Tech Support Weighs Heavy in Steiner Electric's Hardware Decisions

When Steiner Electric, a leading distributor of electrical and automation products in the Chicago area, decided to upgrade their business application software, a hardware upgrade was not a driver of the decision. "As we began looking at software, however, it didn't take long to discover that the application functionality we were after would require new hardware as well," noted Steiner Vice President of Operations Richard Hamer. After investigating a variety of options, Steiner chose TecSys Elite Series as their enterprise-wide business application software, a UNIX-based HP 9000 as the company's hardware platform, and RMS Business Systems as their hardware supplier.

For Hamer, technical support was a deciding factor in their decision to choose the HP9000 over other systems and RMS was an important piece of the HP support equation. "A change in operating system was inevitable and, in many ways, choosing an operating system is as critical a decision as choosing the hardware itself," noted Hamer. "RMS helped us understand the different UNIX options available to us so we could make the best possible decision," he continued.

Once the decisions were made, RMS continued to provide valuable technical support working closely with TecSys to help configure the new system to fit the company's business and environment precisely. RMS' UNIX expertise remained pivotal. "RMS provided invaluable on-going UNIX training and support for our data administrator and because they know our environment so well, the training was tailored specifically to address our needs," Hamer said.

RMS' relationship with Steiner began about three years ago when the company hired RMS to build a small network to connect a handful of users who needed to share access to a database. Over time, RMS designed and installed the infrastructure for a full-service LAN/WAN with 300 users, remote access, e-mail, Internet access and network printing. "RMS is a lot more than our hardware supplier. They really are our technical advisors. Not only do they have the expertise we need, they know our environment and our business. They've been an invaluable resource over the last three years."

Steiner is a $160 million distributor of electrical and automation products. With more than 500 employees in six locations, they are the largest independent distributor in Northern Illinois.