SOLUSCare helps SOLUS Technology Solutions grow

A simple phone call from a commercial real estate broker led to a new line of business for SOLUS Technology Solutions, and the Reno-based technology broker said that providing managed network support could eventually become its largest source of revenue.

Joe Jonovic, partner and chief revenue officer for SOLUS, told NNBW that when the broker called about moving an Atlanta-based renovation contractor to a different office location in Reno he helped provide the company with internet connectivity. The contractor operated dozens of offices in multiple states, and SOLUS soon was tasked with providing the same service nationally, Jonovic said.

“We picked up about 30 locations, and whenever there was a problem, the IT manager would call us,” he said. “But in his other locations, he had to call the internet providers himself. Eventually, he asked if he could just pay us to provide customer service and support for all his locations.”

That was the birth of SOLUS Managed Services, a comprehensive IT support platform that was recently rebranded as SOLUSCare. The SOLUSCare portal provides instant access to aggregated business information such as circuit inventory, contracts, monthly spend, trouble tickets history and network monitoring. Jonovic said SOLUSCare can be especially helpful for companies that have operations spread across multiple geographic regions and have contracts with multiple internet, telecommunications and technology service providers.

“All that information is aggregated into a single portal,” he said. “When customers log in, they can see all their circuits in all their locations. It’s a way of taking all the information on a customers’ network infrastructure and organizing it in one place.”

Currently, SOLUSCare accounts for about 20 percent of revenue at SOLUS Technology Solutions. SOLUSCare already has close to 1,000 sites subscribed, Jonovic said, with a goal of having 20,000 sites under management by the end of 2029.

“SOLUSCare is very unique, and people really appreciate it,” he said. “We are taking care of the mundane tactical stuff that has to be done in every IT department, and that allows IT managers to spend their time focusing on strategic IT initiatives.”

SOLUS Technology Solutions was founded in September 2001 by Mike Oliver. Jonovic joined in January 2012, and in 2018, he bought a 50 percent stake of the company. SOLUS provides cloud, voice, cybersecurity and network solutions and helps business and IT leaders make more informed technology decisions by guiding them through the design, procurement, and implementation of solutions from a network of more than 300 industry-leading service providers.

Jonovic said that SOLUS’ efforts to expand its scope of business beyond providing technology solutions stemmed from organic growth in customer service.

“We position ourselves as trusted advisers,” he said. “You can buy internet and services from anyone, but the challenge is that most of the publicly traded carriers are very engaged when you have business to place, and as soon as you sign the contract they hand you off and the customer experience is not great.

“When we engage with a client, we make recommendations on cost-effective solutions that fit their technology goals, and once they are under contract, we act as their project managers.”

Rather than deal with customer service representatives, clients deal directly with SOLUS to address any billing issues or service outages. Over time, as SOLUS continued providing white-glove service for its clients, Jonovic and Oliver saw the need to monetize those interactions – especially as their commission percentage from selling internet connectivity continued to dwindle.

“Most small businesses just want it to work; they don’t care if it’s chocolate or vanilla. If it doesn’t work, they want someone they can call who will pick up the phone and get their problem fixed,” Jonovic said.

One of SOLUS’ largest customers is a government agency with first responders. SOLUS manages technology solutions across more than 75 buildings. A late-night phone call on a Friday night prior to Labor Day weekend — the same weekend as Burning Man and Best in the West Nugget Rib Cookoff — inspired SOLUS to outsource call functions to a dedicated network operation center in Neptune, New Jersey that provides 24/7/365 support.

Jonovic said SOLUS is adding staff to scale SOLUSCare, including a director of managed services and CRM innovations along with an onboarding coordinator.

“Every feature in SOLUSCare helps streamline IT management and gives our customers the tools they need to maximize performance and reduce friction in their operations,” Jonovic said. “SOLUSCare is a new standard for managed IT support platforms.