Today marks Starboard IT’s first birthday. Like most new businesses, it’s been a roller coaster ride; we’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve definitely been thrown around a bit. And yet we’ve still finished the year grinning from ear-to-ear, yelling “woohoo!†and chomping at the bit at the prospect of the next ride!
As much fun as it has been, as is often the case when we reach major milestones in life, we find ourselves introspective. What worked? What didn’t work? What can and should we do differently?
Over the course of the last year, one of the most common questions asked of me and my fellow directors has been “so what makes Starboard IT differentâ€. An obvious question, but one that many companies like ours have found hard to articulate an answer for.
The challenge for us is that the products we resell and the services we offer aren’t all that different from the competition. The whole point of using a managed service provider is our ability to offer a commoditised service; a service generic enough to cater for clients of all different sizes, operating in different industries.
To draw a parallel, how do you differentiate between energy, gas, water providers etc? Most providers are pretty reliable these days – the lights turn on when you flick a switch; the water runs clean from your tap. The same customer expectation exists for critical IT business applications: email, file servers and web solutions are all expected to be highly available regardless of which vendor you choose.
So does it all boil down to service? We think it is more than this. We are big believers in the power of our people, their expertise, and their commitment to making a difference.
Put simply: it’s US.
It is our unique expertise that makes us special. It is our unique ability to deliver business outcomes. It is our unique experience in delivering enterprise quality solutions, while understanding these need to be delivered with mid-market speed to value.
As we look to the years ahead maintaining our Unique Value Proposition plays a critical role in who we are, and who we strive to become as a business. Our company and our culture are vital to that, and therefore, our staff who are like minded in our principles and our ambition to grow with the market place.
Want to learn more? Contact us to discuss how Starboard IT can help you deliver a successful business outcome.
