My (much smarter than I) wife of 23 years is a nurse in Cardiovascular (CV) surgery. From a medical layman like myself, that by itself sounds like a particular specialty. When we talk about the cases she does and the surgeons she works with, I quickly realize that within CV, there are surgeons that are skilled and specialize at a deeper level—valves, bypass, transplants, minimally invasive versus open procedures, and the list goes on. If you were having a major procedure, wouldn’t you find the best at that particular surgery?
In the same vein (CV pun intended…), the best providers of IT solutions—services, subscriptions to “aaS,” and products—have identified their specific value in the market and stay true to their focus. Focus does not mean a particular vendor (as in “we sell Cisco”) because that’s not a value-driven business model. Focus means identifying specific customer segments, having critical mass in key geographies, and defining essential technologies and solutions while going deep in technical, project management, operational, and sales skills.
Over the last two decades, I’ve worked for several IT solution providers at different stages of their lifecycle. The most value we ever delivered was when we stayed focused—working in a defined number of locations, with deep expertise in sales, professional services, and managed IT services for life sciences, and staying true to the customer profile and solution stack. That’s how we executed appropriate designs, staffed expert resources, and delivered successful deployments on time and on budget. Repeatable, reliable value.
In contrast, generalist providers—especially large ones—are often incorrectly assumed to have expertise in every domain. Yes, they offer access to more services and products, but that’s often offset by internal inefficiencies, impersonal relationships, and long engagement timelines. I’ve experienced this myself: “We have a guy in Seattle who knows XYZ and can help!”—but then the process to engage that person becomes a bureaucratic mess.
Even as technologies evolve, the specialized model wins. It consistently proves that experience and focus produce better outcomes than the one-size-fits-all approach of generalists. I’m excited to be part of a young, focused, nimble company that’s proving this daily. Through our cloud management services, we’re helping clients deliver more value, more securely, and more efficiently.
Most of us wouldn’t expect great Italian cuisine from a fast-food burger joint. I recommend you view your IT solutions provider the same way.
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