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Five Nines News

Five Nines Tops in Personal Attention
by Stephanie Geery-Zink
Lincoln Journal Star, Directions

Journal Star Photo

Success for one small Lincoln company has come by doing what it has always done – giving its customers what they need with personal attention.

Although Five Nines Technology Group has been around only since October 2006, it already has grown by over 3 times. In August, it was honored with the Small Business of the Year awarded by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

Five Nines was founded by James Bowen and Nick Bock, who each had his own separate information and technology consulting and support business for several years. Bowen worked by himself as Bowen Consulting, and Bock’s Nebraska IT was a three-person company. Bock said they each had encountered the other on various IT jobs and discovered they had a lot in common, including similar philosophies for doing business.

“Things clicked really well,” Bock said. They realized they could be stronger and do more together than apart, so they formed Five Nines while drinking coffee and hot chocolate at the mill which became their makeshift conference room.

“We sat down and literally talked for two hours about how we did business and what we wanted to do in the future,” Bock said.

The name Five Nines refers to the level of perfection in information technology, 99.999 percent which represents five minutes of down time per year.

Bowen said the two companies separately had the same attitude toward clients; both worked hard to establish good client relationships.

“We thought we would try it out to see if we could make a better, bigger company.” Bowen said. “It allows us to do what we do a lot better.”

As a larger company, they figured they could have greater flexibility and more resources to take care of their customers, as well as be able to accommodate larger clients.

In establishing Five Nines, they took great care in the hiring process, something they have continued to emphasize.

“One of the big benefits of merging has been we’ve been able to hire good guys,” Bowen said.

The pair chose their IT staff based not only on technical skills but on their ability to interact well with customers. Because Five Nines’ clientele ranges across a variety of fields and company sizes, being able to communicate with a variety of people is imperative.

“IT people get a bad rap that they don’t communicate well,” Bock said. “We’re hiring people who don’t fit in that mold.” Bock said they’ve been able to hire good people by offering a good benefits package and encouraging the duel mantras of “work hard” and “play hard.” For example, foosball and ping pong tables in the basement of their office help get the creative juices flowing.

Bock said Five Nines hadn’t really had to advertise because it had grown so fast by word of mouth. Clients range from those who use Five Nines for all of their IT needs to those who bring the company in only for projects.

“A lot of Five Nines’ depends on its customers’ success and growth,” Bowen said.

Bock added that they were continually engaged with their clients- not just when their equipment breaks down.

“We’re constantly thinking about their business,” Bowen said.

Receiving the chamber award was a great honor,” Bock said explaining the great relationship Five Nines has with its clients. Bock and Bowen still have no idea who recommended them for the award. “It could have been anyone of our customers,” Bock said. “Each customer is very special to us, each one is very important.”

“We have a remarkable track record of retaining customers,” Bock said, referring to not just the newer customers added since the company merged to become Five Nines but when the original IT companies were separate.

Ben Pankonin, director of business development, said the company realized that Five Nines would be judged on how reliable its people were. The company has a team approach to be as efficient as possible.

“You have to have reliability that counts. You have to be there when you say you’re going to be there,” Bock said.

Lincoln Journal Star
3-2-2008
Edited for clarity.