About ConnectSMART

Connections for Business is a VAR based in South Florida. Late in 2006, my partners and I decided to develop a variable incentive plan based on objective KPIs. Every plan we looked at was complicated or tough to figure out. We wanted a plan that was easy to report on, and gave real-time feedback to the techs on the plan. We also realized that the KPIs we tracked would change over time. This was an INCENTIVE plan, not a compensation plan. As owners, we needed to be able to focus our team on the things we cared about most for that particular quarter.

Our PSA did a great job of keeping track of tickets and invoicing, but it was tough to see the big picture of what was happening in our business. While all the info we needed was tracked, we couldn't get it out of our current platform.

ConnectSMART exists today because of our need to properly mine this data and compile it for use in our incentive plan. We feel that while reporting is somewhat useful, real time analytics can provide the feedback needed to self correct (try driving your car forward on the highway by only looking in the rear view mirror, and you get an idea of what I'm talking about).

The SMART in the name ConnectSMART derives from our thought process that this should be a SIMPLE tool that helps MANAGEMENT and team members ANALYZE the data being stored in their PSA on a real time basis, giving them the ability to take action early, before a problem blows up. Further, we needed an easier REPORTING TOOL to look at our data in any number of ways. The result, a set of graphical gadgets to give me a simplified KPI (i.e., time to resolution) or a graph that shows profitability, as well as a series of Excel pivot tables that we use to slice and dice any number of variables to make decisions in our practice.

So many of our peers and colleagues asked if we could install ConnectSMART for them. It was then that we realized it would be best to package this and make it available to all the other VAR's looking for the same edge in their business. So, in September of 2007 we took ConnectSMART to market. The excitement and buzz about what we offer has only validated the need. I'm only happy that we can be part of a solution.

I'd love to hear from you about how ConnectSMART has improved your business -- financially, operations, client satisfaction, or any other measure that you use. Feel free to share your thoughts any way you'd like. You can reach us here.

David Bennett, Owner