Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTSI), newly acquired by Wind Point Partners, earned an NSCA 2020 Excellence in Business award in part because of its demonstrated success with an as-a-service strategy.
Over the next few months, we’ll take an inside look at how the NSCA 2020 Excellence in Business award winners have adapted to our constantly changing industry. For its commitment to meeting – and exceeding – lofty client satisfaction goals, Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. was named an NSCA 2020 Excellence in Business award winner in the Business Performance category.
One of the biggest reasons Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTSI) earned a 2020 Excellence in Business Award for “Business Performance” at NSCA’s 22nd annual Business & Leadership Conference (BLC) was because of its demonstrated success in delivering as-a-service integrated solutions to customers.
CTSI’s service success also appears to have been a big driver for Wind Point Partners, the Chicago-based private equity firm that announced its acquisition of the Chantilly, VA-based integration company.
“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Wind Point due to their long history of scaling businesses and accelerating growth,” says Gino Ruta, CEO of CTSI, in a press release. “Since CTSI’s founding, we have successfully grown our service capabilities, including enhanced managed and subscription services, while extending geographic reach by prioritizing the needs of our customers, partners, and employees. Our focus remains the same, and, with Wind Point’s support, we will further expand our capabilities to better serve those constituencies and reach new markets.”
Meanwhile, Nathan Brown, managing director at Wind Point, adds that CTSI’s business strength has allowed it to sustain success even through the COVID-19 crisis. “Gino and the talented people at CTSI have built a market leader that is positioned for further expansion,” he says in the press release. “CTSI is a fundamentally strong business, including double-digit growth rates and resilient performance through the great recession and the current pandemic.”
Evolution of an As-a-Service Strategy
Three or four years ago, CTSI could see that customers were challenged with keeping workplace technology current and reliable – and delays in technology implementation and refresh were often caused by limited capital budgets, restricted resource availability, complex designs, and user experience considerations.
This led to a focus on growing the services side of CTSI’s business. At the time, about 8% or 9% of the company’s business stemmed from post-sales or service with warranty coverage and some contracts, says Ruta. CTSI sought to elevate service levels and contracts, ultimately moving customers from time and materials to a services contract model.
To address these requirements, CTSI made a few significant moves. It transformed its customer care maintenance and managed services portfolio to deliver two-day support services, which enable proactive support, high availability, reporting, and analytics. These were deemed key steps for shifting customers to as-a-service subscription with a monthly fixed subscription. CTSI launched its Subscription Services offer, enabling customers to subscribe to technology for a monthly, as-a-service fee. In doing so, it fundamentally transformed the way its customers consume technology.
The as-a-service solution bundles design, engineering, installation, hardware, software, and CTSI Managed Services. No upfront capital or down payment are required. Customers can refresh or upgrade their systems at any time to keep systems current. CTSI Subscription Services are available in various contract terms.
CTSI provides customers with a total cost of ownership (TCO) calculator and analysis. Ultimately, it reduces ownership risk and expenses, saving the customer between 5% and 12% in capital expenses. By reducing asset risk and ownership expenses, the integration company allows customers to budget easily and provides more flexibility to accelerate technology into their business.
“There are other organizations delivering a lease and service contract. I felt that really wasn’t a subscription service,” says Ruta. “It’s a lease and service contract. I wanted one completely bundled solution with SLAs [service level agreements] on it.”
Related: NSCA’s Mergers & Acquisitions Report
The cost had to make sense for the customer, too. “I wanted it to be cheaper than buying it for three years,” Ruta explains.
“So we can go to a customer and say, ‘You can buy it for $100,000,’ for example, ‘or you can get it as a service for $95,000 over three years.’ Then we do an ROI that shows them the cost of support and the cost of capital.”
The rollout was an extremely ambitious undertaking. “We had to put legal agreements in place and understand the financial impact to us and the customer. It took the better part of a year to get that done. We rolled out at the end of 2018 with subscription services.”
Don’t underestimate the legal work, Ruta advises. “Having the wherewithal financially to pull it off is also a big hurdle,” he says.
CTSI Subscription Services have been in high demand in various verticals – healthcare, K-12, higher education, and corporate, for example – “with very significant corporations and institutions,” Ruta says. “We think it’s just getting rolling for us.”
Learn More: 2020 Excellence in Business Award Winners
Check back as we continue to reveal how the 2020 NSCA Excellence in Business award winners made business changes to adapt to our constantly changing industry. You’ll also read stories from: