Value-driven, customized technology solutions: iT1

A vendor-agnostic selling strategy, ensuring that clients’ needs are met in the best manner possible’

iT1 is a global technology solution provider, established in 2003, and headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ. Its core capabilities include virtualization, data management, telecommunications services, cloud solutions, professional and managed services and corporate procurement. iT1 works closely with industry leading manufacturers including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Cisco, Dell Technologies/EMC, Lenovo, VMware, Citrix and Microsoft, and many others. The company serves over 3,000 active accounts in virtually every industry including healthcare, finance, retail and manufacturing, as well as Federal, state, local and education (SLED) agencies.

Candid Q&A with the Key Executives

Why was the company set up?
The company was founded on the basis of understanding the marketplace and applying best of breed practices to deliver better value. Essentially, we have lived and thrived in this market for a combined total of 58 years, and we believed we could do three things:

• Set up an operation and infrastructure that surpassed the competition
• Do a better job (than our competitors) of supporting prospective customers.
• Offer employees a better place to come to work every day.

Why did you decide to be a part of the global platform?
By demand. Our business is not driven by the edict “build it and they will come”. On the contrary, every single thing we do is as a result of listening to our customers, understanding what it will take to support those customers, then taking calculated risks and making the commitment to succeed in the global marketplace.

What kind of mixed responses have you received from your consumers over the years?
Our customers have primarily shaped our growth over the years. Sure, there are plenty of times that we have to take a look at new offerings in the marketplace that our customers may or may not have considered from us. But when we explore business plans for new solutions, we first think of how our current customer base will benefit.

What do you feel are the reasons behind your product popularity and your consistent growth as an organization?
In one sense, we sell and support most of what our competitors offer. But what makes us different? Better? Our industry is constantly evolving. It is a continual learning process. First, you must understand the initiative, support the process required to be successful at it, and then sell it internally. The foundation must be built before you put the roof on. Our employees are smart. They know when we are ready to launch a new solution, and when we are not. If we have internal buy-in for a growth objective (Managed Services, for example), then we know we are ready for go-to-market plans.

What drives/inspires you to excel in your field of business?
The excitement, the opportunity, and the anticipation of what we can do. A new relationship. A new account. A new employee. With 58 years of experience between us, we are knowledgeable in this business. So, what do you do with that knowledge? Apply it as best as you can. And be open to new ideas. But, many times the inspiration comes from hiring employees. We still get excited about the fact that these intelligent, qualified people want to come work for us. Each new employee provides us with an opportunity for growth. Growth in learning new things from them. And growth in developing new business.

Do you have any new products ready to be/getting ready to be rolled out into the market?
As we learn and evolve we see opportunities to better serve our customers. Today, we see businesses that are facing different kinds of IT challenges than ever before. Resources and data are abundant. Technology has enabled next-generation collaboration for teammates and customers around the globe. However, selecting the right platforms for communications, the secure transport and safe-keeping of critical data, and making present-day operations future-ready requires sorting through multiple vendors who often have conflicting or confusing strategies. That’s why we are launching iT1 Connect. The new entity will leverage more than a decade’s worth of experience with our clients onpremise infrastructure, applications, and support requirements. The iT1 Connect business brings together a team of experts that have real-world experience delivering connectivity, telephony, and hybrid cloud environments to customers of all types. It will be iT1 Connect’s job to simplify the vast cloud and carrier services marketplace down to logical solutions and actionable strategy. Whether our clients are looking to refine and maximize existing investments or just beginning their journey to the cloud, iT1 Connect will offer a portfolio of cloud and connectivity solutions, served within a holistic framework.

Where do you see you and your company a couple of years from now?
Growth in Collaboration and Cloud Services. In recent times, there has been a new standard. Customers now have the ability to leverage in greater numbers. Leverage disk, applications, bandwidth, systems, infrastructure, and platforms, for example. Technological advances have enabled business to do this more economically and efficiently than ever before. Equipment sales have not gone away. It’s still there. But we must be smarter about how we can help our customers take advantage of these breakthroughs – without sacrificing service.

Build deeper relationships with our current customers. Even though we believe we have strongpartnerships, we understand that with some planning we can become more of a Trusted Advisor to our customers. As we gain more trust and credibility, we gain the ability to learn more about their business and do more for them.

“Our mission is to offer value-driven, customized technology solutions, enabling our clients to not only achieve, but exceed their business goals.”

A further maturation of our Consulting Practice. Today, the lion’s share of our work is in project based initiatives. Along with these consulting projects, we are developing annuity based solutions. We are making investments in resources, time, and infrastructure today to support those efforts.

Continue to develop our Government business. Recently, iT1 was awarded a major contract to sell to federal government agencies. We have a dedicated team, and a uniquely qualified set of strategic partners that we are building go-to-market plans with to leverage that contract. As well, we are keenly aware of the commitment that is needed with the major systems integrators in the government space to increase our market share.

Meet the Master Duo

Guy Steinbrink, Principal: Guy has been in the business of I.T. Technology Resale for 32 years. He has primarily worked in Sales, Sales Management, and Executive Leadership positions. He brings experience in business development, marketing, sales management, and customer retention and management.

Bryan Clifton, Principal: Bryan has 26 years of experience in the business of I.T. Technology Resale. Bryan has principally worked in Sales, Sales Management, and Executive Leadership positions.His experience includes business development, new product solutions development and marketing, sales management, technology management, and financial management.

“From data center to end point, we create distinctive solutions that allow you to get on with your life.”