“Things that hold us back are our edge”: Helene Martin at Pit Stop Technologies on their ‘disadvantage playbook’

The managing director of the South Australian MSP explains why she loves a challenge.

South Australian MSP Pit Stop Technologies doesn’t see their challenges as set backs, in fact, they use it to their advantage, their managing director Helene Martin calls it their “disadvantage playbook”.

Speaking to CRN Australia exclusively, Martin explained that the factors that hold them back have become their edge.

“We have challenges where we don't have a funnel for talent pipeline, there's no tech precinct, there's no IT cluster, we’re it,” she said.

“Instead of seeing that as just a disadvantage, we do use it to our edge.”

Pit Stop Technologies is a team of 17 people, and not all of them were originally from an IT background, which Martin again said gives them an advantage.

“A lot of them are people that have come into the industry that I've just seen good things in them and had a good gut feeling about them, so I've employed them, given them a chance to come on board and learn,” she explained.

“We keep our staff for a long time, as well. We don't have a turnover problem, and that's something that is different, because we are in the community. People don't tend to do that in a regional area.”

But, Martin uses this to her advantage to the point where she receives complements about her staff and her processes.

“I've had clients that, when they've met with me, they say, ‘Helene, I want to know what your HR process is because whatever you're doing is amazing’,” she said.

“Isn't it amazing that I can recruit these people that people are saying are ‘amazing’, and I'm living out here with a limited pool. We don't get a lot of graduates or a lot of people with a great deal of experience, but we form this amazing team.”

Recently, Martin hired a new brand and marketing coordinator, she didn’t have an IT background, but Martin saw something in her.

Martin explained that the woman pulled out of the application process because she didn’t have an IT background, but Martin convinced her to come in for an interview.

“She'd done some marketing for herself and content creation in her own business, but not like what she does now,” she said.

“But, that's where I don't think anyone else in the MSP world would have given her that chance, and she's amazing.”

Pit Stop Technologies tends to have a long tenure with the majority of their clients, according to Martin.

“We keep most of our clients for at least eight to nine years. We've got quite a few clients that have been with us since we started 16 years ago, which, again, I'd say in the industry is pretty rare to do that,” she said.

Regional charm

Martin’s partner and co-founder, Plato Lagoudakis are well known in the Yorke Peninsula, about two hours north of Adelaide.

“A name like ‘Plato’ is also very well known in the community, even in Adelaide some people will say, ‘Oh, you're Plato, I've heard about you’,” she said.

Lagoudakis is the director of technical and focuses on everything and anything technical, while Martin handles everything else.

Because they are based in regional South Australia, Martin noted that relationships are very important to the MSP.

“We all have a different way of working together, and my passion is around IT, but also just business in general. I love business, that's my whole passion,” she said.

Their team of 17 is scattered around the state, three are based in Adelaide, and the rest are in the Kadina HQ.

The advantage for Pit Stop Technologies is they will jump in the car and visit their regional clients, as they are closer than their metropolitan counterparts.

"We're prepared to get in the car and show up to those remote sites, whereas Adelaide providers generally don't want to leave the metropolitan area to service them,” she said.

“We are quick to jump in the car and show up, and then with our Adelaide presence as well, that complements it. Instead of necessarily being Adelaide first and then regional, we're regional first, and then Adelaide second.”

Award winners

Pit Stop Technologies has added two new trophies to their Kadina office, the 2026 Australian Small Business Champion Award winner for Information Technology and the 2026 South Australian winner of the Australian Achiever Award.

Martin said winning the Small Business Champion award was “life changing”.

“Being a finalist, I couldn't believe that a little business based in regional South Australia could be a finalist on a national stage,” she said.

Attending the awards in Sydney a few months ago, Martin recalled the moment when they won.

“Amy [Abell] was sitting there recording it, and they said, and the winner is Pit Stop Technologies, and all you hear [in the recording] is all of us [screaming], and she drops her phone, it's so funny,” she said.

“I'm a fairly confident person, but it's made me realise what we have built is amazing. To have built this where we are, and with our challenges that are now not challenges, it's been a massive mind shift for me.”

The win has given them new client enquiries and more interest at working at the regional MSP.

“We've already had some new client enquiries from that from marketing and promoting that, so that's been really good,” she said.

“Putting yourself out there pays off.”

Martin is looking to expand her team and build more people in their AI and automation department and said winning the award has giving them some free marketing.

“Seeing the award and seeing our socials, that's probably a strength to attracting people, because they see us and they think, ‘Oh, that's a cool place to work’,” she noted.

Martin explained how she’s feeling at the moment, “We've definitely got a whole new lot of energy and vibe post the award win, feeling pretty unstoppable.”