What Do Peer Groups Really Do For Managed Services IT Companies?
Other managed services IT companies don’t have to just be the competition. In fact, in the right setting, they can help you do better in the business world. Read on to find out how.
If you’re not currently in a peer group, you probably don’t think much of your peers – at least, not in a positive manner, right?
So often, other businesses operating in the same industry as you are reduced to that one, ugly word – competitors. In our zero-sum business world, every client your competitors get is one that you don't. So why think of them as anything other than the enemy?
The truth is that, in the right setting, your competition can be your peers - especially when you're connected to a national group that operates outside your local market. What's more, they can help you do what you do better. That's what peer groups are all about.
One such group is the Ulistic High Performance Club, a peer group made up of the top performing IT services companies throughout Canada and the United States. This group focuses on professional development as leaders but also on how its members can best supply IT services to their local business communities.
It’s for precisely these reasons that Shane Kimbrell and Data Magic took part in the latest Ulistic High Performance Club event at Salvatore's Grand Hotel in Buffalo, NY on June 28th and 29th.
Roy van Norstrand from Leren Group shared business leadership skills while MSP marketing expert Stuart Crawford shared how we can reach new companies in need of our services in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area.
Members of the group include:
- Joe Young from Global Data Systems in Boston, MA
- Mike Morlok and Aaron Fox from Globalquest Systems in Buffalo, NY
- Tom Bowles from Alltek Services in Lakeland, FL
- Blake Schwank from Colorado Computer Support in Colorado Springs, CO
- John Gambrill from GO Concepts in Lebanon, OH
- Jorge Rojas from Tektonic in Toronto, ON
- Chris Michalec from Parkway Tech in Winston-Salem, NC
- David Hood from CPU in Maumee, OH
- Rob Schenk from Intivix in San Francisco, CA
What Do Peer Groups Offer Managed Services IT Companies?
Shane and the other members in attendance didn’t just get to visit New York by attending the event. On the contrary, the Ulistic High-Performance Club, and other groups like it, provide a number of unique benefits to businesses like Data Magic Computer Services, including:
Knowledge and Experience
Starting up and growing a business is obviously no easy task, but beyond that is the fact that it doesn't necessarily get easier once the business is established. With each year in business, a company and its management will encounter new obstacles unique to its size, changes in the industry, and other factors.
This is a key area where peers can help. Within a peer group's membership are businesses at a range of sizes and stages of growth, allowing peers to share insight, advice and first-hand knowledge about how to address an issue that another member is dealing with.
Accountability
As the CEO of a business, it’s up to you to hold your staff member accountable to the work they’re committed to doing. But who holds the CEO accountable?
Not just in terms of quarterly goals or standard metrics that may be considered by governing bodies (like a Board of Directors) either – what about new initiatives, personal goals, and other commitments a CEO or manager might make?
Once again, your peers are a great tool to help you stay focused on the goals you set. By laying out your goals at one peer group meeting and following up on them with the members at the next one, you're more motivated to actually see them through.
The Ulistic High-Performance Club encourages a company like Data Magic to be held accountable for what they say they will do every single quarter.
1-1 Support
Often, the value of peer groups can come from the opportunity to talk to other members of the business world that know what your work life is like. Regardless of how much you can vent with family, friends, and staff members, there's no comparison to talking through your challenges with other people that do the same work as you.
Whether it's as a sounding board for a new idea you have, or just to unload some frustration about the direction of the industry, spending time with peers can be highly beneficial in terms of social factors like stress management.
In addition to all this, Shane, Joe Young and the Globalquest team recently got together outside of our group to share operational insights on how they do business, furthering helping each other as peers. It’s for reasons like this that Data Magic believes that their involvement in a peer group like the Ulistic High-Performance club is what truly separates them from other IT managed services companies in the Dallas Fort Worth Metro.
