Breaking Free from Technical Alignment Purgatory
When Agiliti first joined Start Grow Manage they were stuck in a pattern familiar to many IT service providers. Their client meetings were dominated by technical alignments—those dreaded sessions where nobody wants to be in the room. The customer doesn’t enjoy them. The tech performing them doesn’t enjoy them. And trust me, our VCIO definitely didn’t enjoy conducting them. They were, in a word, boring.
But that has changed.
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The Pivot That Changed Everything
They shifted from alignment meetings that were 100% technical to incorporating just enough technical content to fulfill our core responsibilities. The real magic happened when we expanded into the business side of things and fully embraced the SBR. With this shift, they migrated from exclusively talking with technical staff to engaging directly with business owners, CFOs, and CIOs.
This elevation in their conversations opened doors we hadn’t even known existed. Instead of merely addressing technical issues, we began developing comprehensive solutions that impacted the entire business operation. Our perspective widened, and so did our ability to create value.
Real Solutions for Real Problems
The transformation became most apparent when working with our manufacturing clients. In conversation after conversation, Mike heard the same concern: “labor, labor, labor.” Initially, he thought this was beyond their scope—how could an IT company fix a labor shortage?
But a business-focused mindset, combined with education from robotics vendor partners, revealed an opportunity. Many manufacturers were losing employees who handled repetitive, monotonous tasks—positions that typically saw turnover every six to eight months because workers simply couldn’t stand the tedium anymore.
Agiliti began introducing robotic solutions that could take over these repetitive tasks. This wasn’t just about automation—it was about human potential. By implementing robotic cells, our clients could transition their valuable human workers into more engaging roles like programming or managing the robotics systems.
The solution worked brilliantly on two fronts: companies retained good employees by moving them to more fulfilling positions, and they stopped paying premium wages for high-turnover roles that workers ultimately hated.
The Bigger Picture
Agiliti’s journey with Start Grow taught shows that sometimes the most powerful technology isn’t about faster processors or bigger bandwidth—it’s about understanding the human elements of business. By elevating their conversations from technical specifications to business objectives they’ve been able to create solutions that address core challenges rather than just symptoms.
Today, their client relationships are stronger, our solutions more impactful, and their business is more valuable. They’re no longer just “the IT guys”— they’re trusted business advisors who happen to be experts in technology.
