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1996 – SHEA Technologies Formed
In 1996 Steve O’Shea and Mike Blom started SHEA Technologies. We wrote a business plan to build a “white box” computer manufacturing company. The plan included funding from the State of North Dakota and Welch County ND. The idea was to transform an abandoned curling rink in Park River ND (Steve’s hometown) into a manufacturing facility. The business grew quickly to $10M+ in sales with over 80 employees.
1988 – New Fargo Division
Demand was high for less expensive alternatives to high-end manufactures like HP, IBM and Compaq, etc. The buildup to the Year 2K technology boom added to our sales. The demand also came from North Dakota entities wanting to buy from a local company so in 1998 we started a division in Fargo to service those customers.
2000 – Patty Krieger Joins the Team
In 2000 we hired Patty Krieger to start a Network Service department to diversify our revenue. We called the division SHEA at your Service. Patty grew the business to a sustainable entity in roughly 18 months. The model was project driven and primarily reacting to clients’ needs and trading dollars for hours in the form of block-time agreements.
2002 – Netrix IT Incorporated
- Two Sales Reps, Two Engineers and Two Partners
- Started to explore the MSP concept.
- In an effort to protect the service division from the failing white box business we incorporated Netrix IT in January of 2002 and made Patty a 1/3 partner.
2005 – Turning Point – Netrix 1.0
- White box company was sold in 2005 to the contract manufacturer that took over for our Park River production facility.
- Netrix IT continued to grow with reactive service and block time agreements however the business model did not have a predictive revenue stream and as a result, managing the growth and cash flow was difficult. In addition, our customers got to see us mostly in a reactive mode. Whenever we were there, there were problems, and they had the mindset that we were always on the on the clock.
- Consolidate tools into a new CRM package
- Change from reactive and project-based work to MRR and a ProActive Managed Service Provider platform.
- Change in Sales and Technical Teams to the ProActive platform
- A new backup solution adapted for our client base.
2006 – New Partnership
- In 2006 Steve O’Shea agreed to sell his shares back to Netrix IT, making Patty and Mike Blom 50-50 partners in Netrix IT.
- Partnership with Zenith Technologies
2010 – 2012: Turning Point 2.0
- RMM tool upgraded
- Closed loop ticketing put into place
- Upgraded our BDR partner to Datto and replaced 60 units in 18 months
- Added stronger technical resources
2013 – Present: Turning Point 3.0
- More MRR services added to our solution set
- Focus on Security
- First SOC 2 certification received
- Extend services to Co-Managed clients
2015 – Traction & 365
- In January of 2015 Netrix IT implemented the business model of Traction. Traction uses an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) that implements several tools that help businesses bring their organization to the next level
- Moved to Office 365 platform
2017 – SOC 2 Compliance Certification
Netrix IT obtains its SOC 2 Compliance Certification. SOC 2 is an auditing procedure that ensures your service providers securely manage your data to protect the interests of your organization and the privacy of its clients. For security-conscious businesses, SOC 2 compliance is a minimal requirement when considering a SaaS provider.
2018 – Fargo Office Sold
On June 1st, 2018 we sold our Fargo, ND office to TrueIT in order focus our business efforts on our Minnesota location.
Get In Touch
2520 Pilot Knob Road Suite 305
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
(651) 389-3305
Hours: 8 am to 5 pm CST M-F