Brake Pads and Rotors

Recently, we took our van into the dealership to replace the brake pads. Expecting a small repair, we were shocked to receive a call from the dealer indicating we would need to replace the rotors as well, to the tune of about $1,100. We were upset, and my wife brought up an interesting point. She said that the dealer should have proactively sent a notice *before* there was a problem. In her opinion, the dealer let us down because they did not help until after there was a major problem. I reflected on this, and realized our clients probably expect that we provide early, proactive advice as well. So, we will be rolling out a formal program over the next few months to do just that.

Preventative Maintenance

As I reflected on our recent experience with our brake pads and rotors, I realized that preventative maintenance is almost always more cost effective than reactive maintenance. This is true for both automobiles as well as computer networks. So, we are going to be more diligent about providing preventative maintenance in a formal manner. The preventative maintenance will have many positive benefits, including (1) lower total network support costs (2) fewer emergency calls and (3) a more stable network infrastructure.

Thus, over the next quarter, we will be developing a master checklist of networking best practices, and then comparing each of our client networks to the master. Any differences will be discussed with the client to determine if there are any improvements or action items that the client wishes to take. We will document both our recommendations and the client response. This master list will be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure that the latest standards are being applied accross all of our clients.

In the past, our approach was to informally recommend preventative maintenance items to clients. However, since it was informal, it was not applied consistently accross all clients. By formalizing this process, we feel that all clients will benefit from true preventative maintenance.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of us with thoughts, comments, or questions. We are here to help.