Commercial Integrator January 2023 - 32

EXECUTIVE TALK Going Inside Diversifi ed
A ROADMAP FOR
INTEGRATION
SUCCESS
Diversifi ed's CEO, Eric Hutto, explains how
the billion-dollar global integration fi rm
plans to transform and scale aſt er having
made key acquisitions in recent years.
By Alyssa Borelli
ERIC HUTTO, CEO of Diversifi ed, readily
acknowledges that he's probably not the
guy to call if you need help programming
a remote; he does, however, know a
thing or two about leading billion-dollar
businesses. The former Unisys, Dell
Technologies, Home Depot and Bearing
Point (formerly KPMG) executive was
tapped back in 2022 as successor to
Diversifi ed's founder, Fred D'Alessandro.
Hutto stepped into the CEO role back in
March; while D'Alessandro now serves
as executive chairman. As CEO, Hutto
steers the ship on the billion-dollar global
integration fi rm's strategy, direction,
operations and success.
One facet of Diversifi ed that initially
attracted Hutto was that the Kenilworth,
N.J.-headquartered integrator, which
serves 70% of Fortune 1000 companies
and has more than 50 offi ces worldwide,
was built by acquisitions that assembled a
formidable portfolio. Another attractor for
Hutto was Diversifi ed's strong growth. But
actually, he says, Diversifi ed was arguably
growing too quickly. " I knew there was a
lot of synergy and integration work that
was still yet to be done, " he explains. And
32
that was where Hutto immediately saw the
value he believed he could add.
Unifying Under
the Diversifi ed Name
In his fi rst weeks as CEO, Hutto, when asking
employees how long they've worked
for Diversifi ed, quickly realized that his team
members were not acting as one company
under one roof. Rather, they were still
associating as though they were part of an
independent acquisition, such as being part
of MCW Solutions or HB Communications.
" I knew right away that I was going to have
to fi nd a way to bring us together, " Hutto
recalls. " Everybody identifi ed with their old
company. But those companies don't exist
- Diversifi ed exists. "
Part of Hutto's strategy for Diversifi ed
is to restructure operations to be more
streamlined and unifi ed. His fi rst step was to
wrestle down the conglomerate of business
territories to six in the U.S. " It took away
all those acquired companies and their
territories, [creating] one way to do things
across the company, " he explains. The " one
way to do things " idea is critical to Hutto,
who believes in leveraging Diversifi ed's
Commercial Integrator JANUARY 2023
brand equity. " When we roll out for a client
across all those territories, the client should
expect the same experience, " he stresses.
" We found some clients were getting an
MCW experience or a [Technical Innovation]
experience. "
In the last year or so, Diversifi ed has
shuttered 15 physical sales offi ces in favor of
embracing fl exible remote work. That aligns
with some of the integrator's key strengths,
as well - namely, remote commissioning as
a core service off ering. This refl ects prime
positioning for the renowned integrator, as
the AV industry merges with the IT world.
Hutto sees soſt ware collapsing physical
hardware needs, meaning that integrators, if
they want to service clients, must acclimate
to the as-a-service model. " We're still going
have to integrate and hang things, " Hutto
acknowledges. " But, once you've done
that, we're going to do a lot more from
off site and make our customers' lives easy. "
Large-Scale Capabilities
But let's be clear: Diversifi ed is exceptionally
qualifi ed to handle those large, complex,
showpiece projects, oſt en involving hundreds
of line items, that A-list clients seek
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Commercial Integrator January 2023

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