By Steve “The Doctor” Meek | Talk To Th3 Doc Podcast | The Fulcrum Group, Inc.
Doctor’s Diagnosis: A Podcast Doc-umentary: 🎧 Turning IT Into Business Outcomes, Not Just Service Tickets Episode 116
In Episode 116 of Talk To Th3 Doc, I sat down with Luis Giraldo, Chief Evangelist at ScalePad, to talk about one of the biggest traps SMB leaders fall into: treating IT like a cost center instead of a growth engine. We dug into the importance of outcomes, customer success, and why curiosity from leaders can unlock innovation.
The Shift Luis Highlighted
Luis shared a stat that hit me hard: only 15% of SMBs treat IT as a strategic partner. That means the vast majority of businesses are missing out on growth opportunities because they simply see technology as overhead. He also noted that just 10% of organizations adjust their technology roadmap to support growth or manage new risks.
That’s like building a house without a floor plan. Or maybe later, like adding 4 new children to your family and still trying to live in the original one-bedroom house.
Luis reminded all us leaders that customer success is about prevention, not just treatment. Don’t wait until clients — or your own team — are in pain before you act.
How Fulcrum Relates
At Fulcrum Group, we’ve built our culture around that exact mindset. Our No IT Jerks philosophy means we’re not here to just close tickets and move on. We strive to also ask ourselves, “how could this issue have been prevented”? We exist to align technology with your business strategy — and we’ve created our SPOT Managed Services to do just that.
Here’s how STARpower reflects the lessons Luis emphasized:
- Alignment With Vision: Unfocused “random acts of improvement” lead to higher costs and lesser results. We snapshot, identify opportunities and prioritize initiatives to organizational goals and capabilities.
- Baseline & Measurement: We use assessments, network maps, and quarterly reviews so you always know where you stand. As Luis said, “you can only manage what you measure.”
- Roadmaps, Not Band-Aids: Like Luis, we believe IT belongs in the boardroom. Our quarterly STARpower reviews are business discussions designed to create real roadmaps executives can follow, framed in their unique business context.
- Continuous Innovation: Whether pursuing AI adoption or cybersecurity maturity, we believe in incremental, measured improvement. Small wins accumulate into big leaps.
- Feedback Loops: Our CrewHu client surveys and STARpower review cycles make sure lessons learned drive the next cycle of progress, including our own service innovations. Each year we identify and adopt 2-4 new tools to help. These are internal service delivery automations or client facing tools to add new capabilities.
Scaling Firms Need More Than Survival IT
Luis and I are of similar minds that innovation isn’t optional anymore. In a market where change is constant — from AI disruption to cybersecurity risks — survival IT won’t cut it.
Scaling requires technology that adapts to your vision. That’s why we focus on:
- Proactive cybersecurity and compliance (CIS v8, unless bound by compliances such as CJIS, HIPAA, PCI).
- Lifecycle planning to schedule out system replacements before they create budget and performance chaos.
- Data governance initiatives to secure, protect, archive and delete old data, as preparation for AI adoption.
- AI and automation pilots to free your team from repetitive work.
- Local DFW expertise built on 20+ years of relationships, benchmarks, sweat and experience.
At Fulcrum, we’ve seen what happens when organizations stop treating IT as overhead and start making it a partner. They scale with confidence.
My Reflection
I’ll admit, the conversation got me thinking about my own tendency to “survive” through weekend basketball games by stuffing my gym bag with wraps, braces and Advil. That’s survival and I still have all of those. But now I also train smart (proper warmups and practice), plyometric stretching, listening to my body and more recently, PRP injections for the knees. I had dropped to one game a week but in recent years have scaled up hoops 3 times a week on average, for more games with less pain. SMBs have the same choice: keep reacting with more band-aids, or build the habits and systems to scale sustainably.
Call to Action
If you consider IT a cost center or feel your network and security are “fine”, it’s time for a second opinion from the The Doctor. If you are ready for a partner who will help you measure outcomes instead, it’s time we talk.
👉 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s_wob023cXU
👉 Listen on your favorite podcast platform: https://pod.link/1807560282
👉 Learn more about STARpower and Fulcrum’s SPOT Managed IT Services: https://www.fulcrumgroup.net/talk-to-th3-doc-podcast/
About the Author — Steve “The Doctor” Meek, CISSP
Steve “The Doctor” Meek is a DFW-based IT strategist, cybersecurity leader, podcast host, and co-founder of a 24-year technology legacy in North Texas. A recipient of the 2024 MSP Titan of Industry Award for Community Impact, Steve brings decades of experience helping CEOs, city managers, and healthcare and manufacturing leaders navigate cybersecurity, AI readiness, and operational resilience. As host of Talk To Th3 Doc, he explores leadership and ownership topics to find practical insights for SMB decision-makers.
Founded in Keller, TX, The Fulcrum Group, Inc. delivers relationship-centered DFW Managed IT Services through its flagship SPOT Managed IT Services and SPOT Managed Security Services platforms. Using its proprietary STARPower™ Framework, Fulcrum helps businesses strengthen security, modernize operations, and plan technology with clarity and confidence. With a 100% Texas-based team and a “No IT Jerks” philosophy, Fulcrum has earned repeated national recognition on the MSP 501 and CRN Top 500, serving SMBs, local governments, and mission-driven organizations across North Texas.
