Another piece of the solution provider that was NexInnovations has found a new home, with Toronto’s Brains II acquiring the company’s break-fix and warranty business, along with some 400 services staff.
In a related announcement Softchoice, the Toronto-based solution provider that purchased the bulk of NexInnovations’ assets earlier this year following its filing for creditor protection, announced a partnership with Brains II to provide services support for the former Nex customers now with Softchoice, as well as pursue new business opportunities.
Nick Foster, senior vice-president with Softchoice, says many of Nex’s customers now with Softchoice had a relationship with Nex that included both product procurement and professional services as well as break-fix warranty services.
“The way for us to continue to give that customer cohesive service was to establish this relationship with Brains II and make sure all current customers were getting great service,” said Foster.
At the same time, Foster says Softchoice and Brains II also realized new customers may also be interested in the same kind of service, and so as part of the alliance the two companies are already bidding on joint business.
Calls for comment to Brains II president and CEO Charles Hanna were not returned, but in a statement Hanna said together Softchoice and Brains II will ensure NexInnovations customers continue to receive integrated, reliable, high quality customer service.
“Softchoice has built a solid reputation for service excellence and for building long-lasting customer relationships,” said Hanna. “Our own professional team of certified technicians and extensive nationwide facilities network are an ideal complement as we work together to manage the technology requirements of some of Canada’s leading organizations.”
From a culture perspective, with Brains II having just 100 employees before acquiring the Nex break-fix business and its 400 employees, Foster says the culture at Brains II is being driven largely by the former Nex team.
“They’re all great, and I think they’re just loving being respected and honoured and appreciated by Charles Hanna and the Brains organization,” said Foster.
It’s also a good fit with Softchoice, as they’ve been busy integrating their own former Nex employees into their organization.
“I’ve been really impressed with the people we’ve brought over from Nex into Softchoice as being very much like Softchoice people from a culture standpoint,” said Foster. “They’re very committed to customer satisfaction, and just getting things done with a no nonsense approach.”
While Softchoice could have purchased the break-fix business from Nex itself, Foster says the basic differences between the businesses are pretty fundamental.
The products business is all about supply chain, fulfillment percentages and speed. Softchoice knows that business, he says But the break-fix business is much more related to utilization and spare parts management; areas Foster says they just don’t know enough about to take on.
“In order to be really good at the services business you have to be really good at those kinds of things, making sure your service technicians are fully utilized and they have the spare parts they need at the right time,” said Foster. “Our systems at Softchoice don’t have any of that capability built into them.”