Home > News and Case Studies > Case Studies > Ironkeep Technologies

Ironkeep Technologies in Traverse City, Michigan, delivers a wide range of IT services, including consulting, web design, web hosting, programming, and networking. Founded in 2000 by Albert Steed and Zachary Schneider, Ironkeep started as a small consulting and network security operation in a cramped one-room office packed with servers. The business grew and prospered, which led them to Charter Business in order to gain redundancy for their T1 line. Ironkeep later upgraded their data service and made Charter Business their primary broadband provider. Albert Steed says the most important factor in Ironkeep’s choice of Charter Business was their local presence in the community. He notes, “Charter Business provides great service and support through their local offices and technicians. We can get help promptly, which is something you don’t always get from other communications providers. Plus, Charter Business supports this community—they employ local people, do business with local companies, and donate to local charities. That’s very important to us. We feel good about spending money with Charter Business since we know it stays right here.” In addition to this local presence, Steed appreciates the flexibility and redundancy of the fiber service that Charter Business provides. “It allows us to increase our capacity at a moment’s notice," says Steed, "as compared to other services that may involve a threemonth waiting period to make changes. We also get redundancy from Charter Business due to their SONET loop around town. If there’s a cut in any line, the service continues by going around the loop in the other direction. With Charter Business as our provider, we don’t have to worry about downtime.” Steed concludes, “ It’s great to have Charter Business close by whenever we need them. Their engineers always come up with the best and most costefficient ways to meet our challenges. In short, Charter Business does a good job of making our business look good. ” Click here to see more Case Studies.