November 14, 2012 –
The damage and disruption caused by super storm Sandy reverberated throughout the residential and business communities in New Jersey and New York. In Long Branch, where MRA International is headquartered, the loss of power meant owner Bruno Tirone needed to figure out a backup plan. MRA International, which has been in business for 18 years, is an HP Elite Partner that specializes in the sale and servicing of computers and printers to the public sector schools, colleges, universities, local governments, and medical services companies. Tirone was able to temporarily re-locate to a small satellite office they operate in Trenton, where they ran the business for eight days while power was being restored to Long Branch.
Fortunately for Tirone, a Shore resident who has called Ocean Township home for the past 22 years, neither his home nor his Long Branch office suffered anything more than loss of power, but he knew that wouldnt be the case for some of his customers. He immediately got on the phone with HP and secured a special pricing offer for customers who needed to replace equipment in the aftermath of Sandy.
EmblemHealth, one of Brunos clients, located in New York City, was one of the unlucky ones. They have a major data center at 32 old Slip and offices located at 55 Water Street, which pretty much describes the damage from Sandy water, and lots of it. The office was flooded with six feet of water, destroying everything.
A busy health insurance provider, EmblemHealth needed to get back up and running as soon as possible. They have been an MRA customer for 12 years, but given the impact of the storm, they werent sure whether MRA would be operational. They called on November 1st, hoping that someone would answer the phone. They needed to get four servers delivered to their office in Florida, which would start transitioning over client files. MRA not only answered the call, but was able to get the servers delivered the next day. On Sunday, November 4th, Emblem contacted Tirone at home after they discovered they needed another four servers delivered to their disaster recovery location in North Jersey for the next day.
Under normal circumstances, the delivery time of these products is ten working days, but MRA employees, knowing the urgency of the situation, were able to secure and deliver the products to EmblemHealth within 24 hours of the request.
In addition to needing the new servers, EmblemHealth also needed to replace 100 notebooks which their employees use to process claims. Another desperate call went out to MRA late Thursday afternoon, and Tirone and his team were able to secure and deliver the product by 12 oclock the next day.
Tirone takes pride in his company on providing top notch customer service, from a live person to answer the office phone through to delivery and set up of systems. He knows how important computers are to his clients business and understands how much damage Sandy caused. “We are very lucky. I look around and see the devastation this storm caused, and I wanted to be able to do something to help with the recovery and help people get back to work.
Computers and printers are a big investment, and I know insurance doesnt always provide 100% of the cost.” HP is offering the special pricing for 90 days to help affected businesses get back to work.
MRA International was able to return to their Long Branch office on the 6th, but they see the reminders of Sandy all around them as they get back to the new normal.
About MRA International:
MRA International is located at 295 Morris Ave, Suite 101, Long Branch, NJ 07740, 732-222-0997 and also at 838 Genesee Street, Trenton, NJ 98610, 609-695-4500. For more information about MRA International, visit www.mrainternational.com.
