Maness Petroleum

Case Study: Maness Petroleum

Founded: Mid-1980s
Owner: David Maness
Computer Care Advantage Client Since October 2005

David Maness used to enjoy keeping the Maness Petroleum computer network humming along. The challenge of identifying a problem, researching the solution, and then implementing it, was an enjoyable sideline to the daily ins and outs of providing geologic and geophysical consulting to Michigan’s oil and gas industry.

Eventually, however, David found that the ever-faster pace of technology change was stealing more and more time away from running Maness Petroleum. And keeping up with technology turned from enjoyable pastime to time-raiding chore.

“When a problem came up,” says David, “I would spend a significant amount of time researching the solution. Then of course the next problem would be different, and I’d have to do more research to solve that problem. It started to take away significant amounts of time from running my business.”

TAZ Networks – Leave the Research to Us

Handing off the laborious task of researching and solving networking problems to TAZ Networks freed David from the daily pressures of keeping the network up and running. David says, “It made sense to work with someone that would do all the research and solve the problem.”

For example, when faced with the daunting project of upgrading from an older version of Microsoft Small Business Server, David was relieved to have TAZ Networks’ trusted advice. Says David, “I’d be more inclined to stay with the older version than to upgrade because of the whole time commitment of learning how to make the transition from where we are to the new stuff coming out. With TAZ Networks, we talked about it, and TAZ Networks will take care of it.”

“The solution for Maness Petroleum is sophisticated yet simple to implement and maintain,” says Tavis Patterson, president of TAZ Networks. “They are now able to conserve resources while allowing space for future network expansion by virtualizing several servers into one machine using Hyper-V technology. This virtualized solution also takes advantage of powerful 64-bit computing.”

Maness Petroleum employees are likewise relieved to have a professional resource addressing networking issues. “The folks in the company here are more comfortable knowing they have someone to look after the problems,” says David. “They know that they can focus on their job and not have to worry about whether or not the computers are working or the network is working.”

And, of course, having the president of Maness Petroleum concentrating on client projects instead of networking issues has certainly benefitted the company’s bottom line.

The Biggest Benefit for Maness Petroleum

Says David: “As a business owner, it’s the peace of mind knowing that we are where we need to be on the technology curve, we’ve got up-to-date software, we’ve got the solutions appropriate for our needs, and not having to spend all the time doing the research and making the decision to purchase something and then turning around and buying it.”

Why Would David Maness Not Recommend TAZ Networks?

Surprisingly, David has a good reason to not recommend TAZ Networks. “If a business owner is willing and able and desires to keep up with the changes in computing infrastructure, if that’s their hobby and that’s what they like to do and they want to do that, then great.”

David goes on to explain, “I used to enjoy it myself, keeping up with things. But that lost its allure. If it becomes something where the business owner or their employee is spending more and more of their time maintaining the technology as opposed to serving their customers, then I’d highly recommend they bring in someone like TAZ Networks.”

And would he recommend TAZ Networks specifically? “Oh yes. We’re very pleased with the level of professionalism, responsiveness and consistency.”

Has maintaining your computer network changed from enjoyable workday activity to aggravating chore? Then it’s time to give TAZ Networks a call.