Small Business Month

C M Y K Not every business has a dedicated IT staff to design customized networks, perform trouble-shooting tasks and provide simple solutions to complex problems. What every business does have however, is access to those services through Clear Concepts Business Solutions. Recently named Manitoba's fastest-growing IT Company, Clear Concepts rose to No. 6 in Manitoba and No. 315 nationally on the 2015 PROFIT 500 ranking of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies, with five-year revenue growth of 172%. That's a few steps up from its 2014 ranking of No. 8 in Manitoba and No. 385 nationally. It's also a clear indication the 14-year-old company is doing something right — make that many things right. The Clear Concepts team at their head office located at 325 Garry Street in downtown Winnipeg. Recently, the company won a Gold Medal for Best Mid-Market Solution at the 2015 IT World Canada's CDN (Computer Dealer News) Channel Elite Awards for its role in helping a Manitoba non-profit organization to increase efficiency and productivity. Clear Concepts was also honoured at the national industry awards in 2013. "We were fortunate enough to win the Solution Provider of the Year, which is the most prestigious award given out by CDN. At the same time, we won a Gold Medal for the Small Business Solution of the Year," Managing Partner Phil Proctor says. The 2013 awards recognized Clear Concepts' use of state-of-the-art Remote Managed Service (RMS) technology and its partnership with Vancouver Island's Cowichan Tribe, the developer of a unique community electronic medical records system for First Nations called Mustimuhw (pronounced Moose-tee-mook). Clear Concepts works hand-in-hand with the Cowichan Tribe to provide installation and infrastructure support for Mustimuhw in B.C., Alberta and northern Manitoba. Clear Concepts focuses on small and medium-sized businesses, and non-profit organizations, including First Nations and First Nation's health care. Whether you operate your business from Churchill or downtown Winnipeg, Clear Concepts has the right solutions to meet your needs. More National Honours for Local IT Firm The ability to manage networks remotely isn't just convenient — it allows busy non-profits and businesses to remain productive. For example, if a client has a desktop problem, there's no need to wait for an onsite service call. A Clear Concepts technician can simply connect with their system, figure out what's wrong and fix it, often in a matter of minutes. Most new business is the result of referrals from existing clients who have had a positive experience. Proctor says the Clear Concepts process generally begins with an onsite assessment."Normally, when looking at providing service for a new organization, we would go in, take a look at the environment in order to understand how they are using technology to achieve their goals. With that information we are able to come back and say, 'OK, these are the recommendations we have to increase productivity.' Perhaps their network is running slow, or perhaps their software is out of date or maybe they have malware issues. These are the types of things that we would definitely rectify as soon as possible," he says. Once the network is functioning properly, Clear Concepts ensures systems keep working for their users, so they work efficiently, achieve their goals, and improve productivity. Clear Concepts is fortunate enough to have a wide network of partners and vendors throughout Manitoba, Canada and even North America who specialize in various areas. It has been common practice that Clear Concepts will reach out and involve partners in various environments should they require additional knowledge or opinion, always keeping in mind that recommended solutions must serve clients, staff and vendor partners in equal measure. With 23 staff members at Clear Concepts, Proctor says 15 have technical expertise, and they're able to help clients embrace technology in a manner that's not intimidating. "We make sure in our hiring practice that we only consider technicians who are extremely capable of communicating with people who aren't at the same level they are in terms of technical knowledge," he says. "That's a differentiator for us from many other IT companies, and it is really important to us. Our staff are great with people. That's something that we hear repeatedly from our clients — that even if they're a computer neophyte they never feel like they're being talked down to or patronized. They always feel like they're just being helped." www.clearconcepts.ca "Many of our clients don't have any IT staff whatsoever, and they depend on us completely," Proctor says. "If they can't print, they call us; if the server is down, they call us. Whatever happens, we are their IT staff, and many of our clients love the stability that this kind of relationship provides to them and their organizations. We've really become experts at remote problem-solving and part of the reason we've become experts is that we have clients that are 3,000 kilometres away" Proctor adds. Clear Concepts partners with the best in the industry For more information call 204-943-4777 www.clearconcepts.ca

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