In 1974, when the world’s renowned sports apparel company Fox Racing started with a tiny distribution business, Moto-X Fox, for European motocross bikes, the company would have never thought that the company would soon end up producing sports apparel. When the company’s very own motocross team, Team Moto-X Fox, became a huge hit, Fox’s handmade outfits for the riders got no less attention from the American motocross fans. In 1980, the company repositioned itself as a major player in the U.S. motocross apparel industry. Today, the company’s employee base stands at 500 people, including a small IT-support staff of just 12 people who manage the employee helpdesks.
Two and a half years back, when big IT providers were the first choice of all prospective customers, CA-based Fox Racing’s case was not different. The company’s provider search started from the onshore players and extended to looking out for all the Accentures and Wipros of the world, but none of them could satisfy Fox Racing’s management team. Fox Racing tried out several providers, including one who couldn’t even provide an average Internet connectivity.
Eventually, after evaluating the capabilities and commitment of numerous providers, Fox Racing selected an offshore partner at a time when companies were hesitant to offshore IT infrastructure services fearing security reasons. But Fox Racing took a step ahead and offshored its entire information infrastructure to a $10 million IT-infrastructure managed services and product-support services provider, NetEnrich. The provider specialized in handling mid-market companies such as Fox Racing.
The main reason for selecting NetEnrich was its promise and personal commitment to rendering superior service to Fox Racing. “The level of personal commitment — which is actually rare to find elsewhere — by the provider was very good,” says James Haskell, CIO, Fox Racing. Haskell’s team was impressed with NetEnrich’s references and articulation of its service capabilities, and after two and a half months of provider evaluation and negotiations, Fox Racing signed on NetEnrich in mid-2005.
