Commercial Integrator January 2023 - 35

approaches. " A lot of them are making that
change because that's what our clients
now expect us to do, " he explains. Leading
vendors are starting to see supply snarls
untangling, but, as Hutto observes, " [these
teams] have a lot of people to serve. "
Strategic Vendor Relationships
We've established that Diversified was built
on acquisitions. But with those onboardings
came a challenge - simply too many
suppliers. Hutto is looking to consolidate
suppliers in the next 12 months. " Each acquisition
came with its own relationships, "
he observes, " [and] that's part of our problem. "
He makes clear that every vendor is
valued, but he says, " We must scale it down
to a handful of really strategic partners and
jointly develop solutions for our customers. "
Hutto also invokes rebates as a key
consideration, especially as integration
businesses keep an eye on profits. " If
we're not careful - if we go out and just do
whatever, like we did as little companies
[in the past] - we won't have that rebate
structure and volume, " he warns. " That
part of project profitability could suffer. "
Pivoting to Services
Looking forward, Hutto says Diversified
plans to move toward more plug-and-play
technology solutions, leveraging concierge-level
service offerings. " If you're
NBCUniversal, it's a streaming contest...
it's a content race, " he explains. " That's
what they do. " The client's technical team
doesn't want to have to worry about - or
even think about - screens going up or
down. " We need to come in more aggressively
with our talent and our capabilities, "
Hutto declares, " thereby giving them a value
promise to take care of it so all they have
to worry about is content and streaming. "
Another key element of Diversified's
services offering is staffing services. The
company hopes to increase its staffing capabilities
for campuses, digital signage and
content creation. " We're beginning to shift
in content creation, the production and the
management of it for our clients, " Hutto
says. " Digital solutions are probably what
we're going to put a lot of energy into, as
we're seeing growth faster than even in
our workplace solutions. "
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Hutto's vision for the next three years
is ambitious: twenty-five percent of the
company's revenue coming directly from
services. " It's complementing the integration
work, and it's still growing, " he says.
As such, it's paving the way for a whole
new revenue mix.
As Hutto explains it, Diversified sees its
future as leaning into disruptive forces. That
means focusing on network-based,
data-driven, analytics-focused work.
" We're not going to be rolling trucks up;
we don't want that business, " he states.
" There are some great companies that do
that, and they do it well. But that's not us. "
Indeed, he makes clear his vision of Diversified's
future, saying, " We're really looking
to have a strong understanding of network
cloud security and how all that plays into
delivering the experience. " Hutto adds,
" We're going to have to really get our
heads around cloud security and continue
to develop our networking expertise as we
go into [everything]-over-IP. "
Hutto offers some parting wisdom that
aligns with everything he's said so far -
namely, that all companies must keep up
with change and transform, but it's essential
not to forget about your company
culture and your people. " In essence, "
he begins, " the people are what makes a
company. It's the people who can accomplish
great things when they gather. " He
laments that he's found that, when you
bring a lot of companies together, culture
can be lost. " If you're a small [integration
firm], it's easier to keep your culture. " But
he's determined to ensure that one Diversified
cultivates and maintains the kind of
culture that not only brings in associates
but also helps keep them.
'Everything Starts
with Our Associates'
" Clients won't love you until your associates
do, " Hutto concludes. " Everything
starts with our associates, as well as the
internal quality of our environments, work
design, responsibilities, recognition and
how we treat each other. " He puts the
stakes plainly: Culture and leadership
are the essence of most organizations,
and they can either keep you on track
or produce a fracture. " When things get
hard, you [can] fall apart and people start
scurrying, " he adds. " But what I've seen
at Diversified is, when things got hard,
people came together. "
As Hutto continues to sculpt and refine
one Diversified, that unity will continue,
redounding to the benefit of every client
along the way. CI
Diversified, which serves 70% of Fortune 1000 companies and has more than 50 offices
worldwide, was built by acquisitions that have assembled a formidable portfolio of
personnel, skills and clients.
JANUARY 2023 Commercial Integrator 35
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Commercial Integrator January 2023

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