Ntiva Founder's Story

Not all Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are the same. So how do you find the best one for you? This is a story about how Ntiva got its start, our core values and what makes us different!

Part 1: Ntiva Beginnings: An IT Services Company Built On Trust

Our story begins with a 14 year-old boy—who accidentally picked up his first client in a computer store and ended up building one of the top MSPs.

Steven Freidkin, CEO of Ntiva, didn’t expect to find his first “customer” at a computer store back in the late 90s. He was just a kid looking at equipment for his own use, wearing a red shirt which coincidentally was the same color as the employees wore. A businessman assumed he worked there, and asked for assistance. Steven understood the man needed help, so he gladly delivered.

At the age of 14, Steven didn’t have all the tools that established MSPs had in place, but the businessman was impressed with his knowledge and hired him for a home office project. Based on his superior performance, the businessman trusted him enough to refer him to his colleagues.

Steven's IT business quickly grew throughout his high school years to other residential clients who needed similar help. Word-of-mouth referrals based on his excellent work ethic, response time and level of care soon propelled Steven to win his first commercial client in 2001.

Fast forward to today, and Ntiva has grown to thousands of clients across the U.S. based on our integrity, trust, and our first-rate ability to help businesses grow with the efficient use of technology.

These range from small businesses who have no internal IT staff and depend on us for complete support – to large enterprises who bring us in to supplement their existing IT team and provide strategic expertise.

Out of more than 20,000 MSPs in the country (yes, there are a lot of them!) Ntiva is in the top 30 by revenue. What propelled Ntiva to this level of success while others stayed stuck?

Part 2: A Top IT Services Company: Delivering More Than Technology

No one will argue that an MSP’s technology expertise is not important. However, in a service business the client experience is key to success.

Ntiva knows the biggest issue with MSPs isn’t the way they treat servers. It’s how they treat humans. Steven began working in IT at a very young age and when a rare mistake was made, he learned that acknowledging the error and fixing it quickly was important.

It's a lesson he carries to this day and has instilled throughout the company, creating systems to share knowledge quickly so that errors are not repeated.

Building in trust right from the beginning is crucial to our long term relationships, which is a hallmark of Ntiva. Here's just one example of what we mean!

Lindsey Business Group (LBG) was looking for new technology. They had a specific business application in mind, and were interviewing MSPs to not only deploy the application, but who would be a good fit for on going IT services and support.

Out of all the MSPs they spoke to, Ntiva was the only one who suggested an alternative to the solution they had chosen - one that would drop a few features they really didn't need, and cut costs in half.

Josiah Hunter of Lindsey Business Group remembers the moment he decided to work with Ntiva.

“That was the first interaction I ever had with Ntiva. And from that point on, I trusted them," said Josiah. "I get calls from other Managed IT Services Providers every day, but it’s not a question I’ll move on. I never check a bill. I know Ntiva could have made more money by giving me exactly what I asked for, and yet they countered with a solution that worked better for my company.”

Ntiva knows the importance of building trust with their clients. There is nothing worse than vendors trying to cover mistakes, claim ignorance, or maintain it wasn’t their responsibility. Trust is the most efficient way to move clients forward, and move Ntiva forward in the process.

Part 3: The Ntiva "Why": We exist to grow each other!

Every company needs a "why." Ntiva exists to grow people including employees, partners and clients. When we grow, we enable the growth of others.

All successful companies go through roughly the same growth stages, from idea to start up to rapid growth and expansion. Without this growth, a company and everyone in it will remain stagnant.

From an MSP point of view, growth is key to providing employees the opportunity to learn new skills, move up into new positions and in turn offer that knowledge to clients.

With technology changing so quickly, an MSP also needs to be able to bring in new systems, tools and processes to improve service delivery and expand the product line.

To be in the best position to help clients grow their own businesses, Ntiva has focused on building a powerhouse of tech talent, bringing in state-of-the-art technology platforms, and automating routine services where possible so that our people can be elevated to provide strategic advice.

The point here is that when a successful business grows, it in turn provides opportunities for everyone in the extended community. Ntiva has grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions, the latter which have added specialized skills to our existing portfolio to further strengthen our ability to rise above the rest of the pack.

Our ultimate goal is to stay true to our CORE values (Care, Ownership, Responsiveness, Excellence) while continuing to grow our people, the company and our clients, using technology as the accelerator and trust as our foundation.

Reach out to us if you would like to learn more about how Ntiva can help your business grow with technology!