In this SafetyDetectives interview with Greg Bibeau, Founder and CEO of Terminal B, we explore his extensive background in technology and Terminal B’s evolution into a leading Microsoft Direct Cloud Services Partner. Terminal B simplifies IT management through Skytivity TM Managed IT Services, emphasizing risk anticipation and reduction to ensure operational stability. Bibeau discusses the critical role of IT consulting in aligning technology with long-term goals and shares strategies for businesses to leverage Azure Cloud effectively. He highlights the importance of careful planning and staying updated on technology advances to contain costs while maintaining productivity.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Terminal B?
As the Founder and CEO of Terminal B, I’ve been involved in technology since the early days of mass adoption in the late 90’s. He has worked with hundreds of organizations that were early adopters of emerging technologies. Seeing first-hand the impact IT solutions had on productivity when applied appropriately, I founded Terminal B in 2004 to fill the widespread needs of small businesses across various industries. Driven by the principle of always doing what is necessary for the client’s success, Terminal B was one of the earliest adopters of what would eventually become Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure.
With more than 30 years of experience assisting firms navigate technology, I have grown Terminal B into one of fewer than 50 Microsoft Direct Cloud Services Partners in the United States and has been nationally recognized by his Managed Services peers for our achievements.
Could you provide a brief overview of Terminal B and its core services?
As a Managed Services Provider, Terminal B’s primary focus is on simplifying the burden of IT management and support with our exclusive SkytivityTM Managed IT Services. Our fully managed offering includes industry leading tools, security, helpdesk, system administration and proven processes to enhance IT service delivery in any organization. Terminal B also offers SkytivityTM Co-managed IT Services, tailored to fill gaps that may exist and bolster capabilities of overburdened IT staffs.
Firms rely on Terminal B’s proven methodology, D.E.S.I.R.E.D Outcomes, to increase productivity and reduce risk. We are the trusted IT partner in highly regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, biotech, and manufacturing and many of our clients align with NIST, ITAR, HITECH, GMP, or HIPAA.
Terminal B is one of the largest Microsoft Direct Cloud Services Partners in the State of Texas; our experience with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure runs deep. Our Professional services includes the strategy, project management and technical experience necessary to ensure work get completed on time and on budget.
What are some general strategies to ensure stability in operations?
Our primary strategy for ensuring stability in IT operations is the anticipation and reduction of risk. Crossing your fingers isn’t a strategy. Not dissimilar from fire drills, the exercise of simulating events that can destabilize operations can greatly assist during anticipated, and unanticipated, disruptive events. This same philosophy should be applied to cyber security.
Cyber breaches are a major source of operation disruptions and can be both costly and embarrassing. Businesses always need to strike a balance between security, accessibility, and budget and it all starts with awareness. Employees often don’t realize that they are not a target of hacking, but instead that they can serve as a weak link in a chain leading to even greater privileged information. Clearly communicated and reinforced expectations through training and processes leaves nothing to chance.
Other strategies we find to be effective are consistently seeking feedback from all stakeholders and actively tracking issues when they happen to prevent recurrences.
How does effective IT consulting assist businesses in aligning their technology with their long-term goals?
Firms that fail to consider the impact of technology in their long-term goals do so at great risk. The right underlying technology can help transform business and accelerate growth. However, the wrong tactical decision can have unexpected and costly consequences. The better your Managed Services Provider knows your business; the better outcomes can be expected.
Viewing technology as necessary overhead rather than an investment is akin to swimming upstream. This perception, usually the default disposition, misses the opportunities technology can unlock. Large language models such as ChatGPT are quickly being adopted by the largest organizations, and anyone who has used it can see why. AI can significantly improve productivity, but it also can pose organizational risks. Working with a technology team that is consistently exposed to the technology landscape and a team that understands your business vision maximizes your return on your technology investments. IT professionals can provide a balanced, yet focused, approach to technology initiatives and save a lot of wasted time, money, and energy.
How do businesses typically adapt their existing infrastructure to leverage the capabilities of Azure Cloud?
Most firms have a small taste of the benefit the cloud provides through email services like Microsoft 365. We all use services like Netflix, iCloud, and online banking without even realizing they are in the Cloud. These days, Cloud services must be contemplated anytime new hardware and/ or services are considered.
Adopting cloud services results in improved security, increased productivity, lower risk, and reduced costs. Additionally, cloud services provide built in redundancy and scalability that simply aren’t available with, what we refer to as, single point and time resources. Need more storage? Need more RAM? Processors, etc? In the Cloud, resource adjustments can all be done quickly on the fly with virtually no impact to services. To enjoy the same flexibility with purchased hardware, you must massively overcommit on resource capacity without any evidence it will be needed. In fact, when buying equipment there are just two outcomes; you either buy more resources than you need, or you don’t buy enough. Put simply, the Cloud allows firms to consume exactly the resources they need when they need it.
The adoption and use of Cloud services like Microsoft Azure can be vast and overwhelming to consider, but Terminal B has been assisting our clients during that inflection point and beyond since 2010. Whether provisioning Cloud services for the first time or optimizing existing Cloud tenancies, our clients rest easy knowing Terminal B streamlines their Cloud utilization with an eye toward security and cost control. In our experience partners often introduce Cloud services with small services such as backup and recovery solutions, expanding workloads, testing a new application or Azure Virtual Desktops (AVD) but when firms begin to realize the power of the Cloud, the sky is the limit.
Can you share some general strategies for containing costs while maintaining high productivity levels in an IT environment?
The primary way to contain costs is through careful planning. Time and time again we have seen our clients save money in both hard costs and productivity by committing to planning ahead. All workstations, for example, should be on a regular schedule for replacement. Continued use of hardware and software past their useful life poses both security risks and costly downtime when they fail. A proactive approach to technology, in conjunction with the guidance of IT professionals, reduces surprises and, therefore, risks and costs.
In addition to planning, keeping up to date on industry specific technology advances ensures you never have to play catch up. Firms don’t need to adopt bleeding edge technology to leverage technology effectively, but they absolutely should look to keep pace with their industry so that they don’t get passed by. The right Technology Service Provide can help to make that happen.