relationships with all the customers are tracked in a green, yellow and red system – with red indicating something that needs immediate attention.

The emphasis on customer relations means that a client’s entire history with the company is tracked, so that staff know everything Broadview has done for a client and every issue that has ever come up.

“We have a good handle on where we are with customers and where we need to repair things,” says Orloff, noting as well that customers have access to a secure internet portal to monitor all aspects of their purchases, from the status of projects to the amount of time they have left on software licences.

The firm’s approach to customer relations also means sending technical staff out on calls along with sales staff. Technical staff are able to identify ways they can help potential clients, says Reimer, rather than waiting for a client to identify a need. It’s an approach that shortens the sales cycle.

“Most technology companies sell to the old clients, they focus on farming rather than hunting,” says Reimer. “We create an opportunity for ourselves. We ask about the client’s business and say ‘here are the tools we can use for that.’”

That partnership between sales and technical staff is symbolic of the company itself. Broadview Networks started when Orloff and his former schoolmate Tyson Choptain decided to bring their expertise in business administration and computer technology together.

“Very early, we realized that sales were going to inspire a lot of our growth,” says Choptain. The duo became a trio when Reimer, with a sales background in the computer industry, joined the team.

Today, the three – ranging in age from 36 to 38 – combine their management, sales and technological expertise to chart the company’s growth through annual strategic planning retreats, notes Orloff

Broadview Networks focuses on network services: providing the hardware and software and expertise to connect a firm’s computers and portable devices securely and efficiently.

The firm’s smallest clients have as few as five compute users, while at the upper end it works with governments and other public sector entities with 5,000 users.

“Our sweet spot is probably 250 users,” says Choptain. “For smaller companies, we’re acting as their IT department. For a medium-sized client, we’re providing them with the next level of support – they have an IT department of generalists that provides their continuing needs but we provide special expertise. For a larger organization, they have a huge IT department – we’ll come in a do a very specific project.”

Clients turn to Broadview for a number of network needs. Broadview provides hardware such as computers and switching devices, help firms upgrade to new software and advises firms on systems and software.

Just as customer relations are key to the firm’s growth, so too are vendor relations. Orloff says Broadview Networks seeks out vendors with which it can have effective, long-term relationships.

“We don’t start providing and supporting a new product just because it’s new,” adds Reimer. “It has to show value to customers.”

The company has also grown by focusing on its core business.

Broadview Networks isn’t in the application business, so it’s not trying to compete in markets such as specific software for financial management or sector-specific software tools for health care. The firm does deal with Microsoft’s Client Relations Management software, but that’s just because it has built up enough in-house expertise with a CRM philosophy to make that natural. The company also has a separate division – Broadview Media – that does web design, but the two divisions use different staff members with their own areas of speciality.

The firm’s clients include all aspects of the private and public sectors, including the YM-YWCA, Puratone Corporation, Brett Young Seeds, the Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation and the Winnipeg School Division.

Growth in employees, revenues and number of clients has been accompanied by technical achievements in the field.

Broadview Networks was a finalist in 2007 in the Microsoft Partner Program IMPACT Awards for networking infrastructures solutions. The firm has also been identified by Microsoft as one of the top-ranked Gold Partners in Canada, meaning its staff have certified expertise from the Redmond, Washington, software giant.

Thirteen of the firm’s employees are Microsoft Certified Professionals, covering eight different competencies. Staff also have certification from other major technology companies, including Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard, Fortinet and IBM.

Investing in staff has been key to the firm’s growth from day one. Often, Broadview Networks workers will get advance training on new software a year before it goes into general release.

The company also invests in employee communication and human resources, says Orloff, pointing to the detailed information at every worker’s fingertips on their company intranet. Making Broadview a good place to work is essential in an industry where highly skilled workers are always in demand, he says.

Those efforts won the company fourth place on Manitoba Business’s list of the 50 fastest growing companies in Manitoba earlier this year, thanks to growth in revenues of 377 per cent (to more than $3.7 million) in three years.

With 22 employees, including the three partners, Broadview has twice outgrown premises along Pembina Highway. In February the firm moved to a new location on Taylor Avenue, which the partners believe will accommodate foreseeable growth.

“Our long-term strategy isn’t to outgrow this place,” says Choptain. After five years of rapid growth in staffing and revenue, the company’s founders believe they’re now at the point where they continue building revenue with only moderate increases in staffing.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is an all-in-one solution for companies with fewer than 300 seats. The solution is comprised of 3 or 4 Windows Servers (3 in the Standard Edition, 4 in the Premium Edition), and is built on Windows Server 2008 technology. Other technologies included in the mid-market suite include Exchange 2007, System Center Essentials 2007, Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 (Threat Management Gateway), Forefront Security for Exchange, and in the Premium Edition, SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.

In terms of product design and target audience, EBS is purpose driven to simplify management of the multi-server environment and reduce complexity through standardized setup and configuration management. Business growth is enabled through improved remote access tools and bundled product pricing. Included management and security products improve the effectiveness of IT staff administering the environment while limiting risks from threats common in networks today.

As mentioned, there are two versions of the EBS suite; Standard Edition is designed to operate on three server systems, while Premium Edition is designed around four servers and includes SQL Server 2008 Standard. There is no restriction to the number of servers installed within an EBS network, but the primary licensing, component installation, and migration/setup procedures are built around 3 or 4 servers, depending on the edition selected.

Specific roles for the servers are defined and assigned to the servers in an automated server installation routine, performed one server at a time. Server 1 is a Management Server with Active Directory and System Center Essentials. Server 2 is a member server with two network adapters and is a Threat Management Gateway (ISA 2006) Server - which acts as the Exchange Edge Transport server, network gateway, and integrated firewall solution. Server 3 is also a domain controller, and Microsoft Exchange 2007 server. Optionally, the fourth server (available in the Premium Edition) is the SQL Server 2008 server. All base Windows Servers are 64 bit and require 64 bit hardware.

The complexity of the products in this server family are made manageable in a simplified and standardized setup routine. Prior to installing EBS into an existing network, validation through an automated tool scans for existing environmental conditions that might break or block installation. And during the installation procedure, many optimizations are made automatically - including network security settings such as URL filtering, firewall port configuration, anti-spam settings, and remote access permissions.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is an all-in-one solution for companies with fewer than 300 seats. The solution is comprised of 3 or 4 Windows Servers (3 in the Standard Edition, 4 in the Premium Edition), and is built on Windows Server 2008 technology. Other technologies included in the mid-market suite include Exchange 2007, System Center Essentials 2007, Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 (Threat Management Gateway), Forefront Security for Exchange, and in the Premium Edition, SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.

In terms of product design and target audience, EBS is purpose driven to simplify management of the multi-server environment and reduce complexity through standardized setup and configuration management. Business growth is enabled through improved remote access tools and bundled product pricing. Included management and security products improve the effectiveness of IT staff administering the environment while limiting risks from threats common in networks today.

As mentioned, there are two versions of the EBS suite; Standard Edition is designed to operate on three server systems, while Premium Edition is designed around four servers and includes SQL Server 2008 Standard. There is no restriction to the number of servers installed within an EBS network, but the primary licensing, component installation, and migration/setup procedures are built around 3 or 4 servers, depending on the edition selected.

Specific roles for the servers are defined and assigned to the servers in an automated server installation routine, performed one server at a time. Server 1 is a Management Server with Active Directory and System Center Essentials. Server 2 is a member server with two network adapters and is a Threat Management Gateway (ISA 2006) Server - which acts as the Exchange Edge Transport server, network gateway, and integrated firewall solution. Server 3 is also a domain controller, and Microsoft Exchange 2007 server. Optionally, the fourth server (available in the Premium Edition) is the SQL Server 2008 server. All base Windows Servers are 64 bit and require 64 bit hardware.

The complexity of the products in this server family are made manageable in a simplified and standardized setup routine. Prior to installing EBS into an existing network, validation through an automated tool scans for existing environmental conditions that might break or block installation. And during the installation procedure, many optimizations are made automatically - including network security settings such as URL filtering, firewall port configuration, anti-spam settings, and remote access permissions.

A site map is simply a hierarchical visual representation of the pages of a web site. Site maps help users navigate through a web site that has more than one page by showing the user a diagram of the entire site's contents. Similar to a book's table of contents, the site map makes it easier for a user to find information on a site without having to navigate through the site's many pages. Also, in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), a site map can make it easier for a search engine's bot or spider to find all a site's pages.

Is a Site Map Necessary?

While a properly designed web site should provide navigation to all pages in the website, all web sites that are more than just a few pages should include a site map. A design "cop out" would be when a website relies on the fact that the web site has site map. If the sites information is laid out in an easy to navigate manner, a site map simply becomes a page that a user would visit to see a graphical representation of the web site.

Custom Error Message Pages

When combining a site map with a custom "404 - page not found" error page, visitors can be directed to another page than the one they were sent to from a dead link. The visitor simply selects a similar page from the site map that resembles the one that was not found. This might be a stale link from a search engine or simply a page on another website that the link was embedded in incorrectly. Having just a plain "page not found" error page will cause many visitors simply to click on their back button.

Reliance on Site Maps

Although site maps are a must, reworking a sites navigation to eliminate sending users on unnecessary trips to a site map should be completed if more than 1 in 6 visitors make there way to your site map. Looking at your site analytics can help you figure out where the traffic to the site map originates. If it isn't coming from the home page, you'll need to locate the pages that are generating the visits. By tracking the user's path from the source page through the site map to the destination page, you can start to piece together clues about what is missing from the specific page's navigation. Working diligently to eliminate site map traversals will improve the user's experience.

Search Engine Optimization

More importantly than simply providing an overview of your site to its visitors - a site map is an important tool for having your site properly indexed by the major search engines. Search engines send out "bots" or spiders that traverse your site looking for pages to index. If a page is normally hard to find using your sites navigation, listing it in your site map provides an efficient way for these bots crawling the web.

Google Sitemaps

The Google sitemaps protocol uses an easy way for you to submit all your pages to their search engine and get detailed reports about the visibility of your pages. With Google Sitemaps you can automatically keep informed of all your web pages and when you make changes to these pages to help improve your coverage in the Google. In more technical terms, a Google sitemap is a XML file that lists the URLs for a site. This allows search engines to crawl the site more intelligently.

How Can Broadview Media Help?

With our extensive experience utilizing correct practices in designing user interfaces which includes the development of a web sites navigation, Broadview Media can work with you on a web site redesign or the addition of a site map to an existing website. In addition to setting up a Google site map for you site, let us develop a scope of work needed to fully optimize your website with current SEO techniques.