Johnston Technologies Turns 25!

May 30, 2014 Written by JohnTech

Background

It all really began in October 1979. Allen flew reconnaissance flights in the US Coast Guard for the Ixtoc oil spill in Campeche, Mexico with his (now) brother-in-law. Allen met Sharon shortly thereafter, were engaged in December and married in June, 1980… and so it began…

In May of 1989, Allen and Sharon Johnston began Johnston Technologies out of the basement of their Franklin, TN home. They had relocated from Clearwater, FL to begin a new life with their three children: Adam, Chris, and Alise. Having experience with power systems and critical operations in C-130 aircraft flying in the Coast Guard, Allen saw an opportunity to transfer that knowledge to the data center environment. A few short years after Johnston Technologies began, Allen and Sharon moved their growing company to an office building on Seaboard Lane in Franklin, TN (where we are still located to this day). The dream of owning their own business had come true and they began to build on that dream to hoping one day their three children would take over what they had built.

Flash forward to today; Johnston Technologies currently employ all three of Allen and Sharon’s children, two family friends, and nephew Billy Johnston. Even as the economic tide has ebbed and flowed and business models have changed, Johnston Technologies remain in Middle Tennessee and is still providing state-of-the-art emergency power systems that protect our community’s assets.

Slow Beginnings

The beginning of Johnston Technologies is similar to many small businesses beginnings. It was started in a basement of the owner’s house. There, Allen and Sharon put their blood, sweat, and tears into making a successful business for their three children.

An important lesson they learned from their time in the basement was if you treated your customers the right way, they will return again and again. Live by the “Golden Rule”. This began our 361 Degree Philosophy.

The 361 Degree Philosophy was developed by Allen and states that if we, as a company, provide our customers with JUST ONE DEGREE more than is expected, then our customers will make another loop around our circle of business. If circled more than once, we have successfully developed a relationship with our customer outside of just sales. They trust us to protect their equipment and treat them fairly along the way.

Becoming the EPE and Later MGE Rep

Once they began picking up steam, an opportunity presented itself that would forever change Johnston Technologies; Allen was offered the Tennessee Representative position for EPE Technologies, Inc. This opportunity allowed them to expand as a company and add more employees as were needed to keep up with the rigors of being a Territory Rep. Much of how we work today comes from the experienced gained from being the EPE Technologies Rep.

EPE Technologies eventually became MGE UPS Systems and Allen and Sharon were kept as the Tennessee Rep for MGE. They held as the Rep for MGE for many years and met many of our current customers and business friendships during that time.

Transition to an Elite/Strategic Partner

MGE merged with APC in 2007 and with it brought another unique opportunity. Instead of simply selling UPSs to our customers, we could help deliver, project manage, maintain, service and refresh not just UPSs, but comprehensive data center solutions. So, that’s what they did. They transitioned to the turn-key solution company that we are today.

Our customer’s satisfaction became the primary goal of the business. We sell the right equipment for the right solution in every data center, no matter how unique the challenge.  For instance, an office legend involves Johnston Technologies looking at a UPS in the middle of a chicken factory.  Supposedly, the smell has not left anyone’s memory.

We began expanding our product line from just emergency power equipment. We began introducing monitoring systems to our customers so they could be in charge of what they know in their data center.

Data Center InfraStrategies®

Once the transition to an Elite/Strategic Partner was complete, our tagline was born. Data Center InfraStrategies® are more than data center sales, they are custom strategies built for each individual client and facility. We have provided uninterruptible power and monitoring equipment for hospitals, military bases, chicken factories, power plants, banks, universities, and call centers. Each project was as diverse as the companies.

If one of our customers has an emergency in the middle of the night, we can be a first point of contact. Our emergency line is 24/7 and we encourage all of our customers to wake us up in the middle of the night so that we can best serve you.

Emergency Relief

Natural disasters have put our neighbors and community in life-threatening situations and companies in financial emergencies. As with the floods in 2010 and tornado outbreak in 2011, Johnston Technologies was available for support and emergency response, not just for our customers, but for our neighbors as well.

Employees from Johnston Technologies participated in water rescues in surrounding neighborhoods, provided generators for homes and businesses that lost power, transported gasoline to customers whose generators were running low, and helped with cleanup efforts.

The Future of Johnston Technologies – Next 25 Years

Since 1989, the technology industry has changed dramatically. Long gone are the days where data centers keep backup tape libraries and have to turn knobs on their UPS for calibration. Our products are leaner, smarter, and more efficient than they ever have been before.

Think back to 1989 and remember that at that time, cell phones didn’t even exist and we were still using floppy disks. In the next 25 years, we will see UPS systems become smaller and even more efficient (anyone thinking 100%?) than they are today. A data center will be able to process even more data from smaller space than they can today and with that will demand significantly more power protection without sacrificing data center footprint.

Each piece of information going in and out of the data center will have to be monitored due to its increasing importance to company success.

As quickly as our industry changes, so do we. The only thing that we can guarantee will stay the same, is that there will be Johnstons at the helm. Allen and Sharon have achieved their dream of running a family business and have progressed that dream once more to ushering in their children to run Johnston Technologies. We will maintain the same emphasis on customer satisfaction and 24 hour protection.

So, next time you talk to Allen or Sharon, congratulate their remarkable accomplishment of 25 years!