"What Our Customers Have To Say"

Recently, we polled some of our customers as to their experiences with their information systems and with CRTI, Inc.®

Here are some responses:

J&J Dog Supplies, Inc.

J&J Dog Supplies, Inc.’s President, Mike Godsil, began his relationship with IBM about 15 years ago. He had come up from a System/36 to an AS/400 running RPGII in the environment mode.  He liked his system and the way that it’s evolution had responded to his business. CRTI, Inc. was called in when Mike contacted IBM looking for new solutions.

Question:

What was your reason for looking for a new solution?

Answer:

"Definitely software support!"

"The time had come to scrap the AS/400 if we could not solve our software support situation. J&J Dog Supplies was out of ideas on how to maintain our legacy software applications. There were no local software firms that I could find that would work with the ‘small to medium sized company’ running RPGII on the AS/400. Changing software to the Native platform was out of the question due to prohibitive costs. The P/C solution seemed to be the only answer!"

Question:

What was your situation before looking for a new solution?

Answer:

"J&J Dog Supplies was going to lose our long time software support. I could not find any local support to maintain the legacy software. We could not justify the cost of purchasing new mail-order software at $100,000."

Question:

What was your feeling after your first contact with CRT International, Inc.?

Answer:

"OUTSTANDING and RELIEVED!!"

"I felt that my problems were being listened to, understood, and that the SOLUTION to my IS department’s problems was CRTI, Inc. It felt great to see that somebody has the solution I’ve been looking for. That night I had the best nights sleep that I had had in months. After talking to Ron, I felt I would not have any problems signing up with CRTI, Inc. As a matter of fact, I did immediately sign a Time and Materials Agreement."

Question:

Once you engaged CRTI, Inc., how did you feel the relationship started off?

Answer:

"Definitely the approach that Kip and Debby took with my employees and myself started the relationship off on the right foot. They would listen to our concerns and address them in a way that sounded like they had been there before.  They could review a problem, evaluate the severity, explain the ramifications, give us ‘Ball Park’ costs, and spend the time with my employees and myself until everybody had an understanding of what was being presented. I would like to say that one of CRTI’s strengths is their up front approach. They could sit across the desk from a businessman like myself and appreciate the position that my company was in. We are running hardware and software that we are comfortable with and see no reason to change. We felt we were orphaned/abandoned by everyone without many options left."

Question:

Do you have any other comments you would like to make?

Answer:

"A major strength that CRTI, Inc. has shown me is their ability to relate to the small to medium size business owner and understand the position that we are in dealing with our IS requirements.  CRTI, Inc. has continued to work with my company since our first meeting. Their immediate response time to our needs has proven to J&J Dog Supplies that this working relationship will continue. The approaches that are taken to our new requests are handled in a professional manner. Their mindset seems to be the same mindset that the small to medium sized business has to deal with everyday. This is a comforting feeling and one that, unfortunately, is not found in today’s

market."

Merrimack Valley Investments, Inc.

In June 1999, Dan Sullivan, Treasurer of  Merrimack Valley Investments, Inc. upgraded his IBM 5362 System/36 to an AS/400. He had some problems with the business partner that provided the hardware, which manifested in the following:

• He was told he could not migrate his software.

• He felt he was not given facts about today’s technology.

• Support was a problem.

• Phone calls were not answered on a timely basis, if at all.

• Cost overruns.

• Projects not completed, etc. etc...

Question:

Why were you looking for a new solution?

Answer:

"As I explained above, support was a problem plus I had new projects that had to be completed.  ‘Orphaned’ was a good word to describe my situation."

Question:

What was your feeling after your first contact with CRT International, Inc.?

Answer:

"EXCELLENT!" " CRTI went out of their way to explain in a straightforward approach what they COULD do, WOULD do, and HOW it would be accomplished. After my first phone conversation with them, I felt this sounded too good to be true."

Question:

Once you engaged CRTI, Inc., how did you feel the relationship started off?

Answer:

"Simply EXCELLENT! "

"I was being treated in a professional manner under conditions that I knew were not your normal type of install.

• Phone calls were being answered immediately.

• Phone conversations were productive and result orientated.

• My concerns were completely understood and addressed.

• The approach to resolving my problems was researched and explained to my staff and myself before any work was performed.

• Everybody at Merrimack Valley Investments was treated with respect and are extremely satisfied with CRTI and plan on having an on-going relationship."

...the results that were accomplished?  "A Miracle." "Everything was completed on time, installed,

tested, migrated, and connected to ADP for daily activity. The most important part is that everything promised from the beginning was completed. I know that long distance customer support makes the job more difficult, but I see no problem continuing the working relationship we have established which has proven to work."

Question:

Do you have any other comments you would like to make?

Answer:

"Thank you for going way out of your way to get my company’s IS department up to date and running like I envisioned it should be."

Stewart Seeds, Inc.

Stewart Seeds, Inc. was also a former System/36 customer. They had used CRTI’s tool for the year 2000 correction.  Marcia Trinkle, DP Manager, says: "The ConveRT 2000 tool worked exactly as we had intended. With the use of CRTI’s tool, our software was fixed and we ran into very few problems. After we fixed Y2K, we started to look at how we could really use our AS/400. We looked at re-write, new code and/or convert to Native. A P/C solution was even considered. Due to all of our custom code written for how we do business, new packages, re-writes or even conversion seemed to be out of the question. Because of our previous experience, we again called CRTI, Inc. They explained they had just built a tool that would solve our dilemma. Their tool would build DDS for our System/36 code so we could use our files with OS/400 while using our System/36 in the migrated mode on the AS/400. This solution got us where we wanted to go in a fraction of the cost of our other alternatives. Our owner had purchased Lotus Notes and was anxious to use it. Because of our workload, we contacted CRTI to complete this process for us."

Question:

What was your feeling after your first contact with CRT International, Inc.?

Answer:

"I felt very comfortable with all conversations that took place with everybody at CRTI, Inc. While using the ConveRT/2000 tool, all of my questions regarding the proper use of this tool were addressed on a timely basis.  General questions not related to this tool but about the AS/400 and coding techniques were discussed and explained in a professional way. Prior to and during the migration process, the line of communication remained open. All situations that were encountered were discussed up front and explained in detail. Even today, the assistance I receive from CRTI, Inc. is helpful in my day-to-day operations. Their resources and expertise are appreciated and will be used in the future."

Question:

Do you have any other comments you would like to make?

Answer:

"When this project is completed, we are looking forward to a continued working relationship with

CRTI.  I feel that the decision we made to migrate to the environment and create complete DDS was the correct one. We are looking forward to working on this new platform."

Quick Dispense, Inc.

Quick Dispense, Inc.’s I.S. Manager, Brad Bateman, started approximately two years ago looking to upgrade his current AS/400. "The growth of our business requires more horse power."  

Question:

What was your reason for looking for a new solution?

Answer:

"Hardware and software service assistance. The current AS/400 was running flawlessly but the time had come to upgrade our AS/400 to the next level of this family. We were also looking for assistance in creating DDS and converting our RPGII to Native."

Question:

What was your feeling after your first contact with CRT International, Inc.?

Answer:

"CRTI, Inc. explained clearly how they could assist Quick Dispense, Inc. with our hardware and software requirements. The line of QuickSilver products offered by CRTI, Inc. were discussed in detail relative to how they could assist us in our IS department needs."

Question:

Once you engaged CRTI, Inc. as a business professional in your field, how did you feel the relationship started off?

Answer:

"Simply, there are no problems with the communication or working relationship. We are currently working together on our IS department’s requirements."

These are just a few samples of our customers’ relationships with us.

We look forward to serving your needs and developing this type of relationship with you and your

company!!