DFW Truck & Auto Accessories

I spent 32 years at IBM as a systems engineer and IT specialist, so when I retired in 2021, I figured I’d seen just about everything the IT world could throw at me. Turns out, I hadn’t.

That September, I joined DFW Truck & Auto Accessories, a family-owned business serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area since 1978. Moving from one of the world’s largest technology companies to a four-location retailer was quite a change.

At IBM, I worked alongside specialized teams focused on specific areas of technology. At DFW, I quickly discovered that if something involved a computer, network, website or just about anything digital, it would probably end up on my desk. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Wearing Multiple Hats

My title is IT Manager, but that only tells part of the story. I handle infrastructure, cybersecurity, business systems and communications. I also manage our website, create advertising, produce videos and graphics, develop applications, and build financial and operational reports.

On any given day, I might troubleshoot a network problem, write code, review sales figures or work on a marketing campaign. It’s a broader role than I had at IBM, and it has taught me something: understanding how different parts of a business work together can be just as important as knowing the technology itself.

Start With the Everyday Problems

When I arrived, I wanted to modernize our systems without making them unnecessarily expensive or complicated. Over the past five years, we’ve strengthened cybersecurity, improved communications, updated our website and moved more operations to cloud-based systems.

We use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to run the business. I’ve developed reporting tools that make sales, inventory and store performance easier for management to see. With four locations, knowing what’s selling, where inventory is needed and how stores are performing matters. The goal is to make that information available without having people manually piece together multiple reports.

“Technology only matters if it solves a problem.”

I’ve also worked on applications for checking in customer vehicles and tracking day-to-day work. These projects aren’t glamorous, but removing a repetitive step or making information easier to find can make employees’ days better.

That leads to my first suggestion for other retailers: ask employees what slows them down. Look for reports that take too long, information that’s hard to locate and tasks people repeat every day. Before buying another system, see what you can improve with the tools you already have.

Where IT Meets Marketing

I didn’t expect to spend so much time on advertising when I joined the company. But managing both marketing and technology has been useful. Our website helps customers explore accessories, understand services and connect with our salespeople. Because I also work with reporting, I can connect campaigns with the business information needed to evaluate them.

The lesson for a smaller retailer isn’t that one person should do everything. It’s that the people managing your website, marketing and business systems need to share information. Good ideas shouldn’t get stuck between departments.

AI Changes What’s Possible

AI has changed how quickly I can move from an idea to a working result. I use it to help develop software, produce marketing content, analyze information and automate processes. Work that once might have required outside help can sometimes be handled internally.

But AI still needs someone who understands the problem and checks the output. My advice is to start with a manageable project: draft marketing content, explore a sales report or streamline one administrative task. Review the results, learn what works and then take on something bigger. Don’t begin with a giant AI initiative just because everyone is talking about AI.

A Different Kind of Reward

I valued my time at IBM and learned a great deal there. But working for a family-owned retailer has shown me how satisfying it is to see the effect of a change firsthand, whether it’s a new system across four stores or a small fix that saves someone time.

You don’t need an enterprise-sized budget to make progress. Start with a problem your employees or customers actually experience, use what you have, measure whether the change helped and keep improving. After 32 years at IBM and five years at DFW Truck & Auto Accessories, I’m still learning and finding new problems to solve. That’s probably what I enjoy most about the job.