Marine businesses choose DockMaster's hosted solution

by Marine NewsWire on 1 Aug 2014 Imagine running your business without having to purchase and maintain a server, incur heavy IT consultant expenses or perform regular backups of your data. For scores of marine businesses, that scenario has now become a reality.

DockMaster, the leading suite of marine business software, offers a hosted solution that allows companies to move technology-hardware, software and data-out of their facility and into the cloud. The result is less time and money spent on technology and more resources to focus on core business.

Dealers, marinas and boat yards like Rambo Marine (Ala.), Hagadone Hospitality (Idaho), Flagship Marinas (Ga.), Homewood High & Dry (Ariz.), Legendary Marine (Fla.), Marina PDR Operations (Puerto Rico), McMichael Yacht Yard (N.Y.), North Shore Yacht Works (British Columbia), Sailboats Inc. (Wis.), Seattle Boats (Wash.), Torresen Marine (Mich.) and the City of the Port of Aransas (Texas) have all committed to DockMaster's hosted solution.

'DockMaster gives marine businesses powerful options,' said Kevin Hutchinson, founder and CEO of My-Villages, which owns DockMaster. 'If people want to stick with their current setup and store their data locally, DockMaster can do that without a problem. But moving to a hosted solution in the cloud allows for greater efficiency, peace of mind and a much easier technology experience.'

'Before we switched, we were struggling to maintain internal servers and spent an inordinate amount of time chasing IT problems,' said Nick Wolfgram, marina controller at Legendary Marine in Florida. 'Switching to DockMaster's hosted solution solved that problem and increased our ability to process transactions more quickly at all of our facilities.'

Trevor Campbell, director of operations at Seattle Boats, said, 'We want our staff taking care of customers, not wrangling with technology. DockMaster's hosted solution will allow us to do exactly that. We are implementing the change now, and it will make us a lot more efficient.'

DockMaster's hosted solution moves software and data from customers' local servers to secure off-site facilities. That means no server to buy and maintain, and no manual backups for staff to remember. Backups happen automatically, eliminating the chance for human error and making data more secure.

Similarly, upgrades to servers and software take place virtually, and new versions of DockMaster are implemented after hours, eliminating business disruptions. As technology providers offer newer versions, DockMaster customers will always receive the latest backup, antivirus and operating system software, without additional investments. Moreover, hardware failures are minimized because servers are housed in a secure facility where they are monitored and maintained around-the-clock by certified IT professionals. The data center features turbine back-up generators, along with redundant hardware, network and cooling systems to insure that your data is safe and readily accessible.

'This really is a more modern approach to business technology,' Hutchinson said. 'Many industries have been doing business in the cloud for years, and we're proud to help marine businesses move in that direction, too. Our other application, The Boat Village, is cloud-based as well, and compliments the capabilities of DockMaster by enabling online service coordination between marine businesses and customers.'

Started in 1983, and acquired by My-Villages late last year, DockMaster is the largest marine management business suite, now in use at more than 600 facilities in North America, the Caribbean, Central America and Western Europe.

DockMaster 8.0, the latest edition, which was released in beta earlier this year, has been thoroughly redesigned and modernized to provide an enhanced and familiar user experience, along with seamless connectivity to off-site cloud data storage. It unifies the user experience across all modules, improves overall navigation and provides superior flexibility and control over critical data.

Later this year, DockMaster will be integrated with The Boat Village, an online service coordination and boat management tool that will extend DockMaster's capabilities to coordinate with customers online. The result is an integrated system that can vastly improve communications and coordination, and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

To learn more about DockMaster and The Boat Village, please click here.