2010 News Archive

Charlotte, North Carolina, (December 14, 2010) SMS, Systems Maintenance Services (SMS) has completed the strategic acquisition of Auto Tech China (ATI).  ATI provides managed maintenance services through multi-vendor hardware and operating system and database support. Supported hardware spans servers, networking, and storage. ATI conducts operations in China and Hong Kong through more than 24 regional service centers, fully staffed with local field engineers and break-fix inventory.

The acquisition of ATI is the centerpiece of our expansion of the global support organization, said Don Doctor, Chief Executive Officer of SMS. With over 24 locations in China, ATI provides national coverage to every province. ATI is the anchor point for our expansion throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim. We have found our sister company in the second largest economy in the world and now have access to 35% of the worlds market for computers. As a global company, SMS has the technical depth, integrated processes, and the financial resources expected from a world-class organization. SMS will provide exceptional service to its customers and be the leader in its chosen markets.

ATI is a clear market leader in China, said Joe Scordino, President of SMS. With its headquarters in Beijing, its integral management team, and its ISO9001 certification, our combined companies complement each other greatly to allow us to enhance the global service offering for our customers. Our bricks and mortar approach for service centers and on-hand inventory creates tremendous value and security for our customers. The depth and breadth of our product support across all OEM platforms allows us to offer our customers a single-source managed IT solution for their hardware footprint, and with the addition of ATI, we can now do so across Asia.

About SMS

Founded in 1981, SMS is a leading provider of responsive, independent maintenance services that reduce the high cost of IT equipment maintenance. SMS is a rapid response Service Maintenance Integrator, specializing in multi-vendor maintenance services, data center migrations, and asset life cycle Management. With 49 offices in North America, SMS provides support for IBM zSeries, pSeries, iSeries, and xSeries systems in addition to support services for the HP9000, HP3000, HP Proliant, as well as Cisco Systems, Dell and EMC. SMS can be found on the web at www.sysmaint.com.

About ATI

ATIs headquarters is in Beijing and has regional headquarters in Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou, Xian and Chengdu, in the People's Republic of China. ATI supports high end servers from IBM, HP, SUN, networking products from Cisco and Brocade as well as storage products from IBM, HP, SUN, EMC, and HDS.
 

Toronto, Canada SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Toronto, Canada, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective, multi-vendor, maintenance services to all customers located in southern Ontario.

The opening of our first office in Canada represents a major milestone for SMS", said Joe Scordino, president of SMS. "Our company objective has always been to deliver 24x7,4 SMS support to 90% of the US market, but with the opening of the Toronto office, we move one step closer to to a full North American coverage model.  Our enterprise customers are encouraged by our multi-location, multi-vendor support and growing international presence.  Our plan is to be able to deliver SMS maintenance, wherever and whenever they need it."

"Our centers are more than just dots on a map, said Johnny Walker, vice president of enterprise sales for North America.  Each center is staffed with in theater SMS employees, filled with tested customer parts, and holistically designed to meet the uptime needs of our enterprise customers.  The Toronto office represents the strongest statement SMS can make in support of our enterprise customers.  We will open an office, whenever it is needed to support your business need.

Charlotte, North Carolina, (October 8, 2010) SMS, Systems Maintenance Services, Inc. and Advanced Systems Group (ASG), today announce their agreement to partner, to specifically address the growing demand for third party maintenance within ASGs supported client base. SMS offers a cost effective, responsive, national footprint that meets the needs of ASGs installed clients.

In the current economic climate, more and more customers turn to SMS because they want to reduce their capital expenses and keep their equipment as long as they choose, says Jim Kleeman, executive vice president of SMS. SMS helps clients reduce costs by providing affordable support options, which frees them to make strategic decisions about when to upgrade their current IT equipment. We put upgrade control back in the hands of clients, rather than OEMs.

Clients today want to reduce rising IT expenditures, and theyre looking for alternatives to expensive maintenance agreements. SMS provides exciting options for many of the leading manufacturers, says John Murphy, executive vice president of ASG. IT maintenance is an important component of our solutions. With SMS, weve found a partner that can help our clients avoid costly capital equipment upgrades and support headaches by consolidating multiple vendor contracts into one support contract.

We see a terrific partnership moving forward with ASG, agrees Rob Scott, area sales manager for SMS. ASG consistently uses maintenance and support as a vehicle for creating long term relationships with their clients. When combined with our track record of 99.7% customer retention, we see long term benefits for ASGs customerssuch as significant cost savings, higher quality and more responsive support.

About Advanced Systems Group (ASG)
Since 1981, Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has provided complete Information Technology (IT) solutions, including successful storage and data management solutions with comprehensive consulting, assessment and implementation services. As a consistent member of the VAR Business Top 500, ASG pursues active involvement in the industry, maintaining the highest level of engineering certifications with partners and the vendor community. To learn more, visit www.virtual.com.
 

Charlotte, North Carolina, (October 1, 2010) SMS - Systems Maintenance Services, Inc. SMS announces the award of the California Multiple Schedule Award (CMAS) schedule 3-10-70-2790A for a period of 10/1/2010 through 1/31/2013 for use statewide.

SMSs cost savings capability is widely accepted by our public sector customers as the best in our industry, as evidenced by our 99.7% customer retention rate," said Jim Kleeman, executive vice president. "When you combine this with our multi-location, multi-vendor support and coverage, we simply deliver best value and the convenience of a CMAS contract. "

"With our newest office in Sacramento, our centers are located near our public sector accounts , said Bob Thomas, regional service director for the western states. "Each center is staffed with SMS W2 employees, filled with tested parts, and are logistically designed to meet the uptime needs of our clients.  With customer delight as our goal, we are prepared to deliver outstanding service and support.

Charlotte, North Carolina, (September 10, 2010) SMS - Systems Maintenance Services, Inc. and Computer Specialists, Inc. have reached a definitive agreement to merge their organizations. Management of both companies expect the merger integration to be completed by Jan 1, 2011.

With a passion for customer service and a reputation for holding ourselves to a higher standard, the merger of SMS and CSI provides our clients with a highly differentiated partner for their data center support infrastructure, states Don Doctor, chairman and CEO of SMS.  IT managers have a responsive, single point of contact for end to end IT asset management at a price point that is in touch with todays economic conditions.

SMS and CSI have been competing with each other for over twenty years, creating value for over 2300 clients, states Joe Scordino, president of SMS. Our current and future customers will see a deeper technical bench, improved storage offerings, and better geographical density. SMS is now the largest full service independent support organization in the US with 50 facilities and a US based call center. We provide comprehensive asset life cycle management and support solutions for over 56% of the Dow Jones Industrial composite index companies.

ABOUT SMS:

Founded in 1981, SMS is a leading provider of responsive, independent maintenance services that reduce the high cost of IT equipment maintenance. SMS is a rapid response Service Maintenance Integrator, specializing in multi-vendor maintenance services, short- and long-term consulting engagements, data center migrations, and asset life cycle management. SMS has more than 2,300 hardware maintenance clients, many of which are Fortune 1000.

Salt Lake City, Utah SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Salt Lake City, Utah, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective, multi-vendor, maintenance services to all customers located in Utah, southwestern Wyoming, and southern Idaho.

SMSs service area is widely accepted by our enterprise customers as the broadest in the industry, especially for multi-location, multi-vendor support and coverage," said Jim Kleeman, executive vice president. "Our national objective has always been to deliver 24x7, 4 support to 90% of the US market.  With the opening of the Salt Lake City office, we move one step closer to that goal."

"Our centers are more than just dots on a map, said Bob Thomas, regional service director for the western states. "Each center is staffed with SMS W2 employees, filled with tested customer parts, and are logistically designed to meet the uptime needs of our major clients.  With customer delight as our goal, we are prepared to deliver outstanding service and support.

Boston, Massachusetts SMS, Systems Maintenance Services continues to invest heavily in our multi-location national expansion with the addition of 13,500 square feet of space to the Boston Service Operation Center.  This expansion supports the level 3 National Customer Support Center, the National Logistics Center and the New England Area Support Center.

"We have added significant personnel to our local engineering team to maximize our customer support throughout New England," said Joe Scordino, president.  "Additionally, our national level 3 customer support group has grown at an unprecedented rate to maintain our technical advantage and our strong customer retention track record."

"Our level three logistics organization continues to grow, while reducing the cost of sparing and moving our spares closer to our customers," said Steve Favory, CFO.  "Moreover, centralized testing has improved sparing quality,  increased 'hands on' engineering and decreased mean time to respond throughout New England."

SMS's Boston facility is now located at Two Cabot Road, Hudson, Massachusetts.

Sacramento, California SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Sacramento, California, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective multi-vendor maintenance services to all customers located in northern California and northwestern Nevada.

SMSs service coverage model is widely accepted by our customers as the best in the industry, especially for multi-location support and coverage," said Jim Kleeman, executive vice president. "You combine our locations,  our engineers and our ability to generate cost savings and you see why SMS leads the industry in customer satisfaction."

"Our centers are staffed with our own W2 employees and filled with tested customer parts that are logistically ready to meet the uptime needs of our major clients, said Bob Thomas, regional service director for the western states. "Our goal is to delight our customers with outstanding service and support that exceeds their expectations.  The Sacramento office puts SMS a step closer to achieving that goal.

Louisville, Kentucky SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Louisville, Kentucky, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective multi-vendor maintenance services to all customers located in Kentucky and southern Illinois.

SMS continues to aggressively expand our market presence throughout the Midwest with the addition of the Louisville service center," said Joel Owens, president, IBM Enterprise Division. "Our goal is to deliver responsive, technically excellent service to 90% of the US market with SMS service centers in every major metropolitan area.  The Louisville center moves us one step closer to our national coverage goals."

"Our national customers know that our centers have the parts, the talent, and the determination to meet the most demanding requirements of our service agreements, said Dave Diehn, regional service director for the central states. "SMS offers a service rich environment that amazes our customers with its breadth, its depth, and its low price.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective multi-vendor maintenance services to all customers located in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

Our expansion is driven by the needs of our national customers and their continuing demand for SMS multi-vendor service throughout their service areas," said Joel Owens, president, IBM Enterprise Division. "By 2011, SMS will be able to deliver our highly responsive, technically excellent service to over 90% of the US market.  The Milwaukee service center moves us one step closer to our nationwide service goals."

"SMS customers know that our centers have the best engineering talent found anywhere.  Each engineer stands ready to meet the most demanding needs of our customers, said Dave Diehn, regional service director for the central states. "SMS engineers deliver a uniformly excellent service that is backed up by our US based call center and Technical Support Group in Hudson.

Indianapolis, Indiana SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Indianapolis, Indiana, enhancing our responsive, cost-effective multi-vendor maintenance services to all customers located in Indiana, western Ohio and central Illinois.

This office represents a key addition to our service infrastructure throughout the central region.  Many of our customers in insurance, education and manufacturing have access to more engineers and more equipment," said Joel Owens, president, IBM Enterprise Division. "By 2011, SMS will be able to deliver our responsive mission critical support to over 90% of the market in the US."

"SMS customers know that we have more tested spare parts than any maintenance integrator in the US.  Each service center has fully tested spares, many running in live systems, to ensure our customer's uptime requirements, said Dave Diehn, regional service director for the central states.

Bentonville, Arkansas SMS announces the opening of a regional service center in Bentonville, Arkansas, to deliver our responsive maintenance services to all customers located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma.

"The opening of the Bentonville office is another step in addressing the needs of our major clients with facilities in targeted marketplaces, said Tim Jacobsen, regional service director for the southern states. "Our stated objective is to reach 90% of the addressable marketplace within a two hour drive time radius by the year 2011. Northwest Arkansas gets SMS a step closer to achieving that goal.