EasyStreet Blog

Just in time for the geeks on your gift list, ITworld profiles the top ten mostly non-tech tools IT professionals can’t function without. First on the list is a multi-tool from Leatherman — one of EasyStreet’s happy customers.

“I rewired my parents’ new house for phone and Ethernet with nothing but my Leatherman and a crimping tool,” says a multi-tool advocate.

You can view the whole ITworld list here.

New analysis by Gartner says the IT outsourcing industry is at the beginning of a period of rapid and dramatic change marked by consolidations and some business failures as a result of the current economic downturn.

“As providers are exposed to the economic crisis, loss-making contracts, and an inability to adapt to standardized delivery models, many will struggle to survive in their current form,” says Robert Brown, research vice president at Gartner.

In light of its pessimistic prognostication, Gartner analysts are recommending that IT executives entering into outsourcing agreements should seek information on the outsourcing vendor’s profitability and business activity, making sure the vendor is not heavily leveraged and that there is a comfortable level of transparency.

EasyStreet, by the way, agrees with the Gartner recommendations. We pride ourselves in our transparency and financial stability. Most importantly, we want our clients to be secure in their relationship with EasyStreet.

Two key relationship trends we’ve watched for years between EasyStreet and our customers are mentioned in a study Mercer Management Consulting did recently with 300 senior IT executives in seven countries. (Mercer did the study for IBM, and even though it was global, nearly everything they found holds true for us here in the Northwest.)

Here’s one: “While growing revenue is a top priority, an uncertain economic climate is forcing executives to cut costs in the very area — IT — they have come to depend on to optimize business processes, increase flexibility and productivity, accelerate time-to-market and fuel profitability.”

And here’s the other: “The relationship between clients and their (IT) outsourcing provider is much more strategic in nature — reflecting a preference for collaboration and partnering.”

In fact, the Mercer study concluded that the key to successfully outsourcing your IT depends on having the right type of relationship with your service provider.

As EasyStreet approaches 15 years as an Internet and Managed Services Provider, we can add another key conclusion of our own:

Having the right kind of relationship with our clients rests on the quality of communication between us.

Because our technical team and our customers are local, we have extraordinary capabilities to help with your IT infrastructure. It always helps to know where we can help. That’s the only way we can really be your IT partner both at the tactical data-center level and when it comes to your longer range IT strategy.