We’ve all heard the legendary “garage founder” stories about some of today’s largest tech companies, such as Apple.
But the founder’s story you may not know begins in a basement about an hour’s drive from Ottawa.
In 2007, in the small town of Plantagenet, an employee of a large telecommunications company had just resigned and was preparing to open a store in his basement to test his entrepreneurial instincts.
Soon after, more colleagues joined him, and together the founders set out to establish PiiComm, a name chosen to reflect their dream of providing organizations with endless possibilities for mobile communications (the Greek letter “π” + “comm”). “).
“We know businesses are excited about how advances in mobile technology can improve company productivity, but we also know that soon after they purchase and deploy the devices, the actual management – or us – Call it ‘Day Two’ – a real challenge.
That’s how Ottawa’s only managed mobility services company got its start.
“We don’t have a grand vision; we’re not goofballs. We just love mobile technology and love solving this pain point for our customers. Now more than 16 years later, we’re still as passionate as those ‘basement days’ ”
Recently, they channeled this passion into a project called “Device as a Service‘ or DaaS for short.
What is DaaS?
The concept behind DaaS is simple, “Why buy when you can subscribe?”
Here’s how it works.
Businesses pay a monthly fee per device that covers all related services, from preparation and deployment, to maintenance and lifecycle management, to ESG compliance and safe decommissioning at end-of-life.
“The traditional model is to purchase the team’s mobile devices as a capital expense and manage them yourself,” Winter said.
DaaS allows businesses to equip their employees with the mobile technology they need to do their best work while avoiding large capital expenditures.
PiiComm’s customers include a variety of organizations and enterprises, from large transportation and logistics companies whose deskless workforces require ruggedized equipment such as scanners and RFID, to organizations whose knowledge workers work remotely and use consumer-grade devices that require constant security oversight.
The process starts with needs assessmentand then they provide your team with the most appropriate technology and services.
The model allows companies to pay a monthly fee per device that covers all related services – from upgrades and deployment, to maintenance and lifecycle management, to ESG-compliant safe decommissioning at end-of-life.
“We found that many companies were looking to simplify and streamline their operations but were unaware that this option existed,” Winter said.
what is the benefit?
In an economy where cash is king, DaaS helps conserve capital.
Another important saving is time and bandwidth – especially for your IT team.
“We exist to cut through the noise of managing mobile devices,” Winter said. “Then you can focus on your core business.”
While the choice of mobile devices continues to grow and the list of apps continues to expand, device management has become its own specialty area, especially with the increased risk of being hacked.
“Mobile devices are now a prime target for pranks,” Winter said. “So our MDM technicians are definitely going to be busy.”
Overall, this is likely a result of PiiComm maintaining its small-town roots, and what the team is most proud of is their commitment to serving their customers.
“We believe customer service is a lost art,” Winter said. “That’s why we’re ready to step in and say, ‘We did this.'”
Let’s talk – PiiComm
