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Page 1: How to Choose an Exceptional IT Systems Integrator

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How to Choose an Exceptional

IT Systems Integrator

The Most Visionary Solutions

Integrator

in the IT industry

Page 2: How to Choose an Exceptional IT Systems Integrator

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7 Characteristics of an Exceptional Integrator

1. Vendor Neutral2. Entire IT Ecosystem Experience3. Hands-on Experience4. Customized Solutions5. Deep Vendor Relationships6. Business Acumen7. Visionary

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1. Vendor Neutral

Average integrators center their practice around a handful of vendors; exceptional integrators have relationships with a wide variety of vendors and recommend technologies based on customer requirements. Integrators should serve the customer, not the vendor. If an integrator does most of their business with a few vendors, it limits their ability to offer the best solution to a given IT problem. The best integrators focus on customer needs and build solutions using best of breed technologies.

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2. IT Ecosystem Expertise

Average integrators have services expertise in a few technology areas; exceptional integrators offer a wide range of services covering every phase of the technology lifecycle. The integrator you choose should be the one-stop shop for all of your data center knowledge. An exceptional integrator has a large, experienced engineering core with a holistic understanding of your entire IT ecosystem. This facilitates better design, deployment and support. If something goes wrong in your data center, you want to call one number and have one team be able to diagnose and fix the issue.

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3. Hands-on Experience

Average integrators recite product features and specifications ; exceptional integrators have hands-on knowledge from testing and real-world deployments. Technical knowledge is one thing and hands on knowledge is

another. Great integrators

have their own technology lab

for product testing and integration. The collection of

knowledge from constant

technical certification, lab testing, and

customer production deployments is

something only an

extraordinary integrator can

provide.

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4. Customized Solutions

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to designing technology solutions. Average integrators build solution architectures to fit the specifications of products they prefer to sell; exceptional integrators custom design solutions around a customer’s specific requirements and integrate the best in breed technologies. The process starts with detailed discovery and conversations with the customer to understand the operational process flow for both on premise and off premise offerings. An exceptional integrator leverages their specialized expertise and applies proven best practices to create an architecture that ensures security, flexibility, and scalability to meet your IT service availability demands. With a large group of highly trained engineers, they will be able to build you a solution made up of the best technologies tailored for your unique business requirements.

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5. Deep Vendor Relationships

Exceptional integrators have long-term relationships and close ties with the leading IT vendors, and a dedicated engineering practice for Tier 1 vendors. Top integrators are also constantly forging new alliances with emerging technology companies. These relationships are what allow an integrator to keep up to date on new technologies, get the best prices, and provide you with the most complete support network available.

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6. Business Acumen

Average integrators focus on understanding how technology works; exceptional integrators also understand the business challenges faced in different industries. An experienced integrator asks the right questions to understand your business initiatives, application

flow, and overall IT requirements. This real-world experience in

specific vertical segments allows a good integrator to more quickly

identify solutions and service delivery models that will

maximize the effectiveness of a customer’s IT

spend.

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7. Visionary

Average integrators focus on using today’s technology solutions; exceptional integrators closely study the evolving IT landscape and test the latest emerging technologies in their own technology lab. Future-proofing is the process of anticipating the future and developing methods of minimizing the effects of shocks and stresses of future events. Is your environment ready for software defined networking? What about cloud resources? Which functions of your environment should focus on on-premise cloud topologies vs. public cloud offerings? Exceptional integrators understand the potential technical and economic impact of the emerging IT models and help customers make informed decisions. They transfer the burden of needing tons of IT knowledge from your company to theirs, and ensure that your infrastructure investment meets your current and future business requirements.

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I’d like to hear your questions and/or additional ideas for choosing the best IT solutions integrator. Feel free to reach me at [email protected].


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