A client who trusts our know-how referred us to another business—not for software development—but with a hardware compatibility problem. Their printers weren't compatable with their new upgraded system. As a small business, they finally upgraded away from Windows 2003, but their print drivers wouldn’t work. They rely on their industrial barcode printers to print thousands of barcode labels every day; they are critical to their business. The thought of purchasing new printers loomed large in our conversation and was particularly frustrating because the existing printers worked fine. New printers would cost an additional unplanned $30,000, which is a lot of money for a small business.
Our business is primarily focused on software development, but knowing the fundamentals of hardware, software and business processes gives us the ability to find answers to problems others would miss. With permission, we audited this customer's system remotely to confirm the driver problem. Then came research and some inquiries. A successful work around was devised after repeated trial and error. The old print drivers were finally able to work on the modern server.
The client avoided having to spend $30K additional dollars. Persistence and experience often pays off, but you need the right people behind you who can think outside the box.