How an Internal IT Team Maintains Control Over a 200+ Acre Greenhouse Facility
ScreenConnect™has a lot of unique use cases and unique partners, and NatureFresh Farms was no exception. Founded in 1999, NatureFresh Farms has grown to become one of the largest independent greenhouse produce growers in Canada, and one of the largest greenhouse Bell Pepper growers in North America.
From day one, Founder and President of NatureFresh Farms, Pete Quiring, has been perfecting automation for cost control, technology for crop control, and varietal advancements for consumer appreciation. Covering 200 acres, with computers located everywhere, NatureFresh Farms needed a solution to control the computers throughout their facility. They also wanted better control over internal resources and wanted to save time by automating IT-related tasks.
NatureFresh Farms needed a way to control the computers throughout their 200+ acre facility to support internal resources and automate IT-related tasks.
NatureFresh Farms uses ScreenConnect with ConnectWise Automate for remote accessibility and to instantaneously connect and support every machine throughout their facilities.
NatureFresh Farms has had a great experience right out of the box by giving technicians the ability to build their own toolbox and save time.
Familiar Solutions Solve Bigger Challenges
Keith Bradly, IT Manager at NatureFresh Farms, comes from the MSP world and had familiarity with ConnectWise Automate. He knew they needed the ability to control the computers throughout their facility but wanted to look at how they could also manage their maintenance department.
“We started to go through and say well, repairing a computer is no different than repairing a remoter,” said Keith Bradly. “So, we said, ‘let’s try using the tool we already have in place and just expand it,’ and we’ve continued to expand it over and over again.”
Before ConnectWise Automate, Keith would have to leave his office and drive to the facility to answer support questions or help individuals with their machines. While the facility was only a four-minute drive away, those minutes add up when you’re driving back and forth so many times in a day.
Now, with ScreenConnect integrated with ConnectWise Automate, Keith can instantaneously connect to support every machine in the entire facility from his office. NatureFresh Farms also has a new facility in Delta. Since opening, they’ve been able to support the facility for two years without employing an on-site tech because of the ability to deliver support remotely.
Finding Growth and Expansion
A major long-term improvement Keith and his team have experienced is how ConnectWise Automate and ConnectWise PSA™ can communicate with each other for more efficient ticket management. “ConnectWise Automate can realize something is wrong, create a ticket in ConnectWise PSA, so we can then go in and fix it before the users do,” says Keith.
“We finally shifted from being a company that was being told what was wrong by people out in the field, to an IT department that is telling the people, ‘Hey, something is broken, we’re coming to fix it.’ And that’s what our goal was.”
The superior remote access and management with ScreenConnect also gave NatureFresh Farms technicians a better work-life balance. Keith felt comfortable letting his technicians work from home in the afternoon because they could still remote in and do their job with the same functions and capabilities from sitting in the office. With such a large facility and multiple locations, the technicians could maintain the feeling of being right next door to users out in the field even when they’re hours away.
ScreenConnect is built on everything that NatureFresh Farms has come accustomed to when using ConnectWise products—there’s always room for growth and expansion. “It was a great experience right out of the box,” says Keith. “It was this great feature set, but then again like anything with ConnectWise, it grew into more.” Now, the NatureFresh Farms team has full control to support their facilities, streamline ticket management, and have the confidence for continued growth.
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