Second Wind: How One Solution Provider Reincarnated His Business

"I saw the ability to go to a larger company with a lot of potential," he says. "I thought long and hard about going somewhere where I didn't have to worry about back-office stuff and could get closer to the customer."

Thus, DiCostanzo sold Turnkey for an undisclosed amount to a large $100 million-a-year solution provider based in New Jersey that asked not to be identified. He, along with 16 other Turnkey employees, joined the solution provider, where he became a senior vice president with the company.

However, DiCostanzo found his new position wasn't enough to scratch his itch. So last fall, DiCostanzo left his new job to resurrect Turnkey as a new and improved entity. This time, the company takes a chameleon-like approach and assumes the role of the CIO for small and midsize businesses that don't have extensive IT support, advising customers on technology purchases and strategies.

"I took some time off and got back to the channel," DiCostanzo says, "and I'm right where I want to be."

Here's the story of how one channel player got his second wind and returned to his roots.

Cashing Out, Cashing In
When DiCostanzo decided to go into business for himself again, it wasn't a decision he made in haste. After all, the economy was still down and IT spending was only beginning to creep back. He has no regrets about selling Turnkey in the first place and still feels it was the right decision at the time. DiCostanzo departed the solution provider amicably and was able to use Turnkey's name once again.

But if the industry veteran was going to restart Turnkey, he knew he couldn't make the business a carbon copy of its former self. These weren't the late '80s, after all, when PCs were becoming household appliances. Thus, he moved on from the old model, which relied on integration services related to network, computer and software sales from top vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft.

DiCostanzo examined what little he had at his disposal: limited resources, limited capital and exactly one employee--himself. That didn't deter the strong desire to return to his roots. Plus, DiCostanzo did have a few valuable attributes, such as a staunch affinity for working hand-in-hand with his customers and a knack for consulting services.

As a result, Turnkey is a new kind of solution provider, similar to a so-called influencer consultant; DiCostanzo even calls himself a "business technology officer," a role he sees as sort of an outsourced CIO. A recent customer example supports that description: DiCostanzo met with a new client to go over the company's IT strategy, and the management team brought in reams of paper records that were from disconnected and disparate systems across the business. In response, DiCostanzo stopped the meeting and helped the client move its crucial data to a centralized system connected to a secure network.

"My product sales were never that big. My biggest product year was maybe a little over $1 million," he says. Now, however, product sales are nonexistent, and DiCostanzo commits himself solely to consulting.

The Wise Adviser
How exactly does the new Turnkey work? The one-man solution provider does not resell any product, and heavy integration jobs, even at the SMB level, are simply too much for DiCostanzo to handle by himself.

As a business technology officer, DiCostanzo concentrates on offering consulting services for IT investments and deployments. Turnkey's model has several steps: First, DiCostanzo meets with a business' top brass regarding its proposed IT investments and projects. Then he analyzes the company's current infrastructure and develops the right solution plan for the client.

Turnkey is staunchly agnostic when it comes to vendors, and DiCostanzo says his customers prefer dealing with an independent consultant who can offer unbiased advice on technology. "I don't want to sell them product," DiCostanzo says. "I want to remain an impartial observer for customers, advise them on technology, and then go and find the right solution provider for their needs."

But where Turnkey's new approach differs from the old is that the company outsources the integration and product fulfillment to other solution providers. For example, DiCostanzo recently worked with a midsize construction company that wanted to upgrade its computers and build a better help desk. DiCostanzo developed a business technology plan an inch thick for upgrades and 24/7 support and monitoring, and then connected the customer with a solution provider that is currently executing that plan.

As a former member of Ingram Micro's VentureTech Network (VTN), an exclusive group of VARs focused on the SMB market, DiCostanzo often taps VTN members for his projects.

"I've actually moved some incumbent solution providers out of some accounts in favor of some new guys," he says.

The feedback has been good so far, DiCostanzo says. Customer demand for IT investments seems to be building up, he says, and many clients are becoming more interested in mobile solutions and wireless networks. In addition, DiCostanzo has unearthed a business model that keeps him in close proximity with the customer and affords him more opportunities to be hands-on with technology.

"It's the perfect fit," he says.