By Published On: October 9, 2023

In our recent articles, FOCUS took a deep dive into the process of identifying and choosing a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) for businesses in a post-pandemic world. Partnering with a strategically selected CSP makes sense on a number of fronts: outsourcing cloud tasks to a CSP allows for greater efficiency, frees up a company’s time to focus on customer service and business development, and offers the flexibility to easily scale efforts up or down to respond to the needs of the business.

Leveraging the expertise of a cloud service provider offers several advantages over handling IT with internal resources. Key benefits can include:

  • Cost Savings: By outsourcing IT services, companies can avoid expenses related to hiring and training in-house IT staff, acquiring and maintaining infrastructure, and upgrading software and hardware. Companies can gain access to specialized expertise and services on a flexible, pay-as-you-go basis, reducing fixed costs.
  • Access to Specialized Skills: Those specialized skills and expertise companies access are often unavailable internally. IT service providers often have teams of professionals with diverse skill sets and certifications, ensuring that organizations can benefit from the latest knowledge and best practices in the industry.
  • Focus on Core Competencies: Companies can better focus on their core competencies and strategic business goals when they partner with CSPs. By entrusting IT functions to external providers, organizations can redirect their internal resources and attention to activities that directly contribute to their core business objectives.
  • Scalability and Flexibility: IT outsourcing allows organizations to scale their existing resources up or down quickly to align with their changing needs – utilizing many of the same reasons why a business selects the cloud. Whether it’s expanding operations, supporting new projects, or responding to business fluctuations, outsourcing provides the flexibility to access additional resources or scale back as required without the challenges of recruiting and training new staff.
  • Improved Service Levels and Performance: IT service providers typically operate under service level agreements (SLAs) that define performance metrics and service guarantees. These agreements ensure that the outsourced IT services are delivered with a high level of reliability, availability, and performance. Service providers often have established processes, monitoring tools, and expertise to deliver efficient and consistent IT services. Many CSP’s offer at least quarterly business reviews (QBR’s) structured to offer continued justification for the decision to outsource.
  • Risk Mitigation and Compliance: Outsourcing IT services can help mitigate risks associated with technology management. IT service providers typically have robust security measures, disaster recovery plans, and compliance frameworks in place. They stay updated with the latest security threats and regulations, helping organizations ensure data protection, business continuity, and adherence to industry-specific compliance requirements.
  • Faster Implementation and Innovation: IT service providers are experienced in implementing technology solutions across different industries. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, allowing for faster implementation and adoption of new technologies and innovations. Leveraging their expertise and proven methodologies, organizations can expedite the implementation of IT projects and stay ahead of competitors.

At FOCUS, we combine technical cloud expertise with more than 30 years’ experience tailoring solutions to meet the unique needs of each client. FOCUS Investment Banking’s Technology Services Team offers custom scoring to help organizations identify the best buy and sell candidates within technical services, MSPs and CSPs. Our annual list of CSP “Unicorns” makes the process of identification easy and efficient, and in the last three years we’ve facilitated dozens of technology transactions. We are also opening new channels for CSPs to access private equity capital and continue their expansion into this exciting, dynamic field.

Mitch Prust, a FOCUS Managing Director, has over 30 years’ experience in technology, strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. Over the course of his career he has worked on the client end of sell side, buy side and capital raise assignments. His background spans the defense, intelligence, space, homeland security, civil, state & local government, health care, and commercial markets. Contact Mitch at [email protected].

Mitch Prust, a FOCUS Managing Director, has over 30 years’ experience in technology, strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. Over the course of his career he has worked on the client end of sell side, buy side and capital raise assignments. His background spans the defense, intelligence, space, homeland security, civil, state & local government, health care, and commercial markets. He has served in a variety of executive roles, including chief operating officer, chief information officer, vice president, managing director, technology strategist, and M&A executive. He has been involved in key multiple global acquisitions and successful integrations of strategic companies in technology, cloud, defense, and managed and professional services. Mr. Prust has amassed an impressive intellectual property portfolio of technology patents, which have been leveraged by many of today’s leading cloud companies. He has played major roles in the capture and execution of large fixed-price, performance-based managed service contracts, including a $10.5 billion managed service contract supporting the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Mr. Prust focuses on cloud and IT solutions as well as supporting FOCUS’s Technology Services team. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Information Technology Management from Concordia University and a Master of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering – Information Assurance from Iowa State University. He studied cyber security, information warfare, cryptology, and computer forensics.
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