An Interview with Keith Barthold, DKBinnovative President and CEO: “We Provide Reliable and Highly Secure Managed IT Solutions that Simply Work”

“We nurture client partnerships for the long term, developing an intimate understanding of business drivers and mapping out the right technology strategy through a proprietary, yet transparent process.”

As organizations continue to optimize their time and resources to focus on innovation and growing their core business, most are moving from on-premises infrastructure to a service-based model with cloud infrastructure, known more popularly as infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

DKBinnovative (DKB) is an industry-leading managed security service provider who specializes in IT solutions, cloud services, phone systems, and technology security services. They offer computer and network services, project design development and management, data recovery, application development, and IT staffing services as well as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, hosted VoIP, VoIP integration, voice and data carrier selection and negotiation, and phone system migration services. They also handle traditional IT services, all IT management, and computer network maintenance services in addition to cloud services, including email services, network design, server services, cloud computing and hosting, IaaS, database administration, and performance management services.

The company also provides compliance risk management services, network security, desktop and data security, perimeter network security, mobile and cybersecurity services, and video surveillance solutions.

DKB was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, with additional locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Sherman, and Plano.

Proud Moments

MSPmentor 501 named DKB to its 2018 list of World’s Top 501 Managed Service Providers, a designation that evaluates company strength based on revenue contributions from various business activities. DKB was also recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies.

Keith Barthold, DKBinnovative President/CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

What is DKB into?

DKBinnovative offers secure, reliable IT solutions to productivity-focused Fortune 500-level as well as small-to-medium-sized businesses globally. DKB acts as a virtual CIO (vCIO)—chief information officer—whose role is that of a strategic partner and extension of the client’s C-suite.

Though it partners with clients in many industries, DKB’s real specialty is working in industries that deal with large amounts of private data, that are required to follow strict compliance measures, and that are most vulnerable to cyberattacks. Those include healthcare, oil and gas, financial, and professional services companies. DKB spends a great amount of intellectual capital addressing the growing threat of cyber breaches and how to make companies safer, more secure, and more productive.

What are the factors that make DKB standout from the competition?

A primary differentiator that separates DKB from other MSPs is its establishment as a true vCIO for clients. Being a vCIO means that DKB acts as an extension of its clients’ C-suite, whose role at the table—next to the CEO, CFO, and COO—is to assist in strategic planning, day-to-day execution, and future-proofing of their organization for optimal IT performance that includes acceleration of business goals.

DKB nurtures client partnerships for the long term, developing an intimate understanding of business drivers and mapping out the right technology strategy through a proprietary yet transparent process. The company’s process of identifying and quantifying productivity risks, combined with a transformative alignment to industry-best standards, creates optimal control over IT that most organizations have never experienced.

A significant part of DKB’s success starts with assessing client capabilities and performance against the methodology they created, which includes more than 350 best practices for backup and disaster recovery, network security, wireless access, environmental, licensing, documentation, infrastructure, and phone and email systems.

Two-way communication is the key. Employees need to feel they have an outlet for hearing their observations and ideas. Is this true with your company?

I personally make sure that DKB isn’t just a dedicated, skilled, forward-thinking, and hard-working company, but a family. And it starts with our open-door policy, allowing everyone in the company to have a voice and opinion on key issues that concern the business. Everyone is truly respected, included, and heard.

As a family, we take extreme ownership and pride in everything we do, which results in a further bonding of the team and second-to-none service to our clients. And all this is done with a sense of fun and enjoyment even in the high-intensity world of IT managed services and cybersecurity. Our employees truly like each other and they like what they do.

DKB is equally passionate about encouraging and equipping its staff with the tools and training they need to make themselves and the company stand out from the rest. Competitive salaries, vacations, spa days, flexible family time, generous bonuses, and a stocked kitchen with health food options are just a few of the many perks that keep employees motivated and happy to be a part of the DKB team.

Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

In the future, DKB would like to grow into a national presence in the IT managed service provider and managed security service provider worlds, extending its strategic partnership offerings beyond the current industries of healthcare, oil and gas, and professional services.

And with an emphasis on the increasingly more vital area of cybersecurity, there’s no telling what new avenues will open up for our seasoned, skilled, and opportunistic company.

Ultimately, DKB is a young, bright, energetic, and innovative company that wants to work with other like-minded businesses with future-thinking CEOs and help raise the bar and redefine the standards on what it means to be highly effective and community conscious IT managed services provider.

Keith Barthold: A Brief Background

Keith Barthold is the president and CEO of DKBinnovative. Keith is an innovative thinker, a professional who gets things done, and a strong leader. He has taken DKB from what was a mere idea to a thriving company that’s blazing trails on the IT managed services landscape.

Mr. Barthold is a frequent cybersecurity expert and contributor for the Dallas/Fort Worth NBC, CBS, and Fox News affiliates. He earned a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from DeVry University, graduating Summa Cum Laude.

“Our process of identifying and quantifying productivity risks, combined with a transformative alignment to industry-best standards creates extreme command over IT that most organizations have never experienced.”