Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep.#81: Bacheler Technologies, How Prevention, Detection, And Remediation Keep Companies Safe

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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We explore how proactive IT transforms small businesses from fragile to resilient, and why balancing prevention, detection, and remediation beats break-fix every time. Craig shares the personal story behind Bacheler Technologies and how values, family, and community shape a stronger security culture.

• What Bacheler Technologies provides for small to mid-sized businesses
• Why proactive IT outperforms break-fix
• 24-7 monitoring, site visits, and budgeting support
• Using AI responsibly to improve efficiency
• Ransomware risks and business continuity planning
• Prevention, detection, remediation as a unified strategy
• Work-life balance as a leadership principle
• Hiring for values and long-term partnerships
• Community service and giving back
• New Auburn office and how to connect
www.wearebt.com

334-669-4530

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susan Hodges.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome. With me today is Craig Bachelor with Bachelor Technologies. Welcome, Craig. Susan, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm honored to be on your show.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you. And so tell me a little bit about Bachelor Technologies. What do you guys do?

SPEAKER_02:

So we're an IT security company that focuses on network infrastructure design and security. And so what we do is we help small to mid-sized businesses. We focus on their IT so they can focus on their businesses.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

We've been in business uh 18 years. Uh we have about 30 engineers. We are based out of Montgomery, Alabama. We have an office in Nashville. And up until now, we've supported our Opalica and Auburn uh partners from our Montgomery branch. And I'm excited to announce that in January we're opening office uh by the medical center in Auburn. So we are excited to be in Auburn in in next year.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, we're excited to have you. This is uh a great place to to live and to do business. Auburn and Opalica certainly is a gym to be here. Well, Craig, tell me a little bit about, I mean, I know you said IT and security, but what does that, you know, is that I'm sitting here in front of a computer, right? So is that everything computers?

SPEAKER_02:

That is all things computers. So yeah, what we do is we focus on, we are more in the preventative, taking preventive measures for our clients. So we manage uh clients' network infrastructures, we have security tools in place. Uh, we do break fix, but there's a misconception that people think, you know, IT companies are here to fix when stuff breaks.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, because that's normally when you're picking up the phone to call, right?

SPEAKER_02:

We do, we do have a fast, rapid response team. We have a dedicated team that that's all they focus on. They focus on if one of our partners has a problem, they can call and they can get support. Um, but we mainly focus on being proactive. We have site visits, we have monthly site visits with our partners, we have quarterly visits, um, we do a lot of monitoring. So, so that the IT world has kind of shifted from you really can't be reactive anymore, you got to be more proactive. And so we have the security measures, we have 24-7 monitoring that we are looking out for our clients. Plus, we're also helping them navigate uh through budgeting. And and again, everybody's talking about AI. So we talk with our clients about hey, how they can leverage AI uh to help their companies be more efficient.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yeah, there is uh, I mean, we're ruled by our technology and being proactive these days, I can understand you don't want to have to stop and fix something. You yours because your business will stop.

SPEAKER_02:

And your business relies on it. And again, the problem nowadays is if a bad threat actor gets in, they can shut down your network. And unfortunately, uh the new stat is three out of five companies that get attacked by ransomware go out of business within 12 months. I mean, it really has a negative impact. So you really need to invest in your network to stop the bad threat actors from getting in, but then also having the tools that if somebody does get in, you know about it and you can take remediation quickly. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, tell me a little bit about you, Craig. How did you get into the IT world?

SPEAKER_02:

So um, I really never started Bachelor Technologies thinking I was gonna start a business or be a business owner. It really came to being able to control uh the balance between work and family life. Uh, when I first you know got into IT, um, I worked for a really good company and I was I was good at IT. The problem is I had a newborn son and I was going to work before he got up, and I was coming home after he was asleep, and I really I literally missed the first four years of his life. Um, so we had a second son, and I was determined that I was, you know, I was gonna spend more time or at least control that time. So I started bachelor so that I can control the family time. And then what I did, we have a balance that having that work balance and that life balance is important. And so I found other people like-minded people like that, and we've just grown since then.

SPEAKER_01:

That sounds awesome. Well, that's a that's a a good um a good idea to have in mind, and that and honestly, that's why a lot of people go into business for themselves is to get that work-life balance.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. A lot of people get caught up in that. And again, especially if you're good and you like what you're doing, it's very easy to to get caught up in that working all the time because you love it. But again, there's got to be that balance between work life and family life. And we tell people here at Batch Technology, family life comes first all the time.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So that's right. Well, tell me a little bit about some. I mean, you've been in this business for a while. So you've run across a lot of misconceptions that people have about uh the IT world or about their technology. What are some of the things you've uh come across?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I kind of alluded to it earlier. So um, a lot of people think that all IT companies are the same, and they think that IT companies are here to fix things when things break.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

That is the biggest misconception. And we are moving away from that philosophy um because it just doesn't work anymore. Um, you just can't be in a reactive state. Um, so we are educating our partners that you need to have three main processes. You need to have prevention, you need to stop bad things from happening, you need to have detection, you need to know if something happens. Because unfortunately, in in the world we live today, if somebody targets a small to mid-sized company and they spend enough time through social media, through other resources, chances are they will get in. And I tell clients, even my clients, I can't guarantee someone's not going to get into your network. But if you do your due diligence to prevent it, but then you also have tools to detect when it happens, and then you need tools to remediate when it happens. So we kind of focus with our clients. Here, here's our three strategies. A lot of IT companies put a lot of emphasis on prevention, but there aren't detection and remediation. So again, the misconception is hey, I can just fix something when it breaks. You really need to have a strategic plan for all three.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, I could see that. So we talked about work-life balance. Uh let's shift to you for a minute. What do you guys do for fun, uh, you and your family, when you're not fixing or preventing problems?

SPEAKER_02:

When I'm not working on computers, I'm working on computers. No, I'm kidding. Um, when I watch call when I'm not working, we have a place uh up on Lake Martin. And and so I have my my two boys are older, I have a senior at Auburn and I have a sophomore at Auburn. Uh they are right down the street from Lake Martin. So, you know, when we're not when I'm not working, we're at the lake, uh, we're out skiing, we're out surfing, we're just we're spending family time together.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that's good. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

I would also say that you know, giving back to the community, I'm part of, again, I kind of told you that IT is kind of a platform for us. Um, we really believe in giving back to community. That's why I think podcasts like this are so important, uh, because you can have a positive impact, more positive impact on your local community than you know. And so I belong to several um boards, the the MAP Center here in Montgomery, Child Protect. Uh, we promote that within Batcher that we really want our team members to give back to the community and be on boards. And I think it's important. I think it's important to try to get up every day. Um, and I tell people, IT is what I do, but I want to be defined by my faith. And and my faith command means to command me to be good, be be more, do more, help more. And so I get up every morning purposely trying to find a way to have a positive impact on somebody's life. That could be it, that could be a family member, that could be a team member, that could be a stranger. Um, and and if you look for that, you will find it and and you'll be blessed. I mean, more people you help, I mean, you will just be blessed by it. So I really that that's kind of what I focus on each day.

SPEAKER_01:

So you said be more, do more, help more.

SPEAKER_02:

Help more, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Help more. Okay. I like that.

SPEAKER_02:

So be more, do more, and and help more. And and again, the more you help, the more you'll be blessed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. Well, you know, part of the reason I do this podcast is to encourage people to go into business for themselves, to pursue that work-life balance. And even, you know, when you do go into business for yourself, there's always going to be obstacles, hardships, whether it's personal or business. So, what are some of those hardships you've encountered uh that made you stronger or your business stronger?

SPEAKER_02:

So I so I'll say I kind of alluded to it about you know, working too much, not having that balance. And I think that podcasts like this, the the good neighbor, like I said, you can have a positive impact, more a bigger positive impact on your local community than you really know. And I think you have a very good positive impact helping business owners and educating them. Um, but I think that for a lot of people, you know, there's kind of there's not a roadmap to business. You you get into it because you love it, because you love what you do. Um, you you have to have that balance. And that was for me, you know, early on when I first, you know, before I started Bachelor, again, I love what I do, but I just worked all the time and and I didn't have that balance. So I think for business owners, you know, the the challenge is to have that balance between doing business work and having that family family time. Um, and so again, we try to promote that here at Bachelor. Uh, you know, one of the things we have is we have unlimited vacation, unlimited sick time. People take as much sick time as they much vacation time as they want, and and people would think that they abuse it and they really don't. I'm like, we have more engineers that don't take a whole lot of vacation time, they take it when they need it. But I tell my my team members, if if you have a child that's playing in a little league baseball team or your daughter's on a volleyball team, I would be thoroughly, I'd be thoroughly disappointed if you missed that to work. And so I think a lot of business owners, they they they don't have that balance. So I would just caution them, you know, make sure you have that balance and make sure you know the family time comes first. Work work will be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it always is, it never ends. It always is.

SPEAKER_02:

There's always a broken Peter somewhere.

SPEAKER_01:

So well, what's one thing you wish people knew about bachelor technologies that they may not realize?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, that we we are a a we're partners, not providers. Uh what I mean by that, we really look out for our partners, we look for long-term relationships. Um, I've had clients in Montgomery and Auburn for 18 years, uh, and I value them just as much today as I did on day one. Um, so we are the the IT company that really puts our clients first. Um, we have five core values that we live by. You know, we have one humbly confident, put others first. Um, we live by those core values. And I tell people when when we interview IT, when we interview for new people, we don't ask them a single IT question. We are assuming that you know IT, you have the certifications, you know IT. What we're looking for is we're looking for people that will put other people first that will be humbly confident. Um, so it's really important us that we are partners, not providers for our clients.

SPEAKER_01:

Sounds great. Well, how can someone get in touch with you, whether they're needing some IT help or or maybe they want to uh join your team or uh get involved in some of the things you're involved in? How do they reach out?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, the easiest way is the website. The website is www.wearbt.com. And and that's kind of the easiest way that has all the information. Uh they can call our main number at 334-669-4530, or they can look us up and stop by our offices. So, you know, the stop by if we're if they're national, they can stop by our national office. And if they're Montgomery, stop by Montgomery office. And I'm excited after January. We're gonna have a big grand opening in January for our our Auburn office. So we're excited about that. Uh, we would love just somebody reach out if they have any questions. Again, we love talking about technology, so so they can log on to the website, they can call us, or they can stop by.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Well, thank you, Craig. It's been a pleasure talking with you today. I appreciate you being on the show.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, Susan, I appreciate you having and I appreciate uh the Good Neighbor Podcast and what you do for the local community.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you, and you have a good day.

SPEAKER_00:

You too. Thank you, Susan. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Auburn.com. That's GNP Auburn dot com. Or call three three four four two nine seven four zero four.