Commercial Integrator October 2021 - 16

THE SERVICE DESK
Scaling Up Quickly
How do you manage a rapidly growing fi rm and scale up technology that they need?
by Dawn. R. Sizer
WE ALL HAVE CLIENTS that have grown
by adding more users, more equipment
and more technology to do business.
However, it takes signifi cant resources
like funding and employees to sustain
that growth. Some companies can grow
by scaling. As with any plan, you need to
evaluate where you are before you decide
how to get there.
Evaluation
The fi rst step is to take stock of everything
you have in your current arsenal, from
people and technology, both yours and
your clients'. Look at other vendors you
can leverage or partner with, as well, as
they may be a component to use in your
plan later. Your client will expect you to determine
what is important and what is not.
They may have a need you don't currently
provide, but could, and you'll need to determine
if it should be a source of revenue
for you. If not, choose a trusted partner to
fulfi ll on that need.
Planning
In order to scale the development, you
need to know where the client is going.
Typically, most businesses will have a
three-year plan. Knowing what those plans
are allows you to accommodate them and
apply technology to it in a way that can save
resources over the long run.
Another concept to consider is to make
a disaster plan. Using crisis management
to manage failures of various degrees is
another way to prepare to scale any client.
This type of plan allows the business to prepare
for if, or when things go bad or simply
not according to plan. The disaster plan is a
good way to be sure the business survives
failures of diff erent kinds and accounts for
contingencies you'll need to grow and scale.
Standardization
Requiring that a client uses equipment
and a tech stack that is standard for your
organization will save you both time and
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Scaling is diff erent in that revenue grows but resources grow at a slower rate,
increasing revenues exponentially.
money. It is worth investing your time into
researching a stack that gives you both
profi t as well as functionality and longevity.
When you standardize on a product line
it's easier to introduce new tech without a
large learning curve for you or the client.
Document your processes as well. Look
for ways to automate what you can do and
use standardized processes to increase
productivity, communication and management.
You can use less skilled and less
costly staff to do more work when they have
a documented process to follow.
Service & Support
Servicing and supporting a client as they
scale can be painful as well as costly for the
provider, but only if you don't plan. You will
need to hire and train staff before you need
the staff . Failure to be prepared could lead
to a drop in levels of support which impacts
all your customers.
During this growth stage, customer
service will need to evolve to account for the
additional people and technology that may
be deployed at a higher-than-normal rate.
Providing self-service options for your clients
will take some of the burden of simple, but
time-consuming tasks away from your staff .
Commercial Integrator OCTOBER 2021
Transparency
You will need to make what you do, how
you can be reached, and how issues are
reported very transparent. The client
won't have the time to track you down and
fi gure out where you are in any project.
Get the information to them at their fi ngertips
and show them how to obtain it as
they need it.
In order to start ahead of a clients'
growth, you need to evaluate what resources
you have available to you. Plan what
the growth or scaling will look like. Then,
make a contingency plan or three in case
of miscalculation. Get your processes and
tech stack standardized and documented
to save time, money and resources. Know
what your hiring needs are and stay ahead
of them so you're not letting your service
levels drop. Finally, be transparent with
your client so there is no mutual mystifi cation
regarding all the projects. If you can
leverage all of those things, you can scale
up alongside your clients.
Dawn R. Sizer is the CEO of 3rd
Element Consulting, Inc. She
has been a member of The
ASCII Group Since 2018.
commercialintegrator.com
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Commercial Integrator October 2021

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