North Star Leasing is an equipment financing direct lender, founded in 1979 and based in Burlington, Vermont. One person was handling sales, marketing, and IT, support was slow, and staff were dealing with software vendors themselves. Instead of making a full-time IT hire, North Star brought in simpleroute, a managed IT firm in Colchester. simpleroute took over day-to-day support and the technology vendors, replaced an end-of-life server, moved the core leasing software to the cloud, and worked with the bank’s IT team when Peoples Bank acquired North Star. Over the past decade, North Star’s revenue grew from $18 million to over $150 million and its staff tripled, with simpleroute handling IT through that growth.
As a direct lender, North Star offers personalized, upfront service to businesses across many industries. It invests in the people behind those businesses and builds long-term relationships with vendors and customers. Over the years it was owned by multiple venture capital firms before becoming part of Peoples Bank.
What IT problems was North Star facing?
Before simpleroute, IT kept pulling North Star away from its customers:
- IT on one person’s desk: One person was responsible for sales, marketing, and IT. Technology issues often had to wait, which led to delays, and when IT problems could not wait, sales and marketing work was set aside.
- Slow, unreliable support: The previous managed IT provider was not owning issues, so problems sat and staff had to take on IT themselves. Network instability and equipment issues took time away from serving clients.
- Staff dealing with vendors: The existing technology did not fit how North Star worked. Staff often dealt directly with software vendors or worked around poorly performing technology, and managing several technology vendors took time away from the business.
- Security that had to keep up: As the company grew, so did the need for stronger cybersecurity, a requirement for any financial services firm.
All of this came during fast growth and several ownership changes, first multiple venture capital firms and then Peoples Bank. North Star needed IT that stayed stable through each change.
Why did North Star choose simpleroute?
North Star first considered hiring a full-time IT person. After looking at local IT providers, it chose simpleroute, which gave it a whole team of experienced technicians who act as its internal IT team.
North Star wanted support that was prompt, friendly, and easy to understand. simpleroute explains technical issues in plain language, which helps North Star make clear decisions about where to spend on technology.
Any North Star employee can call simpleroute directly and get help right away from a knowledgeable technician.
What did simpleroute do for North Star?
simpleroute took on support, vendors, hardware, phones, security, the cloud move, and the acquisition:
- Day-to-day support: Staff call simpleroute directly and get help right away, so IT issues get fixed and people get back to their clients.
- Vendor management: simpleroute took over North Star’s technology vendor relationships, so staff no longer spend their time on vendor calls and simpleroute walks North Star through its options.
- Server and computers: simpleroute monitors the environment and deals with issues before they grow. When North Star’s server reached end of life, simpleroute replaced it and moved North Star to the new systems. We also audited North Star’s Microsoft licenses and replaced outdated computers.
- Phone dialer tied to the CRM: simpleroute worked with a new VoIP provider to connect a phone dialer to North Star’s CRM, which improved communication for the customer-facing teams.
- Core leasing software to the cloud: simpleroute managed the vendors through the move of North Star’s core leasing software to the cloud and kept disruption low, so staff could stay on their own work.
- Security as North Star grew: simpleroute watched for new security threats and added security measures as North Star’s needs changed.
- The Peoples Bank acquisition: When Peoples Bank acquired North Star, simpleroute kept support running and worked with the bank’s IT team to bring North Star’s systems in line with the bank’s requirements. That included migrating application dashboards, documents, and other digital assets.
What were the results for North Star?
Over the past decade, North Star grew fast and changed owners more than once, with simpleroute handling IT throughout:
- Revenue up from $18 million to over $150 million
- Staff tripled
- IT off the desk of the person doing sales and marketing
- Staff call a technician directly when something breaks
- Technology vendors handled by simpleroute, not North Star staff
- End-of-life server replaced and outdated computers swapped out
- Core leasing software running in the cloud
- Phone dialer connected to the CRM
- Support kept running through the Peoples Bank acquisition
Questions about this work
IT was on one person’s desk, and support was slow. One person handled sales, marketing, and IT, and the previous managed IT provider was not owning issues, so problems sat and staff had to take on IT themselves. That pulled people away from serving their leasing customers.
Day-to-day support, the technology vendors, the end-of-life server replacement, a Microsoft license audit and new computers, a phone dialer connected to the CRM, and the move of the core leasing software to the cloud. When Peoples Bank acquired North Star, simpleroute worked with the bank’s IT team to migrate application dashboards, documents, and other digital assets.
Staff got their time back for leasing work, and IT stopped competing with sales and marketing. Over the past decade, North Star’s revenue grew from $18 million to over $150 million and its staff tripled, through more than one ownership change. simpleroute handled IT the whole way, so North Star could stay focused on its customers.