Q&A with David Richardson of iShared Transportation

Atlas’ Professional IT Solutions Help Supply Chain Solutions Firm

iShared Transportation is a supply chain solutions firm specializing in freight brokerage. The company has been working with Atlas Professional Services for more than two years. During that time, Atlas has served as the company’s Managed Service Provider (MSP), providing IT support for more than 125 employees and support personnel.

We caught up with David Richardson, Director of Systems for iShared Transportation, to hear about his experience with Atlas’ professional IT solutions.

Q: What role does technology play in your company?

A: Over the last several months, America has experienced issues with its supply chain solutions. Consumers want up-to-the-minute updates on where their products are, and to provide that you need reliable and secure connectivity to systems. Providing our remote employees with a way to connect securely is imperative to the success of our company.

It’s also important that they have remote IT support. Being able to provide timely IT support and have those users access the data they need quickly is a competitive requirement.

Q: What challenges were you facing with your previous professional IT solutions?   

A: When I came into this position, the previous ownership hadn’t put a whole lot into the IT infrastructure. We had servers from 2001 running outdated versions of Windows in an office down in Sunrise, Florida. I was constantly worried that someone was going to walk by the office and trip over an extension cord and bring down the whole company. In addition, we didn’t have any security standards, or IT standards in general.

Q: How did you learn about Atlas Professional Services? 

A: We were looking to change our Transportation Management System (TMS) and contacted a company in Tampa that does telecommunications. I needed to have some servers hosted and the vendor recommended Atlas, so I contacted them and gave them the specs of the project.

They did their due diligence and said, “We’d love to do business with you, but this isn’t a good fit for us.” A year later, we were looking for a professional IT solutions provider, and I reached out to Atlas again. I was impressed with how forthright they were previously and was hoping they could help.

Q: How has Atlas helped you address your IT issues?

A: The first thing Atlas did was a full assessment of where we were as a company. Then, we sat down as partners and made a roadmap. With their help, we’ve moved all our files from on-premise servers to an Azure cloud. We built out a secure network to connect our facilities and moved to Microsoft Office365.

They also set up virtual private network (VPN) access for remote users and enhanced security, with strict password requirements.

Q: What results have you seen since working with Atlas?

A: Our employees don’t have to fight with technology issues anymore. They don’t have to worry about getting into a system or a piece of data. And, they don’t have to make our customers wait. Our supply chain solutions customers are better served by our employees because our infrastructure is better.

Q: Would you recommend Atlas to a colleague?

A: Absolutely. From a professional IT solutions perspective, if you need someone to be a partner and manage your IT infrastructure, call Atlas.

Thank you, David, for sharing your experience with us!

If you’re ready to upgrade your business’ professional IT solutions, contact us today.