Vendor Agnosticism

That solutions savvy was on stage front and center last week at GreenPages&' annual Solutions Summit, where the Kittery, Maine, company hosted some 55 customers from around the country. Case in point: Pat Strickland, information systems manager for Marion County Medical Center of Marion, S.C. “I thank God every day GreenPages came my way,” said Strickland, who relies on GreenPages as her one-stop shop for IT solutions. That means everything from consulting and needs assessment to solutions design, product recommendation and overseeing implementation. GreenPages accounts for about 90 percent of Marion County Medical Center&'s IT capital expense budget.

It&'s interesting to note that Strickland first hired GreenPages for a network upgrade in which the solution provider was competing against Cisco. Strickland then hired GreenPages for a HIPAA project in which the solution provider competed against IBM. Strickland says she views GreenPages differently than Cisco, IBM or any other vendor. She says GreenPages&' vendor-agnostic focus is not hype, it&'s cold, hard fact. “I don&'t look at IBM or Cisco as a solution provider,” she said. ”They want to sell me hardware, not provide me with solutions.”

Key to GreenPages&' success is the tight relationship that Strickland has with her GreenPages account team: Account Executive Brian Bakke and Project Manager Laura Asbury. Strickland is in touch with one or the other each and every day. In fact, Strickland says, she regards her GreenPages IT advocates as “family.”

GreenPages President and CEO Ron Dupler is pushing that vendor-agnostic customer solutions focus to new heights. “We have got the perspective and the ability to go in and not be biased and try to shoehorn customers into the technology that is best for us,” said Dupler. “We are putting them into the technology that is best for them.” That is why GreenPages will continue to find green pastures in an intensely competitive IT market. Some vendors cringe at the agnostic stand being taken by the likes of GreenPages. But those that ignore the strength of such a solution provider do so at their own peril.

What is your view on vendor agnosticism? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].