In less than two decades, the former three-employee Entre computer retail center has swelled to include a team of 24 technical and business professionals who lead the pace for digital infrastructure services in the southeast Georgia region.
The now prestigious firm has evolved from solid business successes, excellent business relationships, and far-sightedness. Company President and Chief Executive Officer, Sushil Patel, began with programming training, a Masters degree in Management Information Systems, a bachelor’s in Accounting, and his enthusiasm for the emerging personal computer technologies — the flagship industry which would reshape the world of information processing.
Patcomp, Inc., purchased the struggling Entre Computer Center Savannah franchise in 1983. While the early days of the franchised Entre operation included only three employees, to maximize family resources and efforts, in 1985 Sushil closed the second software business and brought his technical skills on-board to the Entre business. In that move, the offerings were simplified and broadened, and the scope of deliverable products and services for customers were enhanced. The result was the birth of the company’s commitment and shift to “full solutions.”
Sushil’s new challenge was to launch a new phase of growth — computer maintenance — to better meet customer demands for one-stop technology solutions. Companies like Microsoft began to heavily promote the “total solution.” Microsoft’s program is Certified Solution Provider, of which Entre was one of the first resellers to be certified. In the mid-1980s, Sushil had successfully anticipated and adopted that “full solution” approach.
Credentials were needed to earn industry and market share, and the most advantageous credentials were those of industry leaders — IBM and Hewlett-Packard. With those two authorizations in hand, along with service authorizations and training from those industry leaders — serious focus was in place for customer held desk support and hardware maintenance. Entre’s repositioning to open wider the path as a top-flight technology professional was broadening.
As manufacturers and supplier increasingly recognized the firm’s staying power, commitment to on-going expertise, and financial strength of Entre, new dealer and technical certifications continued from the industry’s leaders — Lotus Notes, Hewlett Packard/Compaq, Cisco, AT&T/BellSouth and Nortel.
From planning to project management to products, Entre’s expertise broadened and deepened with the on-going training, enviable industry clout and the nation’s top supplier contacts. Today the firm offerings encompass eight primary focus groups —
(1) Managed Services
(2) Wireless and Cabling
(3) LAN / WAN Design and Implementation
(4) Telecommunications — data and voice
(5) Product Acquisition
(6) Application Development
(7) Business Technology Consulting
How successful is Entre Solutions? The aggressive sales and services teams have bid and won multi-million dollar contracts — supplying 4000 nodes to WAN of over 50 networks, designing and implementing a smooth multi-branch banking networks … and providing multi-year on-site services contracts. Senior systems engineers are sought out by national firms for project management and troubleshooting. Primary vertical markets are medical, banking, labor and workforce, manufacturing, legal, hospitality, government, publishing and real estate.
Where is the company headed? Professional and managed services, preemptive technical services, project management, and new product monitoring insures a continual readiness to serve the customer as for technology consulting and implementation. While the pace is steady and progressive, the firm’s recommendations minimize risk and maximize value.
Which customer does Entre Solutions serve best? Whether a five-station network or a national multi-branch secure networked customer, the firm provides business technology that works to meet customer goals. The company’s slogan says it concisely — We Make Technology Work for You.