Dream Duffel
“I have been in business for 10 years, and this is the first time that I could pay someone to make sure that my IT is really running correctly. With Premier iT I know they are capable of making sure it is running correctly.”
Dream Duffel owner, Barb Johnson, started her family-owned and operated business in 2008. She had a keen understanding of the difficulty of lugging costumes, accessories, and equipment to dance competitions. Barb said, she we would arrive to a competition and “there would be a sea of people in a gymnasium camped out on the floor with blankets all day… with no place to hang something up or sit down for the whole day. Sometimes for the whole weekend with no home base.” It was out of frustration over the lack of travel-friendly gear that Barb decided to design products for dance, figure skating, cheerleading, pageantry, equestrian sport, and track race competitions, and more. “Over 10 years later, Dream Duffel is the biggest name in dance bags in the industry. It’s been a lot of fun, and I do have my whole family working for me which is great.”
In 2018, Premier iT took over Dream Duffel’s IT needs. “When Premier iT first came in we were in a sad state. I had someone here doing IT for us internally, and then one day that guy walked out. Which was hard enough but then I realized – well I don’t even know what he was doing for us. So it left us in kind of a bad spot.” The former employee also left the company with major IT issues and vulnerabilities, including poor quality security practices, a website that was a mess of band-aid patches, and an aging infrastructure that was past the point of usefulness. To add to the challenges, all IT requests were going to Barb, which caused her daily headaches.
After Premier iT was hired, Alan and his team worked on cleaning up Dream Duffel’s IT infrastructure by: adding a server to function as domain controller and file sharer, replacing outdated equipment, and standardizing PC workstations. Premier iT also made recommendations, for example how to re-configured the office to maximize efficiency. They then oversaw the process of moving and setting-up equipment, all while creating zero downtime. Since these initial efforts, Dream Duffel’s IT has been improved and streamlined. “Premier iT helped us get to a point where our server was solid, all of our computers were talking properly, and all of our software was up to date. All of those wonderful things that Premier iT does automatically.”
When issues do arise, Barb said she knows she can count on Premier iT to handle it. “Alan and his team had to be informative because I already had the disconnect, and I wasn’t willing to go through it again. Also I know I can get a hold of somebody no matter what time of day it is. I have called up late – after hours.” During a recent email breach, Barb described Premier iT’s responsiveness and capability managing the situation. The hacking happened after 5 o’clock, Barb said, “I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’ I can’t go home and leave it until the next morning because they hacked into my email account and started sending messages to clients. So I called Premier iT, and they were like, ‘Yup we’re on it. Don’t worry about it. We got you covered.’ ”
Premier iT remotely scanned every computer in the building overnight and made sure that they didn’t have any malware. “You need them to be 100% dedicated, on top of it, and available whenever you call, and that’s what Premier iT does. Because my business runs 24/7, and these people are there.”
“Well with IT, if people are not on top of things all the time, and learning all the time – they’re behind – and they can’t do anything for you. Alan at Premier iT is on top of things, he knows what he’s doing, and it shows.”